Finished
Finished
So the job of fitting the replacement seal is done....
First thing we did was figure out how far we needed to drill and tap in order to take the full length of the bolt. We did that using a scrap piece of aluminium stock, and a guess based on measurement of the bolt. We wrapped electrical tape around the drill bit where we wanted to stop and had at it. First couple of attempts the bolt didn't seat down fully but that was ok, we wanted to creep up on the correct depth. Eventually after about four tries we had a depth we were happy with. I measured that depth on the drill bit and compared it how much boss there was. Turns out, the part of the boss visible to us was about double the length we needed to drill to. That was comforting.
Here's a shot of the retainer plate and the OEM bolts to secure it. I got the correct bolts because I figured they would be the best guide on how far I could safely drill into the bosses without going too far.
We offered the plate up to where it was to fit and the bosses were in the correct locations, that was a relief. We marked the boss furthest away from the seal, the other side of the layshaft by holding the plate in the desired position and marking it with a sharpie. A swift tap with a punch to stop the drill wandering and we drilled in with a 2mm drill as a pilot. I was watching the side to side plane and my son was watching the up and down plane to make sure we drilled the hole as perpendicular to the boss as possible. Then we ran a 4mm drill, and finally the 5mm drill for the M6 bolts.
Next came the thread and that posed a bit of a problem because the boss was deep enough in the frame that I couldn't use the T bar handle. Was unsure how to deal with that for a moment but I managed to find a spanner (wrench) to fit fairly well on the square end of the tap. Was very careful starting the tap to make sure it was going in straight but turned out to be more of a concern than a real problem.
When the first hole was ready, we offered the plate up and bolted it down to allow us to swing it up against a lip on the crankcase in the top left hand corner. In that position, we marked the second boss with the sharpie and repeated the process with the punch, drill and tap. All the while I was drilling and tapping, the hole for the seal was covered and a shopvac was running to collect up the cuttings. Wouldn't want any getting inside the seal area.
Next we fitted the seal using some right stuff this time and made sure there was a no gap around the perimeter of the seal and let that sit for about 15 minutes even though we didn't really need to. Then we offered up the plate again and bolted it down.
It does look a little off center but that must be the angle we took the photo from, looking straight on the push rod is centered in the hole in the retaining plate. Nothing else for it, we fired the engine and let it run for about 15 mintues, removed the plate, no leaks. Reinstalled the plate and bent the bolt retaining tabs over, started the engine again and revved it to 7k, let it run for a long time and still no leaks evident. Bolted the cover on and forgot about it, only slight concern is that I might have used too much goop and pushed enough of it in to block the oil port behind. Guess time will tell on that one.
Job's a good 'un, even had time to get the caliper and master cylinder rebuilt and fitted. Front brake is now functional also. Saturday was a productive day.
Hopefully, this will prove a useful experience for anyone coming across a similar kind of problem in the future.
. He took me over to the service department, dug out their workshop manual so I could show him the pictures and compared that to what was shown on the fische. When I'd gotten him to where I was, he dissappeared out the back for about 15 minutes, then came back with the following service bulletin in his hand for me to keep:
