Front hub removal separation

[David Stepney]

The front hub won't come off until you remove the grease "grub" screw!
Leave the hub puller screwed tight on the outer hub, unscrew the inner part of the puller fully to release pressure and hammer on the end of the puller with a copper mallet to get the outer hub back into position. Then remove the grub screw.

Henry, whilst what you say is true, if the grub screw will not come out, the only way of getting the hub off to sort it out is as I have suggested in my previous post.

Taking the whole hub off, having removed the stub axle nut and split pin, ensures that the inner bearing is held in the hub and pushes on the spacer, which, in turn will bear up against the inner track of the outer bearing, thus ensuring it comes away from the stub axle and not try to slide back in the hub against the grub screw.

AS i have said, I have had to do this a couple of times.

[Bob Culver]

Working on older cars it is common to find that split pins have been sheared off to remove. It is very tempting when all rusted. But poor practise. Not so bad with soft pins but many are semi spring steel and gouge the threads. A locking device is not really necessary for the right wheel. The springy pins seldom stand reuse.

[JonE]

OK, have tried to 'bash' it back into position with nylon mallet. Not doing anything. Might I be able to pull the skewiff section back on with wheel nut pressure, or will that bend the flange?

What IS the grub screw actually hung up on? The rim of the small bearing?

[David Stepney]

OK, have tried to 'bash' it back into position with nylon mallet. Not doing anything. Might I be able to pull the skewiff section back on with wheel nut pressure, or will that bend the flange?

What IS the grub screw actually hung up on? The rim of the small bearing?

Jon. Almost certainly the outer track if the outer bearing has caught the end of the grub screw. This will have damaged the screw - they are quite soft. A nylon mallet is not going to be heavy enough to get the hub back on. Fit the hub puller to the end of the hub, and remove the bolt from its centre. Use a good copper mallet, or in the alternative, use the nylon mallet head as a drift to protect the end of the puller and use a lump hammer on the other end. I know it sounds brutal, but desperate situations call for desperate measures.

Do not try to draw the hub back on with the wheel nuts. You will almost certainly bend the inner hub flange and/or damage the brass wheelnuts.

Hope this helps and Good Luck!

[Bob Culver]

When working on hubs on older cars and trailers it pays to figure exactly how they work. Some can be ruined if wrong or crushed spacer, or nut overtightened etc, taper rollers and some ball arrangements more than finger tight,  and cars with angular contact races can be dangerously assembled in reverse.
 On the Seven the large race does all the locating. It should be clamped when assembled with appropriate gasket, otherwise it works loose and wheel wobbles. The pressed steel retainer for the felt seal or some equivalent must br retained to ensure the race is clamped. 
As previously, unless going wading it sufices to pack little more then the races. Pumping the hub full as old handbooks is absurd.

[JonE]

Well, what a stupid design! I can see why people shorten them.
Got a big lump hammer and its gone back and slid off beautifully. Thankyou all.
Please, everyone, mark up your Woodrow - underline that action bit of that page and write "important!". It needs flagging up for the numpties who will be reading these books after we've all snuffed it.

[David Stepney]

Well done Jon! Glad you have now got your front hub off. I have a hub currently waiting to go to my favorite engineering shop once we are out of lockdown, where some gorilla screwed the grub screw in so tight that the screwdriver just chewed the end up instead of fetching it out (It's a taper thread to take a grease nipple).

I disagree with your assessment of the design. At least one can get the thing to pieces if one has to. The only bit you can't get out without removing the screw is the outer bearing from the hub itself. If you want 'silly design' try looking at modern cars, where a comparatively simple operation is made almost impossible because of a complete lack of thought at the design stage. (Like having to remove the inlet manifold to change the spark plugs on a VW Bora, or having to lift the body from the chassis to change the starter motor on a Landrover Discovery)

[Bob Culver]

As periodic greasing is unnecessary (and undesirable) the grubscrew can be replaced by anything; a wooden plug, blob of silicon etc Or any thread.

[JonE]

ok, so being pedantic, what is the cylindrical block of excess metal beyond the end of the thread actually FOR then?
I pondered this, but IF it has no purpose AND that extra metal produces a potential issue in certain situations, then it surely should have been made lighter/shorter unless they were trying to engineer in future income from Austin workshop time in the 1920s [after home servicing by numpties...]

[David Stepney]

Jon,

I think that the unthreaded nose was to align the plug in the threaded hole so that one didn't cross-thread it when refitting, having greased the hubs in the approved manner. personally, I never grease the hubs like that. As Bob Culver has pointed out, just packing the bearings with grease is sufficient between stripdowns. It stops excess  grease getting onto the brake linings.

But, yes, I can see your point that it was something that could have been better thought out. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to make something as complicated as a motor car completely idiot proof.