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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Advice re Bearings change

Hi All,
1972 MK III RWA
I have read very carefully all the threads ( !) about Manky bearings.
I will be replacing my bearings quite soon and have selected:
"MG midget Front Wheel Bearing Set GHK1142 PROPER FACTORY SPEC PART" from Heritage Car parts- these seem to be universally praised.
I have the HBOL & the Practical Classics Owners workshop manual. It LOOKS a fairly straightforward job, but as I have only replaced bearings in original Mini's before, is there any advice anyone can give me- do the books not mention anything I really need to know?
Look forward to any help you chaps can give me.
Cheers & Happy New Year
Colin
colin frowen

Pay attention to which way the 'thrust' side of each bearing has to face. The bearings should be marked but if not it gets tricky; others will be along with more detail.
David Smith

Hi Colin,


Just done this job using the excellent kit from Heritage.



Nice easy job, the toughest part is getting the old inner race off the wheellhub, access to a half decent puller helps.



I had the use of a proper hydraulic garage press as well.



Regards Steve
SR Smith 1

If you think there is a risk that your spacer may have been botched, buy a new one at the same time. The size of the spacer is critical in giving just the correct amount of play (or rather, the lack of it!).

My bearings were not particularly tight on the shaft but took a bit of knocking out from the hub as I recall. You have to drift them out unless you have the type of puller which can reach through the bearing.The problem is made worse because one bearing gets in the way of the other so it's typically fiddly.

I think if you have wire wheels you can use the wheel mounting assembly to pull the hub off.

Make sure you replace the lip-seal with new and if you have a lock nut holding the whole assembly together replace the nut with a new one (not a problem if you have castellated and split pin).

Wobbly it about to check there is no play and then start a new thread. We like FWB threads on here.
Graeme Williams

It's a long time since I've taken the front apart, but I seem to recall that you need to remove the calliper before you can remove the disc/hub. There's no need to disconnect the pipe from the calliper; you can just put the bolts back through the loose calliper and use them to hang the calliper out of the way on the triangular aperture in the chassis. If you do this, you don't need to bleed the brakes after you have reassembled everything :-)

I'd be interested to see what people on here have to say about torquing the hub nut and fitting the split pin, as sod's law says that the split pin holes do not line up with the nut castellations once the nut has been torqued.
Jonathan Severn

Jonathan: you need a split-pin with a double dog leg!
Not sure of the part number but you can make your own from standard pin. Fitting is more of a problem.

I was convinced the manual said "back the nut off to align the holes" but there is no information either way in the Mk2 and later manual. However in the Mk1 Frog manual is says (helpfully) "tighten to stated torque and insert the pin" and then adds "NEVER back the nut off to align the holes" which I guess means tighten it.... and then a gnat's more.
Graeme Williams

Richo may make those double dor leg split pins judging from these products, see image.


David Billington

Graeme it does say in the later manuals (but not easy to find!). The manual for my RWA (AKD4021 15th edition) contains General Data updates for the 1275 models but also contains all the earlier sheets for 948 and 1098 models, on the basis that the data applies to all later models *unless* updated.
On page GD6 it states: 45 lb/ft then tighten to the nearest split pin hole.
David Smith

This is getting over complicated.

The BMC book says 25-65lbft. So you have plenty of range.

I just do it to circa 45lbft, and then a bit more until I hit the location for the split pin. Never had a problem. My bearings have lasted in excess of 100K miles.
Lawrence Slater

David.

You should have saved those for April fools day. :).
Lawrence Slater

Hi All,
Many thanks for all your advice.
Happy New Year
Cheers colin
colin frowen

David B, where did you find that brilliant spoof?
Greybeard

Greybeard,

That has been around for a few decades at least and the last time I ran across it I asked for a copy which I then scanned so I could post it if required, classic piss take. I did have another cartoon of a tormented supplier speaking to his customer on the phone, the customer saying something like "if I wanted it tomorrow, I'd order it tomorrow". I can't find that scan or the copy but know where it was so if I'm passing again I'll stop in and see if they still have it. That one again has been around for years.
David Billington

This thread was discussed between 29/12/2015 and 31/12/2015

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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