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MG TD TF 1500 - Installing a 4.33:1

Please advise; preparations needed before installing a 4.33:1 Dick Clark differential. Half shafts excluded. I'll be using my originals.

Paris vonRabenau

Paris, I put how I did it on the other forum with a couple pics. PJ
PJ Jennings

Didn't the Dick Clark directions come with the box? Bud
Bud Krueger

That's Dave Clark. Bud
Bud Krueger

Did it come with a bandstand? :-)
Timothy Burchfield

Bud, Mine came with a box of parts, seals, bearings etc, two new axles and the converted housing. PJ



PJ Jennings

Extras,



PJ Jennings

Thanks for showing that, Paul. I never installed one of Dave's conversions. Was there some sort of instruction sheet to go with it?
Paris, did your box come with the parts shown in PJ's second image?

Bud
Bud Krueger

I sent an email to Dave not heard back yet. We talked on the phone before I got my delivery. No extra parts included from the seller a Pro British car rebuilder restorer. No instructions either. A forum (the other) shared the directions. Copied they will be very useful for sure. This is new territory for me to experience.
JP with others has helped with photos (tks) and suggestions.
The question before going forward is: should I inspect by opening the case or not? I don't need instructions for that but cautions. Will I be looking at rusted gears? Why the seller sold to me? We'll see. Stay tuned.


Paris vonRabenau

Paris, you're making me nervous. Just what did this "Pro British car rebuilder restorer" say is in the box? Slitting the pumpkin is the last thing that I think that you should do.
I have a spare half-shaft. Maybe Lazarus and I can take a spin down next Saturday and see what's in the differential. It's about a 2+ hour ride from here. Finally got some good wheel balancing done, so I can spin down I75 at a reasonable clip. Bud
Bud Krueger

Bud I think you should check it out. I'm concerned with the 4.33. The ring gear has 43 teeth and the pinion has 10 that gives 4.3. That someone would mark the tag 4.33 concerns me that they don't know what they are doing!

Butch
R Taras

I know what you mean, Butch. Paris' first email to me used the 4.33 term. I'm guessing that the 4.33 label was created by the "restorer" who got the rear axle from Dave. I don't know if Paris has received the axle from his source. Bud
Bud Krueger

The proof.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué

Gord Clark

Hi Gord. There is also a stamped mark on the pinion shaft. Plus there is a electro mark number on both the ring gear and the pinion because they are matched sets that when made they are lapped together. Mixing pinions and different ring gears will result in a whine in the diff. One time I had to re-lap a set of gears, a lot of work and time.

Butch
R Taras

Do NOT open up the differential; it's a can of worms... I would not be overly concerned that someone wrote 4.33; it's 5.125, 4.875, 4.55, 4.3, and 3.9. Easy to move from 4.55 to 4.33.

Do check your axle shafts carefully; see mgtrepair.net for the high-strength Dave Clark axles. This is the time to install them!

Tom Lange
MGT Repair

t lange

Bud, sorry for taking so long getting back, but the U bolt caps and the seals and spring rubbers were part of the conversion package. The old bearing end caps had to be sent back to Dave as their NA and needed for new seals in the next conversion. The bearings and axles were extra. It's pretty much what was agreed on prior to. PJ
PJ Jennings

Well, gents, the mystery is over. Bud Krueger and his 52TD Lazarus drove down from Marietta Ga. bringing a rear axle shaft with him. Laying the differential atop the wood crate, he loaded the axle shaft into the rear casing. Then placed a white plastic tie in the axle shaft split pin hole. The tie pointed down like a dial marker then we taped the other end bent over the axle. This helped to count the revolutions using a black marker line on the edge of the wood box. Then he taped the housing casing, next, taped the prop shaft connector each marked with black marker for counting revolutions. He explained that there are 43 teeth on prop gear and 10 teeth on the axle gear hence 43:10 differential. By holding the left-side axle from turning inside with a screwdriver handle taped into a pipe (we used the jack handle which fit perfectly as did the screwdriver in the spline pattern inside the axle) we could now rotate the right axle and see the revolutions being made while holding the left side pipe from rotating. 10 rotations on the axle resulted in exactly 4.3 revolutions to the prop. Hoorah! I can't thank Bud enough and the above road crew comments in helping to determine the validity of our 4.3:10 differential. I had sent Dave Clark photos and he confirmed the box, but the actual differential was only probable. Bud took time to drive our TD "Sterling" around the neighborhood. He encouraged some needed changes to the engine and even gave us the test axle and a new fan belt afterward. We were honored to have his visit. Again, thank you, Bud Krueger. A top-notch gentleman and fellow.


Paris vonRabenau

Be sure to click on the image which shows Bud setting up the differential for testing.

Paris vonRabenau

Paris,

Bud's method is correct, however the figures in your explanation are not, here is a copy paste of my comment, from the archives, using the correct numbers.



To determine the ratio of your rear axle, jack up ONE rear wheel, get a helper to count the revolutions of the drive shaft while you rotate the lifted wheel 20 turns.
divide the result of the drive shaft turns by 10, that will give you the ratio.

for example 51.25 drive shaft revs = 5.125
43.00 drive shaft revs = 4.3

John

J Scragg

John, Paris had one number wrong. I rotated the half shaft through 2 full revolutions and counted 4.3 turns of the pinion flange. Could have spun it for 20 revolutions and looked for 43 turns, but 4 full turns plus something between a quarter and half a turn was close enough to assure that it's a 4.3 gear set. The tough thing was finding a rig to lock the 'free' axle in place. Paris' rig worked like a champ. Bud
Bud Krueger

Correction noted and understood.

Paris vonRabenau

This thread was discussed between 15/09/2018 and 23/09/2018

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