Bell Crank Bushing Replacement on G50

[MOMO3.2]

Is there a way to remove the Bell Crank on a G50 without dropping the transmission?

I recently discovered a disintegrated inner bushing on my 87 G50. But, I cannot remove the Bell Crank even after fully compressing the banana arm (it fouls on the arm). One just cannot pull the bell carnk all the way off without fouling on the banana arm. It does not look like removing the stud running into the transmission is an option either.

HELP!

I have to get a new bushing on the inside of this linkage point or it just wont last.

Thank you.

Mike

[Dixie]

Face it. you need to drop the engine and trans.

[Quicksilver]

You can kind of do it by dropping the front of the transmission... I have done it... Once.

It is easier and faster to just drop the whole thing. My big secret for ease of dropping the engine and getting out from under the car so it is fast and easier to work on? (This will sound stupid...)

I have a cheap skateboard that I cut the kicktail off of and I screwed blocks of wood to hold the engine/trans on either side of the center rib. You drop the engine onto it and can easily roll it out and steer it by tilting the whole thing back and forth. When you go to put it back it is effortless to get it under the car and lined back up. (It is actually kind of fun.) The last time I put the motor in I had a few people watching who started out by laughing. They ended up with their jaws on the floor when they saw me roll it out of the garage and have it jacked up into position in less then ten minutes.

[MOMO3.2]

Thanks all.

Damn, I did not want to have to do an engine drop to fix this.

Mike

[jevvy]

Its easy you just got to jack the car from under the actual rear wheel - this compresses the banana arm out the way and gives you enough room to get the bell crank off.

Its best to get the car in the air on jack stands then use another jack to slowly lift the rear wheel making sure you don't take too much weight off the jack stands and make the car unstable.

[MOMO3.2]

jevvy:

Can you confirm this on a G50?

I had the car on one jack stand under the rear torsion bar. I placed a jack under the left rear wheel and jacked it up until it started to lift the car off the jack stand. I was pretty sure the suspension was bottomed out at that point. The bell crank still could not clear the swing arm.

I sure would like to avoid droping the motor for this.

Mike

[KTL]

Measure how much space there is between the end of the bellcrank shaft and the trailing arm. I'm guessing, but I'll bet the installed depth of the shaft is shorter than the space between shaft end and trailing arm.

My transmission is out of the car right now, so I can definitely tell you the installed depth of the shaft. And I know for a fact on 915's that this shaft is NOT a blind hole. Meaning, you remove the shaft and here comes some gear oil. I'll check to see if the G50 is blind too. At work right now so i'm going by memory............

[KTL]

I don't know if this helps any. The shaft thread length is 0.58 in. on my cheapie plastic calipers which is ~15mm. And the hole for the shaft is indeed NOT blind. So you remove the shaft and some gear oil will follow. Not a big deal if you have a short M8x1.25 bolt to insert in the hole while you clean the shaft and install the new bushing.

The shaft is also held in place with light duty thread locking compound. Probably something like Loctite blue or green. Definitely not red because I would have needed to use heat to remove the shaft.

[MOMO3.2]

Kevin:

Thank you so much for checking the bell crank shaft out for me. This probably sounds pretty ignorant, but how would one remove the shaft from the transmission? It would take a tool that would not blemish the shaft. It needs to stay pristine.

Thank you.

Mike

[jevvy]

Hi Mike

Yes it was a G50 car I did this on - perhaps you are working against the ARB and its stopping you getting the swing-arm out the way enough. 1 other thing I think I remember doing is splitting the bushes off the bellcrank while it is still on the shaft which allows you to wiggle it free at a better angle.

I have now removed mine as converted to 993 throttle cable - the shaft has a flat spot on the end where the split pin goes through - I just used a large adjustable spanner on that and it wound right out however as stated above gearbox oil will leak out the hole so get some tape/bolt or bung ready to blank the hole.

[KTL]

Agreed with jevvy. I too used an adjustable wrench to loosen the shaft. The shaft has "flats" on it where the hole for the cotter pin is located. In order to keep the shaft from getting marred by the wrench, you'll have to wiggle the wrench as you tighten the wrench jaws and make the wrench fit as snugly as possible.

You might consider jacking the car up on one side only so it is leaning to the passenger side alot. Put jack stands at the front and rear corners and this should minimize the amount of gear oil shooting out the hole. Or, just take this as an opportunity to change your gear oil.

[MOMO3.2]

KTL & jevvy:

Thank you both very much. I had been trying to remove the throttle union/actuator and leave the shaft in the transmission. That IS a no go.

But, with your help and advice, I jacked the car up really high on the driver's side, removed the shaft with a monkey wrench and plugged the hole with a temporary bolt to avoid gear oil loss. The shaft came off without any real drama at all.

I am now just waiting for the correct bushings. I was sent the wrong size by PP. I ponied up the extra $ for the Weltmeister brass bushings too--damn!

Thank you.

Mike

[KTL]

Good to hear you got it off the way you wanted to. Sorry to hear about the bushings. I recall having the same problem with bushing size when attempting to upgrade to bronze bushings. I think my issue was with Performance Products/Automotion. I sent them back and went with replacement plastic ones.