John Bertsche wrote:
Is there any reason why TR6 rear hubs can't be put together with anti-seize
compound on the mating surfaces, so they come apart easily in the future? I
tried this with an exhaust system (non-stainless steel) and it worked great
when I had to take it apart several years later.
and received this response ................
No reason at all.... You won't find anti-seize in the official factory
manual because it wasn't around when the manual was written. The only
proviso I would offer in this regard is to avoid anti-seize on mating
surfaces which should be in firm, rigid contact with each other. In
other words, don't smear it on the outside surface of a bearing race
which is meant to sit firmly in the hub. The stuff is meant to stay
slick, and every opportunity you give something like a race to spin, it
will.
***************************************
On this same thread, I recently put new bearings in the rear trunnions of my
Mk I Spitfire as part of the restoration and rans across a problem with the
outer ball bearing. The outer race did not want to seat tightly, and there
was some evidence on the old bearings of spinning. In fact, I could
literally push the bearings in by hand on both the right and left trunnions!
So, used some lacquer thinner to clean up the mating surface and the outer
race of the bearing, put a few drops of LocTite on the bearing race and
dropped her in. Perfect fit and tight as a drum now.
Now of course the next time I need to change the rear trunnion bearings I'll
probably rue this day, cursing and screaming to the Gods of sticky
technology. But at least the rear
trunnions are cheaper than the hubs ($$$$$$).
OTOH, as to mating the rear hub to the axle shaft, I think you would be
better off leaving it alone. Anti-sieze goop would certainly make it easier
to pull apart later, but I'd think you lose some of the coefficient of
friction between the plain metal surfaces, and since there is nothing but
friction that keeps the hub from spinning on the axle (okay, forgot about
the woodruff key) you probably don't want to mess with that bond. Having
just gone through the astronomically pain-in-the-ass process of pulling
those suckers off of my axles (bending the crap out of one and and replacing
BOTH just to be safe) I understand your thoughts about easing the process
later. Look at it this way, you probably won't have to do it again for at
least another 7 to 10 years assuming you don't drive it that much, and by
then you'll have forgotten how much of a pain it was. Cheers!
Ross D. Vincenti
64 Spitfire 4 (undergoing surgery)
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