The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hey ho I didnt make the Ace on Saturday because having fixed my crank oil seal and canibalised on old Sprint box
to get the input shaft to use as a clutch aligning tool I then discovered that my wedgelock bolt was broken.
You may all recall that I had clutch slave cylinder excess travel issuses...sure enough the broken wedgelock was the cause.
When I took it out the pin was broken and of course the rest of it is firmly stuck in cross shaft and yoke..

In days of yore when such things were commonplace I would have sawn though the cross shaft and fitted a new one.
Now I'm loath to trash an otherwise good cross shaft.....If I could make it all so the cross haft and yoke were firmly locked together, that would do me. the box is good...no leaks from front seal and no need to strip it down.

So what do you suggest? I recently read someone had use roll pins...Good idea.
What size do I need, where do I get them and what size drill do I use? What are the chances of drilling through from the front without breaking a drill bit using a hand held drill?

Or do I drill a hole in the bottom of the bell housing and try drilling out the old wedgelock remnants. I really dont fancy that without a pillar drill...

Jonners

Hi Jon,
We have been successful in the past with drilling a hole from the opposite side of the fork and then driving the broken pin out. This is providing the pin is broken below the thread whcih they normally are. A litle skill and luck is required to get the hole in the right place.

When refitting the trick is to make sure the taper on the pin is a tight fit in the fork. If thre is any movement between the shaft and fork when the wedgelock is tighened up try another pin- there is a bit of variation in taper sizes. Alternately have someone turn up an oversize pin and lap it to the fork.

We also ensure that any good assemblies are dismantled and a hole drilled in the fork from the thread side right through so that when the inevitable haappens in the future removing the broken pin is less of an issue.
Good luck.
Philip

We also ensure that any good assemblies are dismantled and a hole drilled in the fork from the thread side right through so that when the inevitable haappens in the future removing the broken pin is less of an issue.

Bloody good idea!

jon if you cant get any success with the normal methods,and as a last resort,i destroyed the thrust bearing carier in order to save the cross shaft,using a cutting disc in an angle grinder i cut through the btm of the leg that the wedge lock goes through.then you can tap the remains of the pin upover out of the shaft,it takes quite a bit of patience and care to aviod hitting anyhing you shouldnt with the grinder.

They are a right royal pain. The taper lock broke on mine as I was dismantling for a rebuild. Check out http://www.buckeyetriumphs.org/technica ... hShaft.htm for a pretty interesting read and suggestions for improvements. It's for a TR6, so the clutch shaft turns enough to drill easily in situ; unfortunately the Sprint has a different design; all the load is on one point, so it's likely yours has sheared at the yoke/shaft point. I managed to pursuade/drift the shaft around enough that I could use a cordless drill at low speed to drill the yoke directly behind the pin, firstly with a pilot of around 2.5mm then worked up to 5mm ish; start drilling at about 45deg to get it started and then point in the right direction. You can then use a punch to get the broken section out.

I lapped-in my new pin and also cross drilled it to take a roll pin; but think you'd best to do it on a pillar drill.

Definately worth pre-drilling any yokes when reassembling - for a couple of minutes work you might well thank yourself, or someone else...

Clive

Think I'll just cross drill it and fit a roll pin in situ.
What size pind did you use and what drill size did you need?
I'll have a look at that site too...
Thanks for the help guys...

I wondered about cutting the small pins at the top of the yoke so I could get a bit better access to the blind side if it will tip forwards but I made no impression with a junior hacksaw. Looks like the pins are very hard but only pressed in.

Jonners

There is another link for removing the pin in case you didn't see it http://www.buckeyetriumphs.org/technica ... rkPins.htm.

I think you should give a go at getting the old one out, it's not too difficult. I used a mallet to twist the shaft in the yoke enough to be able to turn the shaft back to get a drill in. You can then go belt and braces on the fix, a new taper pin and an extra.

I think I used an 8.0mm x 38mm pin, but it could have been 6.4mm x 31.8mm or 9.5x38 I can't remember. I cheated and got a machine shop close to where I used to work to drill the shaft/yoke assembly. I don't know the scientific way to assess the hole dimension, but I'd compress the pin and use a slightly larger drill so the pin is tight without fouling.

I know you can drill the yoke without too much difficulty, I used a slow speed and some oil to cool, I broke a couple of small drill bits though; however I think the shaft itself will be pretty hard to drill by hand.

I have some roll pins (metric) if you want let me know the size and I'll stick one in the post.

Okay the saga continues but Ive won this battle...

I grund through the little pins at the top of the fork. The fork suffered a little damage but could be built up and used again if need be. I had a spare fork so no worries...
This allows the fork to tip forard and then the rod can go sideways enough to get a drill in fron the other side. I started small and worked up and got a punch in...it soon gave up the fight amd the broken bit dropped out. It is quite a tight fit in the cross shaft as well. One saved cross shaft...and a repairable fork has to be a result.
I made sure as per the buckey advice that the new pin goes through into the fork and was a good tight fit. Pin and fork had been used togetther before and are from an early non o/d box so I hope the quality is a bit better. All the failures Ive had have been in late cars like this one...
Its all back in the car now. I just have to finsih exhaust and cooling system and then its back on the road after 6 weeks.

Jonners

You have done well there, Jon.
This same poor design (albeit with the slave cylinder facing the other way) is used on the 2000 range too. There must have been a good few 2000s that went for scrap, despite being in good condition, because of this type of failure .
It is worth having a look at Chris Witor's part list as he sells all the bits and pieces, some of which are improved versions of the originals, for the clutch operating system.

Well its never easy is it and some times I feel like taking the 2 k scrappage deal I really do...
On Friday evening I was about to put the rad back in and just jumped in and tried the clutch again...moving too far!
Aaaargh! Surely the wedgelock cant have bust again...
On closer examination I noticed a small circumferential crack on the weld on the cross shaft. This has allowed the upright bit to move relative to the cross rod. Either it must have just happened or I hadnt noticed it earlier.
The long and short was I started at around 9 on saturday and pulled the lot out again. It was back in again by 14:30...
It does make a difference having finger tight downpipe bits so the time I'd invested cleaning threads and putting in studs was well spent. Luckily I had a spare cross shaft in good condition and the wedgelcok went in nicely.
It all feels as it should now...but the slave seal is weepy...
New kit and all should be well...

Jonners