Okay, I’ve been poked and prodded into a complete posting of my ineptitude, so let’s all settle in for a good chuckle.
If Fordboy is Prometheus, I am Sisyphus.
Here’s the front of the mainshaft, with the gear and cone in place. Note the pin pointing up about 1 o’clock. It is spring loaded in the shaft. In the lower right hand corner is the locking collar which retains the bearings and gear on the shaft.
That pin needs to be pushed down and the collar slipped over it to lock the gear and cone in place. And of course, the spring is very stiff, a jeweler’s screwdriver won’t clear the lip of the cone, and a paperclip isn’t strong enough to push down on the pin.
Now fortunately, I had just watched “The Marathon Man” the other night, and knew precisely what I needed –
http://movieclips.com/fMhF-marathon-man-movie-is-it-safe/ So with my Dr. Szell dentistry kit at my side, I was able to find a pick strong enough to hold the filling in the tooth while I twisted the collar into place.
Is it safe? Hey, Safety Fast is the MG motto!
A similar yet somewhat more complex arrangement holds the 1-2 cluster in place, except this time, rather than a single spring and pin arrangement, there are two pins with one spring, a split thrust washer arrangement and an even more preposterous collar arrangement to sort – note the visible pin at 4 o’clock and the tabs on the thrust washers at 2 and 8 – once again, access encumbered by the depth of the cone –
This is the retaining collar, which needs to be put in place over the spring and
pins – plural – by pushing in the pins from BEHIND the collar while trying to slide it over the pins in order to turn the collar and lock the whole kitandkaboodle down.
Oh, did I mention it needs to line up with the tabs on the split thrust washer?
Here’s the proof that it can be done, but I have no intention of ever doing it again –
And . . . twist . . .
What you did not see photographic evidence of was placing the springs and balls in the synchro collar and trying to retain them with hose clamps while fighting a plunger on the hub which insisted on being precisely where it made all but impossible that very task.
The end result is that it’s all in place, it turns without grinding, I’m out of beer, and I will never cuss bolts.