Square dial gearbox right cover removal?

The previous owner of my basket case square dial did some really questionable things, probably because he didn't have access to this forum. While (or possibly after) attempting to remove the gearbox, he tried (without success) to remove the right cover from the gearbox. In the process, he slightly bent it while prying on the lower front corner.

I made the poor assumption that re-installing the SHCS and tightening them really well would seal it well enough. After all they are nicely machined surfaces. Wrong! When I installed the gearbox and filled it with oil, I found a puddle of oil on the floor the next morning, obviously from the cover. It only stopped when all the oil had drained out -- roughly a quart of expensive oil.

I have now removed the gearbox with the intent of properly removing the right cover and then making it seal properly. Certainly some Hylomar Blue, and maybe a thin gasket. What do you think?

The big question now is whether or not I can remove the right cover without doing a complete disassembly of the gearbox. Does anyone know if it can be done? If anyone has done it, I would appreciate any hints you can give me.

Thanks,
Alan

It will come straight off. There is nothing internal that connects to the right end cover. I believe there are screws for the rear rectangular cover into this side cover as well.

Just verified by replacing my right cover. ...... No issued with removing it except keep in mind there are 3 cap screws in the back of the gearbox as well as the 7 on the cover itself. I have a replacement gasket if you need one.

Sent via cell phone.

gernoff said:

No issued with removing it except keep in mind there are 3 cap screws in the back of the gearbox as well as the 7 on the cover itself. I have a replacement gasket if you need one.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the warning, I'll be sure to look for them.

Also, thanks for the offer of a gasket, but I have plenty of gasket material and can probably make one in the time it would take you to go to the post office. My "other car" is a Humber Super Snipe, so I get lots of experience making unobtanium gaskets. However, if you could measure the thickness of a genuine gasket, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Alan

You might not have this thickness material on hand.

My original gasket was 1/64 inch thick. And like you, I made all of the replacement gaskets for the machine.

Confirming gernoff, there's no problem removing the right side output cover. Nothing will jump out and bite
you.

I was stunned to find the back rectangular cover sealing surface was out of plane by about 0.015 in. with the right side cover in place. It was a permanent built-in oil leak. Check yours and hope for better results, I fixed mine.

I forgot to mention that on the square dial gearbox the gasket on that rear rectangular cover serves a specific purpose in the lubrication system designed into the gearbox. If you make your own gasket the original design should be duplicated. Precisely in other words or your gearbox will die a slow death.

DaveE907 said:

I forgot to mention that on the square dial gearbox the gasket on that rear rectangular cover serves a specific purpose in the lubrication system designed into the gearbox. If you make your own gasket the original design should be duplicated. Precisely in other words or your gearbox will die a slow death.

Click to expand...

I did, but am curious about exactly how the design serves that purpose. I am also curious about that groove on the inside, near the top of the rear cover.

I learned that if one needs to install a gasket under the right cover, it should be as thin as possible. I used 0.024" and I think it is too thick, although it worked. A thick gasket shoves the quarter-round top cover of the gearbox enough to the left that the top screws don't go in easily. A thick layer of sealant is probably the better way to go.

By the way, the operation went smoothly, but with an unexpected detour. I'll post all the details in my Basket Case thread.

Yep. There is a channel to feed lube to the feed and thread output bearings.
Note the silver arrows and channel in the rear cover.

Sent via cell phone.

Great photo of the oil passages gernoff. Your gasket design isn't the original style however, the original Monarch gasket has matching holes at the two ports you point out in your excellent photo. They were not cut for the entire slot length.

There's a reason for that. It provides structural support for the gasket across that long slot in the cover. It can not be assumed the gasket is adequately clamped by that thin cast iron cover to remain in place across the very tiny sliver of area above the cover slot. Monarch engineers were very detail oriented and experienced.

Their design of the gear splash scupper fed gearbox lubrication system provides great insight to how skilled they were. If only we could meet and talk with them now.

I designed rockets, they designed equally magnificent machines.

One of the reasons I admire these machines so much after more than a half a century ago using them as a mere apprentice: recognizing the design solutions that were made and put in place for an industrial machine. Magnificent!

While on the subject of this back cover...... Anyone have a picture of the spring and detent pin for the clutch actuator under this cover? It resides in the hole in the center of the bottom wider groove. Cannot find mine may have to grind one.

Sent via cell phone.

My original gasket is somewhat different than yours. Here is what my original back cover gasket looks like (the crunched up portion is courtesy of the previous owner's messing around). Note that there is a section cut out of the middle web:





Here is what my new one looks like, in place on the gearbox before attaching the cover. It looks like Monarch didn't want the gasket to interfere with the sliding mechanism.





I hope I got it right. I really don't want to have to pull the gearbox out again right now.

Oh, just for reference, the original gasket was 0.013" in the area that wasn't squashed by the cover.

Alan