Grease nipple plea

[John Cornforth]

I'd like to know more about the oiler idea.

I have never managed to get grease to flow through my semi girling stub axles, it prefers to escape from around the upper blanking caps despite these being tack welded in place by Vince Leek when he refurbished them. Goodness knows how much pressure is being applied from the lever type grease gun. Even warming the grease and the stub axle doesn't seem to help. Maybe the clearance between pin and bush is just too small ?

[Chris Garner]

Yes, that's where the one on its way to Stuart came from I think. Following the lead of the late, great Ian Sly I don't use grease nipples on Girling Stub Axles any more prefering flip top oilers.



Steve

An interesting alternative and one which I would not have considered. This is in line with the Tecalemit one shot oiling system fitted to two A7 models of Gordon England cars and other marques. Looking at the method of conveying just oil ( SAE 30 or 40 presumably)) to the king-pins and to both front and rear spring shackles in this system, I was dubious it would be effective. As Steve is obviously happy that it works, then I accept the Tecalemit system must be as effective.

[Steve Jones]

I'd like to know more about the oiler idea.

I have never managed to get grease to flow through my semi girling stub axles, it prefers to escape from around the upper blanking caps despite these being tack welded in place by Vince Leek when he refurbished them.  Goodness knows how much pressure is being applied from the lever type grease gun. Even warming the grease and the stub axle doesn't seem to help.  Maybe the clearance between pin and bush is just too small ?

 
After years of struggling to get grease to properly lubricate king pins on both Girling and earlier stub axles I realised that as well as the problem John describes above, with Girlings, over time, grease tended to harden at the bottom of the pin and block the hole leading to the bottom bush on both types. Those who knew the late Ian Sly will confirm he was very good at coming up with the most simple of answers to all sorts of problems. In this case he simply said 'Don't use grease'. He'd already converted Vicki's Ulster to flip top oilers and he used some sort of steam oil instead.

I therefore converted the stubs on my Trials Chummy and Ulster to flip top oilers as the previous photo. The King Pins need to be removed and cleaned of any old grease before converting so the oil can flow properly. The oilers are made up using suitable oilers bought from Ebay and an original 'square block' nipple removed and saved for another day from some axle or other in the past. A bit of modification to the nipple, a 5/16" BSF thread on the end and it's done.

I use 140 axle oil in the oilers. I lift the front of the cars up so that the wheels are off the ground and fill the oilers from an oil can then leave overnight with the car off the ground and let gravity do its job. I might give an extra shot or two before leaving it. Next morning there's evidence of the oil on the back plates at both the top and the bottom showing the oil's got to where it needs to be. For the Trials Car, because of the environment it was operating in I used to remove the oilers before an event and fit blanking plugs but I'm not sure that was really necessary.

Both cars have been like this for a fair few years now and I've never had any problems. Some people have copied the idea and some others confirm they gave up with grease and use oil a long time ago however they get it in. I also use oil in the pins on my SWB Saloon with pre-Girling stubs. There it's simply a matter of removing the brass plug and filing the king pin with oil from the oil can. The one issue I did have, however, was with the Ulster at a Sprint event at Blyton last year. This was an event for modern cars with our few A7s bolted on at the back. As I was making my way to the start line a scrutineer pulled me to one side and said I looked to have a hydraulic oil leak to the front brakes on both sides of the car   Being fair to him, he had no experience of our pre-war cars and was very embarrassed when I explained how that was impossible!!


Steve

[Mike Costigan]

On advice from my father back in the 1960s I have always used SAE140 back-axle oil - I retain the standard grease nipples and have a dedicated grease gun filled with oil.

[Reckless Rat]

I have a semi-girling front axle on the RP and when greasing, the nearside reataining cap has a habit of being pushed off by the pressure of the grease gun. I get the Melm'Sahib to wedge a tyre lever between the plug and the adjuster moulding while I give it the beans with the grease gun. Works every time. Strangely the offside one never budges.

[David.H]

A bit off topic, sorry! But almost relevant
I have a Rover 12 tourer that is fitted with a Luvax-Bijur total loss automatic lubrication system and no grease nipples The theory is that the manifold applies a vacuum to the "system" which then pushes SAE 90 round about 23 lubrication points, No vulgar pulling on a lever or pushing a pedal (like on more ordinary vehicles like Bentleys!) Rovers do it automatically when the car decides it needs it!  
Where does this have relevance to Sevens I hear you cry? 

There is a blanking plug immediately  after the reservoir and into this it is possible to screw a "suitable nipple" (unspecified in the manual. Using this it is possible (apparently) to pressurise the system in order to check if oil is reaching the relevant moving parts...that other oils  cannot reach...
 
1. What sort of nipple should I use?  A straight on would be ergonomically easiest! A brake bleed nipple fits the hole, but would not, I imagine, be any good to apply pressure to check the system!
2. I don't have a pressurised oil (as opposed to grease) gun....What is suitable? A Wanner perhaps? They were always good on grease and I recall they were ok with oil ..I had one in the 60's for my mini...both long gone!
I can add that there are a number of puddles on the garage floor, which tells me the system is working, but NOT whether it is getting to all the places where it is really needed (like king pins!)
Helpful advice will be appreciated
David

[Chris Garner]

David,
The Tecalemit system is similar to the Luvax-Bijur one  on your Rover 12. The system is served by the vacuum in the inlet manifold and activated by a button on the dashboard. A shot once a week is recommended. As on yours, no grease nipples.

Further investigation suggests the oil could well be SAE 140, already in the reservoir.

Interestingly I contacted Tecalemit advising of their '20's system on the car, thinking they might be interested and asking what oil they would recommend. One first count they showed no interest and on the second, recommended hydraulic oil! So much for their technical expertise.

I use a Wanner to fill the rear axle on my Brooklands...the access hole being obscured by the body work / floor pan.

[Bruce Nicholls]

Chain saw oil is very good for kingpins as its sticky and doesn't run away. Available from Machine Mart and other suppliers online. Used it on steering trunnions when I had a Lotus Elan.

[Austin in the Shed]

It is possible to alter the girling stub axles to accept screw in brass plugs instead of the core plug type caps.I think I used M20x1.5 and grind a tiny bit off the length of the kingpins and then they can't pop out when greasing.