Dog Clutch Re-Visited

Dog Clutch Re-Visited

I have now made the new dog clutch, well twice actually as I made the same mistake as the first firm that made it did. The balls in the CV joint do not run in the bottom of the grooves in the CV joint but 10 thou off the bottom. So making it to that measurement made the first attempt 20 thou out. The last pic is with the Cavalier inner CV boot with an oil seal on the little end. When the clutch is dis-engaged the clutch and CV boot will rotate and the prop shaft will remain still.

Dog Clutch

Dog Clutch

The Dog clutch is the next thing to come under scrutiny. I first had this made for me be for I had my own lathe. I wanted it made of ali, but it came over engineered made of steel and heavy. Also when disengaged the CV inner was far too loose and would probably rattle. I have also changed my mind on the reverse and no longer need the "V" puly.

Taking the old dog clutch apart was difficult to say the least. It would not pull apart in the vice so I cut three slits in the sleeve that goes over the CV joint, still no joy. Next came the blow lamp and a bigger hammer, it would not budge. I machined the sleeve off completely, that left the remaining bit just butted up to the CV joint. I then noticed that I had used a small bead of stixall as a sealant when I assembled it. It still needed a large lump hammer to part it! As I said amazing stuff that Stixall.

Gearbox Output Pix

Gearbox Output

Now the shaft comes out of the back of the "gearbox" strait and true I now have to move the location hole for the Mini drive shaft bearing housing to locate. Tom & Jerry make moving a hole look easy but I had to cut a big hole in the casing and add a new bit with the hole in right place and captivate five nuts to hold the bearing housing.. By doing this I have made the rear casing a lot stronger as I have added 6mm to casing. The white stuff holding the nuts in the first pic is truly amazing stuff called Stixall

Machining Mini Bearing Housing

Straightening Clutch

After making the shaft true I had to put a needle roller thrust bearing on the end to hold the shaft in position to allow a small amount of end float. The first picture showes how I added a layer of harder alloy to the piece of aluminium that will become the bearing location. The next pic is it finished. And then located.

I had a hardened steel bearing washer that had to be fixed to the inside of the Mini drive shaft bearing housing. Before I could locate it I had to machine the housing. Holding the housing in the lathe chuck was a challenge.

Reworking Clutch Pix

Reworking Clutch

I have been very busy making small progress. My converter to dog-clutch shaft was a little out of true, I thought I would straighten it up by puting it on the lathe heating it up evenly as it is turning and then tapping it until it is true. This did not work, once it got to the critical temperature for the Lumiweld (about 500 degrees C) it fell apart. I was not too surprised at this and it gave me the chance to re machine the face and set it up before re doing the Lumiweld. I made a sort of vertical spit roast device for the lathe so as I could rotate the shaft vertically as I heated it up evenly to re apply the Lumiweld. All went well, the shaft cooled down perfectly true. But cleaning up the welded bit I found a small empty pocket that may have effected the balance. So I re-heated it, flowed a bit more Lumiweld in as I taped it to get the air out. It looked perfect but it was out of true again. So re-heat take apart re machine, add a few few bolts an d now it is true again.