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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Front Universal Joint Access

All,

For those that service their own cars. Early cars had an access port to grease the front zerk fitting on the prop shaft located below the hand brake lever (left side) under the floor mat. To save pulling the prop shaft for this service I've thought about cutting an opening under the car through the pan (3/4" dia.) to facilitate this service. Anyone else thought of doing, or perhaps already done this?

Regards,

Larry C.
Larry C '69 Midget


Hello Larry - I understand this requirement only too well. My 1970 midget does have the small access hole and it is far from ideal especially if you are removing the prop shaft complete.

My guess is the original Sprite had an access cover plate - someone else may know.

If this is the case I can only assume MG did away with it to maintain strenth of the body in this area which I know is critical.

Suggest you wait before drilling etc & get further comments.

Gavin.
Gavin Rowles

early cars can be greased via the access hole; later cars had 'sealed for life' UJs and the access hole was no longer needed so was deleted.
David (davidDOTsmithAT stonesDOTcom)

David,

Point well taken. But, when I replaced the UJ's on our Midget about five years ago (50K miles) I found the original front UJ less than servicable with the grease having an almost dry paste texture at best. I installed zerk fittings at both ends of the new UJ's, and would like to now service both ends as I do on our B/GT about every two years.

Gavin,

Curious you say you have the access hole to service the prop shaft below the brake handle with your 1970 Midget. Not sure when this practice was discontinued, but we do not have this on our (GAN4) MK III?

My concern with the proposed bottom access has to do with the angle of the prop shaft allowing access to the zerk to properly fit the end of the grease gun more than anything else. Which is why I believe the factory selected the side of the tunnel for this service on the early cars?

Regards,

Larry C.
Larry C '69 Midget

Mine has a 2" hole in the floor pan under the front UJ and greasing the UJ is a breeze.
Mike Allen

Mike,

Thank you for that. Access from the bottom pan seemed logical, but I didn't want to cut a hole in the pan only to find a problem attaching my grease gun to the zerk fitting.

Regards,

Larry C.
Larry C '69 Midget

If you have a Heritage bodyshell (like I do) you will find that the panel used under the transmission tunnel is standardised on the one from a 1500 Midget which needed access to unbolt the U/J. On a 1275 this provides a nice big hole to access the U/J even though it is a sliding fit. So - apart from the bother and care required to cut such an access hole, it can't do any harm and it makes life so much easier. Chris
Chris H (1970 Midget 1275)

Chris,

Thanks for your input as well, I do plan to cut an access hole during my next major service on the car in the fall of this year.

Regards,

Larry C.
Larry C '69 Midget

This thread was discussed between 26/05/2009 and 29/05/2009

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