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Found a Thorp  Ball diff for vintage SRB.I'm in the process of taking it apart for a rebuild but can't get the Pressure disc seperated from the LH half axle (see pictured instrutions) - They're basically cold-welded together. If anyone has any ideas to do this without damaging either piece, feel free to reach out. 

 

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Here is an image of the diff pressure disc and LH half axel. The adjusting screw is loose, but can't get the two seperated and don't want to damage. I want to clean the 1/16 steel bearings and gunk in the mechanism here. Thanks for any advice!

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Have you tried some penetrating oil and a heat gun? Two pairs of soft jaws and some gentle turning of the parts. If you can wrap the inner part in foil for protection and hold it in a vice and locally heat the outer cylinder it might release the fit. Definitely no sharp objects and hammers at this stage :) that’s for later....

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Based on the pix, I’m guessing there is old grease “gluing” the parts together...

Try WD40. That can penetrate and loosen old grease. If not, take it to an auto parts store. They will have some kind of solvent that will break up the grease.

Terry

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Thanks very much gentlemen!

So it was a powerful trifecta of a WD40 bath, followed by cleansing boiling water bath, and then chased with a localized heat gun and gentle prying. 

But it's almost ready for another 20 years of use.

Just waiting for the 1/16 bearings to finish up their white vinegar bath. 

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+1 to that 

If you don’t mind me asking, where on Earth did you find it ?

I’ve been hunting down an original one for about 3 years 🙄

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6 hours ago, SuperChamp82 said:

+1 to that 

If you don’t mind me asking, where on Earth did you find it ?

I’ve been hunting down an original one for about 3 years 🙄

This was a literal barn find.

I was running my Springer (a dog, not a car lol) last Fall with a friend on land upstate NY. 

As a trade off my wife wanted to do some raw antiquing on the way out, so we stopped at this random house that had a small garage sale going. 

She was looking around and I caught a glimpse of this old Thorp label (pictured) in a smal box under a folding table. That got my heart going...

There was that NIP wrench and screw set, which I don't really know what model fits, a bunch of broken plastic, at the top, then an A arm from a vintage SRB,  and finally I saw this thing sitting loose at the bottom like a literal nugget of gold. 

The old lady was in her 70s and her "kids" were now in their 40s (my age as well lol) living elsewhere with kids of their own.

The parts were probably left as is from the late 80s.

She managed to dig out a really beat looking Rough Rider shell and destroyed chassis - which I bought with the box of parts as a courtesy - for $100 all in, $50 more than she was even asking. 

 

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