Well i have broke it all ready

[Mike Holmes]

Only having my MG Midget for about 4 weeks now ,and saying it was more fun than my 911 , i was at the traffic lights this morning in heavy traffic , heading towards a very busy roundabout , put it in 1st gear went to pull away and BANG no drive , i felt a right wally coasted to kerd of the roundabount and managed to get 3 wheels up on the roundabout , waited for mate to tow to a garage , suspect driveshalf broke , seems they are a common fault

I will keep you posted

Mike

[na]

not saying any of below necessarily applies to you or your cars, the fact that you're driving it this time of year puts you up ahead of most classic owners in the care stakes

most common fault is previous (and present) owners

halfshafts aren't that fragile on later cars

compared to something like a more modern Porsche you do have to have invovlement and perhaps a little (not a lot though) mechanical sympathy

the cause (whatever it turns out to be) perhaps wouldn't have shown up but you can see why I suggest asap a full 36k-mile service run through check at least on a classic that is new to you

good luck with it, keep going as the repairs are going to seem quite inexpensive perhaps to what you're used to

[wildoliver]

It will be a half shaft broken at the diff end.

Back end up in the air.

Both wheels and brake drums off (phillips screw driver and wheel brace/copper hide hammer).

Both half shafts pulled out. Don't ever mix them up side to side. The broken one will be obvious.

Undo the prop (1/2" af pair of spanners).

Undo the brake union and ring of bolts (7/16th spanner/sockets)

Pull diff out.

Knock broken stub of shaft out of diff then refit diff with a new half shaft.

I have loads if you get stuck.

[na]

WO - forever the optimist and rolling with the greater odds – where’s your imagination and adventure

I almost had a sale lined up fot you but his dad bought him a Fiesta instead probably quite rightly realising the lad migght not have coped that well as a just reached 17 year old BGT owner that wanted to drive it all of 3 miles to school and back

[Mike Holmes]

wildoliver said:

It will be a half shaft broken at the diff end.

Back end up in the air.

Both wheels and brake drums off (phillips screw driver and wheel brace/copper hide hammer).

Both half shafts pulled out. Don't ever mix them up side to side. The broken one will be obvious.

Undo the prop (1/2" af pair of spanners).

Undo the brake union and ring of bolts (7/16th spanner/sockets)

Pull diff out.

Knock broken stub of shaft out of diff then refit diff with a new half shaft.

I have loads if you get stuck.

Spot on. got the report back from the garage the halfshalf broken at the diff end , so i am replacing both of them with new gaskets etc

Thanks for the offer but i think fitting new ones would be better , there only £200 the pair for Sussex mg parts

Never mind thats what happenswhen you get old cars i suppose, the porsche costs are somewhat higher

Edited by Mike Holmes on Tuesday 21st February 21:50

[na]

could you not have made up another fault to take the blame

be aware not hopefully these parts but anything that has rubber invovled and a few electrical bits as brand new can be faulty, bad fit or fall apart within weeks or months

I'm just sorting out TRE (boots) and steering rack (gaiters) that haven't lasted 6 months of light use and I've just had a bit of plastic that used to last some many years you wouldn't think about it break up after 4 years

[wildoliver]

If buying new make sure they are uprated.

Standard ones would be a waste of money.

[Mike Holmes]

wildoliver said:

If buying new make sure they are uprated.

Standard ones would be a waste of money.

They are the upgraded ones, should be here later on today , whilst it was on the ramp had a good look underneath , sweet as a nut , no rot what-so-ever well pleased

Mike