Things were going too smoothly...I should have seen this coming.

I'm tearing my rear end apart to inspect it and things were going fairly smoothly until I tried to remove the babbitt thrust bearing from the drive shaft tube. Following Glen Chaffin's instructions I dropped a 15/16 socket (open end down) onto the bearing and then proceeded to knock it out using the square end of the drive shaft. From what I read it should have worked great.

Imagine my surprise (and horror) when the bearing, socket, and sheared rivet heads fell out the other end. Geez! I didn't think I hit it that hard.

Anyway, now I need to replace all the rivets in the tube if that's possible. If not, I need a new drive shaft tube. Is there anyone in the T community who is set up to do this? I have an aircraft rivet gun from my airplane building past but I suspect there must be a special tool needed to do this job.

All advice, suggestions and friendly kidding will be greatly appreciated.

Socket was too big when I done my rear axle also. I made a tool for the job. Im sure someone will have your answer shortly

Bad luck there, all to say.

That loose socket likely slipped off center enough to clip a couple of rivets, so perhaps easy fix to replace those.

Maybe the other rivets are sound. You can hope

Found success with a used steering shaft, the threaded end can hold the nut used on my bushing driver set. The sized driver fits into that Babbitt bushing, so the driver and shaft can't wander.

All the rivets sheared - I would have expected some to be OK if the socket slipped. I really can't figure out how it happened. I didn't think I hit it hard enough to shear rivets but obviously I did.

Sockets outside dia very greatly
All thread and bushing knocker with a hole in piece of steel works great

Tim, I have another question for you. In your post it says, "I dropped a 15/16 socket (open end down) onto the bearing and then proceeded to knock it out using the square end of the drive shaft". Did you use a scrap drive shaft or the one for your rebuilt rear end ? Pounding on the pinion end of the drive shaft, even with the pinion nut on it is not a good idea. Those pinion nut threads have to take some of the highest torque in a Model T in order to seat the pinion gear on the drive shaft taper. If you used a block of wood to hit, between the drive shaft and hammer, you should be OK but next time use pipe or something scrap.

Tim, if your drive shaft housing is the later, common type, I think you'd be best off to just replace it. Good ones are very easy to find. Don't junk yours, just get your car back together and then you can repair the housing at your leisure. Surely you or someone from your area will be at Hershey; get one or ask him to pick one up for you.

While you or he are there, stop by my spaces RSA 88-90 and pick up a NOS babbitt bearing. I'll bring one for you.

Kevin - I didn't beat on the pinion end but regardless, the drive shaft is a scrap one.

Thanks R.V., I'll talk to my friend who is going to Hershey about a tube. I've been told to replace the bearing with brass instead of babbitt. I didn't know anyone was making them out of babbitt anymore.

Tim

Your drive shaft housing is the earlier type, used only with the 'closed spool' pinion housing, that earlier one has a raised lip or flange around the end to fit to the closed spool.

If you order a Fun Projects modern pinion, you would send in your core and get back the same type, closed spool.

So you will want to find the exact replacement drive shaft housing to keep the part years intact.


Or if you select the later style drive shaft housing, then use the later 'open' type housing with the exposed bolts and lock washers, these don't use the studs, nuts and lock wire.

And, the install of the Fun Projects is easy, but you do have to shave 1/2 off the new front bearing, as it has a thick face that is normally cut to a clearance keeping the precise fit of the ring and pinion mesh when using stock Ford roller bearing housing.

If you install that bushing without shaving the flange, the U-Joint will impinge on the bushing face and U- joint rivet won't line up to the drive shaft when using the Fun Projects modern pinion bearing set up.

Remember to drill the oil hole in that new bushing for the grease cup in the drive shaft housing!

I prefer the Babbitt over the brass bushing - easier & faster on my original tooling.

I've also installed quite a number of the F.P. bearing kits and I still face the front bushing for maintaining the fore & aft thrust by practice.

There are several good ways offered to get the bushing out, here is another offer It uses a 3/4 pipe tap threaded in to the end of the bushing using a 13/16 socket to turn the square end of the tap and a 1/2 drive extension and ratchet or bar. When the tap is substantially threaded into the bushing a long piece of pipe or bar stock can be used to drive the bushing out by tapping on the threaded tap inside the bushing.

Stevens made one of the best pullers for that bushing - I'll attempt to post a photo of mine later today.

I have a shaft with the bushing removed and I tried to insert a 15/16 socket in side the tube and it hit the rivets. Some discretion is required when removing said bushing. As mentioned above there is a proper tool to remove the bushing it is like an inside out puller the teeth spread from the inside out to grab the edge of the bushing and then it operates like a slide hammer. I have seen one but do not own one. Hence the pipe tap method.

Update - not to drag this out but I thought I'd tell everyone that I was able to successfully replace the sheared rivets in my driveshaft tube. I carefully drilled the old ones out and replaced them with 3/16 by 1/2 flat head soft iron rivets I purchased from The Fastener Shop.

I inserted the new rivets from the inside and used the old driveshaft (which I am replacing) as the bucking bar. I clamped one end of the shaft in my vise and let the other rest on a block of wood on the floor with the tube riding freely on the shaft. Pressing the tube firmly against the shaft I set each rivet using my 3x aircraft rivet gun. Setting rivets this way is backwards to how I was taught but I saw no other option. The result wasn't pretty but I think the new rivets will do the job. The flat heads nicely conform to the inside of the tube and should cause no clearance problems.

I doubt this will be my last newbie mistake but at least I was able to fix this one.

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions --- hopefully this thread will help another newbie avoid the problems that I had.

Good for you Tim