Saturday, March 26, 2016

Gearbox Rebuild Part I

The gearbox looked good inside and the rebuild appeared to be straightforward - with a bit of help from the Interceptor Owners group. Upon breaking the seal on the end plate the remnants of 40 year old oil was found to be a bit jelled up and looking like grease in many places. There were no debris found which was good but a small amount of brass glitter was in the oil. The teeth and dogs were in good shape with only a couple of very small chips found. The bronze bushings felt and looked fine but will be measured to see if they are in spec. The large bearing was good, but will be replaced, while the small bearing was a bit rough. New bearings and seals were ordered  to put it back right. 
The starting point. 

There's a lot going on under this cover....better take a lot of pics. 




Pretty cool plug...wish I could still read it without my magnifier headset.

The case screws were stuck and soaked in PB Blaster for a week to break them loose. 
An occasional whack with an impact driver finally made them give up.

Looks like its coming apart.....

A bit gunked up and a bearing a bit rough but pretty good overall.

Gearset looks good...hope Patti doesn't want her cookie sheet back....

Lucky for me I am a member of the "Royal Enfield Interceptor Yahoo Owners Group" and follow the discussions. A recent one on "oil thrower washer orientation" told how to prevent a problem I didn't know I would have. Thanks guys! I wondered what those odd looking washers did.....   Time to clean everything up, replace worn parts and put it back together.

See how it all went back together.....