Triumphrat

Snakeoil

Oh you don't have to worry about me. I'm an Amuricun through and through. Don't speak French (speak Spanish, go figure) and don't really identify with my Canadian heritage. Go back quite a ways in Canada, though. Family tree goes back to the 1600's in Canada. Grandfather was in both the Yukon and Alaskan gold rushes. I've got the gold to prove it.

Don't see much difference between Canadians and Americans. Most stand out difference is you get to shivver longer than we do every year.

So I guess MoBe is in reference to the Great White North Whale, huh?

regards,
Rob

MoBe

No, actually to do with Moebius a favorite graphic illustrator,who gained his reputation in the 70s in a magazine called Heavy Metal.

Feliz Navidad !

Snakeoil

I'm resurrecting an old thread to get some additional input.

I just tried to install the rocker spindles with new o-rings from John Healy and even with my version of the handy-dandy factory tool. I cut a tiny thread of rubber off the OD of the o-ring.

John Healy said to use P-80 and I used STP on one and grease on the other. Same result each time.

My tool is alum, has about a 6 degree taper to slowly compress the o-ring, but it still seems to get pinched when it reaches the final diameter of the tool which is pretty much a line fit to the spindle cap. After I cut the first o-ring, I put the tool back in my lathe and hand polished the transition from tapered to straight section until I could not feel the change. It still cut the o-ring. I was sure this was going to be a snap do do with the tool. Not so.

In threads linked in this thread below, some mention that shaving a small amount from the o-ring is acceptible. I've never heard it was okay to damage any o-ring during the installation process. Has anyone here installed new o-rings, had the o-ring get slightly snipped in the process and still maintained a proper seal?

I guess I'm going to go buy a bag of o-rings tomorrow.

Can someone please confirm the correct o-ring size. ed h's webpage linked in is original post below shows a bag of 011 o-rings. But looking up that size shows a 0.070 inch cross-section and my groove is 0.058 inch wide. ID of the groove is 0.550 inch. The o-rings that came in the gasket set from Coventry Spares has a 0.050 inch cross-section and an ID of 0.500 inch.


Thanks,
Rob

loxx101

Going through this I tend to agree with your ideas on the subject. I'd rather use an external tool and leave as much metal on as possible. My idea of a tool may well be the factory one.

Is the tool a simple piece of metal with a taper going down to the same size OD as the spindle housing? That would make sense to me. How is it held in place?

Personally, I wouldn't ever shave anything off an O ring. Getting it even would be a nightmare, right? You may cause a leak path. How did you do it, though? Sounds interesting if you can do it uniformly.

It's just worth noting as well that when fitting O rings you should always use a proper O ring grease. Normal grease and some oils can degrade O rings quite badly. O ring grease does not and it's very slippery stuff. I'm a mechanical fitter by trade so getting things to fit nice and easy first time is my favourite thing! O ring grease also inhibits the O ring slightly causing it to swell ever so slightly post fitting. This improves sealing of the ring.

Cybersausage

I've had some success using the factory tool. I began by rubbing the sharp edge with a tiny piece of fine emery paper, just to dull the sharp edge. I then put some silicon rubber into the o-ring groove and on the o-ring itself. Next, I got a friend to put the tool over the o-ring while I began slowly tightening the acorn nuts from the other side. As the o-ring reached the critical point of disappearing into the rockerbox I tightened the acorn nuts REALLY SLOWLY while my friend pushed REALLY HARD on the tool to keep the o-ring compressed. Got them both in without any damage. I then left them alone for 24 hours for the silicon to cure. I commute 140 miles a day on the motorways, and so far no leaks.

Snakeoil

Loxx, yes the tool is simply a piece of stock with a tapered or conical section leading up to a cylindrical section that is a line fit to the OD of the spindle cap.

Of note is the cap is a slight interference fit into the rockerbox. Someone mentioned this in one of the threads I read thru yesterday after I had noticed it during my inspection process. The bore on the rockerbox is 0.625 inch. The OD of the cap is 0.626 inboard of the ring and 0.627 outboard of the ring.

Both of my spindle caps had been struck with a metal hammer at some point in their lives and were slightly mushroomed. I had to chuck them in my lathe and restore both the OD and the face.

I'm headed to a specialty rubber/gasket industrial supply house this morning to pick up some new o-rings and hopefully some rubber lube like P80. I might see if they have silicone o-rings as I would expect them to be a lifetime fix.

Cyber, I thought about pulling the spindle in place with the nut, but decided against it since it is a press fit. Even the manual says to tap it in place from the cap end. The process should force the tool up against the rockerbox face. But maybe not enough, huh? I will make sure I press it firmly against the box when I try again.

Thanks guys,
Rob

Cybersausage

But wouldn't the tool be in the way when you try and tap it in?

JohnA

Not if you use some sort of a drift...

loxx101

When I removed mine I had to use a brass drift. With the tool you could use the same drift to go through the tool.

Snakeoil

Actually, I did not use a drift, I used a 5/8 piece of hardwood dowel so it would not mar the spindle cap, which I zinc plated to prevent it from rusting.

If you go to my resto thread, Rob's 1966 T120R resto, you'll see pics of the tool.

regards,
Rob