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MG MGA - Fair warning

Be forewarned its a rainy Saturday in Michigan; a perfect day to fiddle around with the car..........so expect lots and lots of questions.

1) My knock offs aren't. Two came off two others are are just stuck, I'm using a 22 oz roofing hammer with a piece of wood in between. Any hints? Do I may some sorta wrench with a pipe? Do I get a bigger hammer?

2)Rotational play. I've been hearing a "klink" noise as the engine loads the wheels, shifting and on initial acceleration. My first guess is that there is some rotational play between the splines on the hub and the wheel. I've read Barney's page on this topic but I'm have a hard time understanding just how tight the wheel is supposed to be on the hub. Mine just seems to slide on and off there is some rotationial play but there also seems to be some play horizontally with out the knock off on.

3) On the left rear side the brake cable is riding OVER the exhaust pipe which doesn't look kosher. Is that right?

4) PO put the muffler on upside down and appears to have then heated the tail pipe and bent it down. How much heat would it take to bend it back after I spin the muffler to the right direction? Can I do it with a simple propane torch.

Muchos Gracias!

Tysen
Tysen

My brake cable also rides over the exhaust pipe, it's the only way it will fit on my car.
R Stokes

Tysen

You are probably trying to knock them off the wrong way. All 4 knock offs undo in the direction of forward rotation of the wheels. So the 2 on the left hand side of the vehicle undo anti clockwise (the normal way for threads). The 2 on the right hand side of the car undo clockwise. If the direction of 'Undo' is not shown on the spinners you have non-standard items.

Hope this helps.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Tysen

It goes over the pipe, probably in most cars just in front of the muffler. My system is a Falcon stainless assembly. The entry and exit holes into the muffler should both be at the bottom.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Tysen - A 22oz hammer and a piece ofwood is a poor ccombination to get knockoffs loose, particularly if they are at all tight. The lead hammer that Moss sells works the best and doesn't damage the knockoff's ears. You can also make your own lead or babbit hammer in the range of 2 to 4 lbs that will work very well. Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

Got the muffler lined up. The knock offs are labled so I'm confident that I'm going in the right direction.

I'm thinking I need to go with what Dave suggested: more fire power.

Still stuck on the "spline wear" issue.
Tysen

my favorite wire wheel hammer is a snap on plastic faced dead blow hammer. doesnt hurt spinners like lead will.
R J Brown

My old knockoffs were also too tight. So, I bought a wooden "knockoff wrench" from Moss, which is like a big, multi-ply wooden knockoff that fits over the MGA knockoff. I pulled-up tight on one ear of the "wrench" while pounding down on the opposite ear with a hammer and, eventually, the knockoffs came loose. I now use the wrench whenever I remove my new knockoffs to avoid any risk of damage.

Regards,
M.D.
'57 coupe
M. D.

Tysen, regarding your point #2 on rotational play. Is this on your rear wheels? It sounds like the splines on the hub (or wheels) are worn. I have a dimension across the hub splines (somewhere) for MGB wire wheel hubs, not sure if it would apply to MGA hubs but I think it would. Maybe someone else can confirm that point. You will need an accurate calpier to take this dimension. Let me know if you need that dimension, or you can get it from John Twist, along with confirmation on the MGA hub dimension. Also, are you sure its not a u-joint?

George
G Goeppner

Tysen, It sounds to me like the splines are worn out. If the knock off is on that tight and there is still rotational movement, that is what I would guess. As for more fire power, I agree. The Snap-on dead blow hammer is the way to go as it won't damage the knock off like a lead hammer will. Tighten the knock off, with the wheel off the ground and until it (the knock off) quits turning. It still might be tiugh to remove later but, if you use the same hamme to tighten them, the same hammer should remove them. Be sure to clean the splines of old gringe anf relube them using wheek bearing grease.
The hand brake cable will foul on the exhaust pipe, especially if the wheels are off the ground. Check the cable with the car on the ground.
Good luck, John
The MGDOC
john

Another option to explore on the klink noise is the front suspension. If there is play it will klink. I had to take a knock off by heating it red hot once. Don't feel bad.
Bill Haglan

Thanks all,

John,

I'm not at all sure its not the u joint. How would I test that?
tysen

Get under the car and see if you can shake the drive shaft side to side, both directions of the u-joints on each end of the drive shaft. If it moves, it's bad.
mike parker

This thread was discussed between 27/08/2005 and 30/08/2005

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.