Thread: Removing the pinion gear from the apron

Well, after a month of women moving in, kids visiting, car buying, etc, etc, etc, i was finally able to lock myself in the garage and work on Lucille again. I was able to get the apron off and started to dismantle it. I will post pics in the other topic when i have em ready, but for now i have a problem

The inside of this apron is full of crud. im dismantling it to clean everything out. i got the first clutch assembly off with little trouble, but now im trying to get the pinion shaft and rack gear out. I got the cap off the end of the shaft but i can't figure out how to slide the shaft out of the bearings and gear so i can pull it out. i looked at my drawings, but it just shows it assembled, not how to disassemble it and get it out of the stupid apron.

Is this a job for a press or large quantities of penetrating oil?

Second question, is monarch the only place i can get a rack and pinion gear set? What i have i shows a good bit of wear, but they are still usable, BUT, if i can find a new (or nice shape) rack and pinion cheap, i will replace them while i have it apart.

In March of last year I got a quote from Monarch for the pinion for my round dial:

(1) EE-1693 rack pinion $386.00 ea. - in stock

For the price, I decided to just live with my pinion, so I can't help you with disassembly.

-Alexander

Edit: Oops, I see now that you were asking for pinions from sources *other* than Monarch. Never mind me.

Originally Posted by scphantm

if i can find a new (or nice shape) rack and pinion cheap, i will replace them while i have it apart.

'Cheap' is unlikely any way you cut it. I'll be facing a similar decision on 17120, so 'musings to date'...

- The wear on the pinion is almost certainly even the whole way 'round, and it will have absorbed more wear than the rack as a unit has.

The simplest of repairs would consist of either fabricating a shim to space the rack closer to the pinion, ELSE turning the pinion shaft and fitting an eccentric bearing or bushing.

- either method so as to reduce the center distance, EG: 'deepen' the mesh to compensate for wear.

The eccentric bushing has the plus of correcting for wear in the shaft bearing area as well as in the pinion's teeth. That of standing the rack off the casting has perhaps more downside.

- Any wear on the rack, however, would be more localized as to most-frequently-used portion of its range. That limits how much 'tightening up' one can get away with without binding at (probably) the ends.

If wear on the rack is SERIOUSLY uneven, one 'could' use mill or shaper to cut the entire rack deeper and restore uniformity, optionally then shimming it, as above, and/or moving the pinion closer by means of the eccentric bushing.

Purists may decry these as 'shade tree' fixes, and they are. Likewise labour-intensive.

But we aren't talking about the lead-screw here - just a non-synchronized manual traverse device that needs to work smoothly and 'feel right'.

A 'real' shade-tree fix simply cleans the pinion, and cranks a strip of contact-adhesive-backed metal labeling foil into it using the rack and pinion to form their own new - and temporary - 'built up' wearing surface.

But that is in the same category as bacon-rind main bearings and ground cork or oatmeal in a worn differential.

If ones prices, for example, comparable parts, such as rack and pinion steering, in the far higher volume auto industry, and/or values 'makee fixee' time even at minimum-wage, Monarch's price actually looks pretty good.

Especially when something like an ignorant shite-and-sheetmetal EGR valve for an Iron Duke commands about $130 across the counter.

Bill

Originally Posted by scphantm

The inside of this apron is full of crud. im dismantling it to clean everything out. i got the first clutch assembly off with little trouble, but now im trying to get the pinion shaft and rack gear out. I got the cap off the end of the shaft but i can't figure out how to slide the shaft out of the bearings and gear so i can pull it out. i looked at my drawings, but it just shows it assembled, not how to disassemble it and get it out of the stupid apron.

CAVEAT: I've not laid eyes on these parts yet...

Rack Pinion, part 25 on Parts Picture E6, looks to be one piece with its shaft. Retention of the whole nine yards is probably left to the end caps/rings, as the exploded view positions such at both ends.

IF there is a further retaining mechanism, I'd look for a set-screw, perhaps two, in the hub of Rack Pinion Gear, part 24. No key there is shown, but there almost certainly IS one - probably Woodruff.

Otherwise, varnish is the culprit, and (modest) heat as well as solvents are your tools.

Bill

The rack pinion is one piece with its' shaft. So the shaft has to come out towards the bed.
I was able to tap mine out with a wood dowel and hammer.
The rack pinion gear #24 is held to the shaft with a Woodruff key. Greg.