Back in early February, the differential on my TR6 gave up the ghost, dropping
several teeth from the crown gear and a sizable chunk of the pinion gear. I
managed to find a used diff at a reasonable price in Dallas, but it was worth
the three-hour drive. This diff had changed hands a couple of times since it
was last used, so was sort of an unknown factor. I asked the advice of the list
on how to proceed at the time, and received several answers (thanks, all!).
One of the things I was wondering about was whether it would be a good idea to
replace the seals now. I had kind of decided not to, because it seemed like
a fairly difficult job. I opened the case to inspect it, and everything looked
pretty good to my unpracticed eyes, but I noticed a puddle of gear oil by the
axle flange, so I knew the seals were shot, and I was going to have to bite the
bullet and replace them.
After the seals arrived, I started with the pinion seal. The pinion flange
was easy enough to get off, but I noticed a groove had been worn on the
sealing surface, so figured I had better get a sleeve for it. After having
no luck a several parts stores, I decided to proceed to the axle seals -
after all, they might need sleeves, too. After removing one of the axle flange
assemblies from the diff, I put my puller on it to remove the flange. I
started tightening the puller, which became very difficult to turn, without
seeming to budge the flange. Finally, the puller popped off with a crack
that sounded like a rifle shot. Scared the hell out of me. The jaws had left
some deep grooves in the flange. Time to get some professional help. On my
own, I was either going to break something, or hurt myself!
I brought the diff in to a shop recommended by Roger Bolick of the Hill
Country Triumph Club. I got a call from them saying that they had the
axle flanges in hydraulic press, and they were so tight that they were
going to have to apply enough pressure that they were probably going to
destroy the bearings. Should they go ahead? "Yes!" I answered gleefully
(Hey, at least it proves I'm not completely incompetent!). They ended up
taking a month to finish the job. I took advantage of the downtime to
rebuild the rear suspension: polyurethane bushings on the trailing arms,
new u-joints, drive shaft balanced, new gaiters and boots on the rear axles.
Hopefully, I won't have to deal with any more problems in the rear end for
a long time.
I picked up the finished diff on Friday. They had bead-blasted and painted
the case, so it really looked good - almost made up for it taking so long.
I re-installed it on Saturday, and re-assembled the rest of the rear
suspension. The clutch was stuck after sitting for three months, but
broke free easily when I started the car in gear while holding down the
clutch pedal.
I drove the 6 to work today for the first time since this began in February.
What a great feeling! And just in time for British Car Week! On the way home,
I stopped to take care of the expired inspection sticker. As it often does,
the TR6 inspired questions and nostalgic discussions among the mechanics.
It sure feels good to be driving a Triumph again. It's fixing to get hot
here in Texas - I've missed some of the best driving weather - so I guess
I'll just have to drive more to make up for it!
--
Dan Julien
Austin, Texas
1970 TR6 CC50337L
dgjulien@swbell.net
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