Moss Motors, Ltd

I am restoring a 52 TD that was a literal basket case, car dismantled and stored for over 20 plus years in someone's garage. I own three other "T" series cars . This is a complete frame off body and everything restoration with many buckets of parts and Moss Motors to fill in the gaps with time and money. I have completely reframed and replaced all wood , done all of the fender and body work now starting with assembling the engine.

 When I started the restoration the engine block was completely stripped by someone else and of course rusty along with engine parts the previous guy took apart. I started by turnig the crank, boring the block and cleaning up all the parts , threads etc. Many parts like the distributor, brakes cylinders were frozen from time taking its toll. I got the distributor loose after much coaxing and WD - 40, and replaced all the brake parts with new

I am tackling the rebuild by starting with replacing the cam shaft. Got new bearings in place with the proper alignment of the cam bearings and the set screws. Next step was fitting the now unattached big sprocket drive to the camshaft.

To my surprise the bolt on the end of the camshaft that holds the big sprocket gear in place is just not coming loose. Even with a long breaker bar.

I have tried WD - 40 ( copius amounts) some mild heating and soaking but still frozen.

Does anyone out there know if this sprocket bolt is possibly a right hand thread. None of the literature I read about says that it is other than a standard left hand thread.

I am being cautious in blocking the cam lobes with hardwood to try to remove the bolt and do not want to twist the cam or break it in place. I hate to heat the cam to a very high temperature at the end , but this may be an option also.

Only other option will be drilling out the old bolt unfortunately which I don't want to do if its a right handed bolt and I should have known better anyway

Any advice or previous experience would be appreciated.

 

Try contacting Bill Wardlow http://www.motorwayltd.com/ (Motorbill66 via private message in this forum) or Johnathon Twist of University Motors http://www.universitymotorsltd.com/.  I'm sure they're removed a gazillion of these bolts.  Maybe the Moss Motors reps know for sure.

 I can't find anything in the official workshop manual concerning non-standard thread for the sprocket bolt.  Sounds like you're dealing with some serious rust-weld!  Have you tried an air impact wrench?  Worked great in quickly spinning off a really stubborn front crankshaft pulley bolt on my '51 TD.  If nothing else, a legitimate excuse for the missus that you really need more power tools ...

Good luck!

Larry,

I think you may have your terminology a tad messed up concerning left and right hand threads. A right hand thread tightens by turning to the right, or clockwise, A left hand threaded fastener is thightened by turning anti-clockwise. The screw you are dealiing with is indeed a right hand threaded fastener. Loosen it by turning your wrench or breaker bar handle to the left, or anti-clockwise.

WD 40, while useful for some purposes, is not much of a penetrant. In facte, it is technically not even a lubricant. It's actually a detergent. Use PB Blaster or Kroil, and give them a chance to work. The fastener in question is not all that sturdy, and you WILL break it off with any undue force. Patience is the most important tool you'll employ in this instance. Good luck.

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

I agree, PB Blaster has loosened some very stubborn rusty bolts and nuts for me. WD-40, not so much.

 Dave

Were you able to have it fixed already? An old Camshaft Bolt can cause a lot of damage to your camshaft. Rust eats it up which makes the bolts hard to remove. You should check all your bolts so that you would avoid problems like these.