Reply To: Steel bush set flywheel-gear ring 15CV modification

[BernieParticipant]

Mark,

I am not aware of this kit but I guess from the name, it is designed to replace the three small “silentblocs” at the points where the arms of the triax attach to the ringgear.

If that is so, the ideal way to tackle it is with the engine out.  However, I assume your engine is in and running and you don’t want to have to remove it.  If that is the case, I can confirm having successfully changed silentblocs with the engine in situ, myself.

It is impossible to fully extract the ring gear so you will be working in a very awkward position in a confined space on the right hand side of the car.  (I tried underneath but that was more restricted). So ……..

Disconnect the battery and remove the starter motor for maximum access.

Remove the split pins and nuts  from the three triax/ringear fixings.  This will entail turning the engine over on the handle to bring each fixing to an accessible position on the right hand side.  Once the nuts are off, the ringgear can then be “jiggled” off the bolts which are an interference fit and so will (should?) remain in the triax.

As I said, the gear will not come right out so it has to be manouvered into a position giving best access to one of  the silentblocs.  The outer element of these bushes is an interferebce fit in the ringgear so I made an “extractor”, consisting of a socket whith an OD slightly smaller than that of the bush plus a second socket which was big enough to allow the bush to fit inside it.  These were mounted on a long bolt which passed through the centre of the silentbloc with one socket each side of the ringgear and a nut on the end.

As the nut was tightened, the smaller socket pressed the bush out of the ringgear and into the larger socket.  Assembly of the replacement bush was the reverse but without the need for the larger socket.

The operation has to be repeated three times and then the ringgear can be offered back to the triax (more jiggling, I am afraid) and the nuts and split pins replaced.  Getting those 3 splitpins back in place was probably the trickiest part of the whole operation because, working blind, it was extremely difficult to align the castellations with the holes in the screws.

When my second set of silentblocs failed, I was tempted to fit an early ringgear I have which does not incorporte this silentbloc “improvement” but that would have entailed removing the engine.  By that stage, although I was getting adept at it, I really did not want to have to take it out yet again.

Fortunately however, I was directed to a UK manufacturer of silentbloc bushes who had exactly the right size bush in their standard range and in stock so I devised the above system to replace them.  Their bushes have now been fitted for 2 years with no sign of deterioration whereas the bonds on two sets of bushes I had previuosly purchased from Franssen all disintegrated within months of being fitted.

I hope I have answered the right question.

Good luck,

B……..