Differential Gasket Sealant

[TR4Tony VC]

Hi folks

Im wrestling with trying to seal 5VC’s original pressed steel axle cover onto the Pigs head. Any recommendations for a compound to assist the usual thin gasket ? I have some thoughts, but wider experience really welcome.

its worth noting that I’m using Millers axle oil with an lsd additive as the contains an original Salisbury plate type limited slip diff. 

regards

Tony 

[ianc]

When I used the tin lid, I always used Wellseal on both faces of the gasket - but it's never easy to get oil-tight seal.  With an alloy cover, I have continued to use Wellseal and I achieve a perfect seal because both surfaces are machined flat.

With the tin lid, I think you have to lay the cover onto a truly flat surface (sheet of glass, perhaps) and check all the way round with feeler gauge to ensure that the mating surface is really flat.  Usually one finds that it isn't flat at some (all?) of the screw holes - and these bumps need to be flattened.

In theory, the machined mating surface on the axle casing ought to be flat, but worth checking, especially at the screw holes.

The gasket is exceedingly thin - is it worth using two, or some other material?

Ian Cornish

[RogerH]

Hi Tony,

if you can't get the surfaces mechanically flat so a thin gasket is adequate then consider a thicker sealant. 

Non setting sealants like Hylomar and Welseal will get pushed out of a large cavity (>0.005" ) so a fully setting sealant may be of benefit.

See here for aerospace sealants that work  https://www.lasaero.com/products/article/F021G4SJV   not cheap but it goes in rockets.

It could be a bit of a bu99er getting the  diff cover off when needed - bit it can be done.

There are other 2 part sealants that are used on building sites that may do the job.

 

Roger

[ntc]

12 hours ago, TR4Tony VC said:

Hi folks

Im wrestling with trying to seal 5VC’s original pressed steel axle cover onto the Pigs head. Any recommendations for a compound to assist the usual thin gasket ? I have some thoughts, but wider experience really welcome.

its worth noting that I’m using Millers axle oil with an lsd additive as the contains an original Salisbury plate type limited slip diff. 

regards

Tony 

Tony

Good quality Rtv will do the job and not affect your lsd 

[BlueTR3A-5EKT]

32 minutes ago, ntc said:

Tony

Good quality Rtv will do the job and not affect your lsd 

+1

Also be aware that the original almost cereal packet thickness gasket (101359) for tin plate rear diff cover on rigid axle cars is a lot thicker (maybe 3 times) than the thin paper gasket (134480) for the aluminium cover used on IRS.  There is a part number change to reflect this, although they are physically the same bolt spacing and therefore interchangeable.  Maybe the supplier of gaskets has amalgamated their stock and rationalised the part numbering into one cheap number, or had them made in the wrong material thickness for the part number and application.

Peter W

 

[RogerH]

Or make your own with some decent Klinger material.

 

Roger

[stuart]

Whats wrong with a Cornflakes packet

Stuart.

[RogerH]

5 minutes ago, stuart said:

Whats wrong with a Cornflakes packet

Stuart.

I've still got my cornflakes packet Christmas TRee fairy that I put together 43 years ago.  Good stuff Cornflakes

 

Roger

[TR4Tony VC]

Thanks folks.

i think a thicker seal and better sealant as suggested is probably the way forward. The cover is marked so I’d really like to reuse it - the casing was gently flatted prior to refit so it’s basically flat, but a couple of dings on the ground side. It has a couple of unique features and is numbered so it needs to go again. The cover had corresponding bashes which were painstakingly tapped out so I’ll try it on a flat surface to make sure it’s as flat as I’d hoped. 
 

I’ve also had no trouble with alloy cover as per Beastie, so I assume there is some ‘give’ in these and they deal with 60 odd years of dents and undulations more readily. I vaguely recall putting a 16th thick gasket in there after I wrecked a CW&P on the Rally of the Tests some years back. Not the diffs fault as I spun it in the lanes on the night section after a NAM 90 left and we ended up travelling backwards in 4th fairly quickly as I dealt with some elbows and greenery. It lasted two days after that but finally shattered - the oil and bits stayed in, so the alloy covers are probably stronger than the tin type too.

ill keep you all posted - hopefully driving it to the IWE for a meet up with three old friends not see together since 1964.

regards

Tony 

[james christie]

4 hours ago, stuart said:

Whats wrong with a Cornflakes packet

+1

The true TR man’s solution for over 60 years - why change?

james