Don,
How do you remove the grease cap?
Supposedly, you can thread a screw into the hole in the cap and it will
extract the cap from the hub. I say supposedly because I've never seen one
that worked that way. I have used several techniques, but one that seems to
work is to put the tip of an awl through the hole and lever the cap out. If
you do this carefully and in small steps (first one way, then the other),
the cap will come out intact and undamaged. If its damaged, new caps are
available and don't cost much ($5). Here is a mod you can do to ensure that
subsequent removals are easy: Take two undamaged caps and silver solder
machine nuts inside of the cap (behind the hole). The next time you need to
remove them, just thread an appropriately sized screw into the hole/nut and
it will extract the cap undamaged
what do I do when the 35+ year old split pins in the slotted nuts break off
?
This has never happened to me, but I would try to get as much of the old pin
out and drive the rest out with a piece of steel rod or an old drill bit.
Are the nuts and bolts at Lowes good enough -- grade 5?
Unfortunately, the real question is "Are the nuts at Lowes that are marked
Grade 5 really Grade 5?" Additionally, the nylon locknuts that one gets at
your local hardware store/home improvement store may not be graded at all.
Also, there are some applications on a TR where special high-strength
fasteners were used. These typically don't have SAE markings (so don't
assume that Grade 5 will be good enough). In my younger days, I used to
routinely replace all the fasteners on my TRs with Grade 5. Later I
switched to Grade 8, on the theory that "higher grade is better". I have
since read all of Carroll Smith's books and learned about how Grade 8 bolts
can be brittle and learned about military spec bolts. On my race car, I'm
now using AN and MS bolts in critical places. A good cource I've found for
high-strength SAE fasteners and high strength nylon locknuts is
McMaster-Carr http://www.mcmaster.com. A good source for AN/MS bolts is
Arcraft Spruce http://www.aircraftspruce.com . I have no financial interest
in either, but have purchased items from both with good results.
Hope this helps,
Hugh Barber
Hollister, CA
'73 TR6
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