ring gear slipping off

[Willynch]

I have a 30 Tudor. Ring gear keeps slipping forward to the point that starter cant engage.

I remove starter, tap ring gear back into place but eventually happens again.

I tried using LockTite to see if it would hold the gear in place but that does not work.

Im assuming i need to do something more invasive to solve the problem?

Would appreciate guidance/suggestions

Thanks

[Jim/GA]

To do it right, you really need to pull the engine and put a new ring gear on the flywheel.

While it is out, take the flywheel with new ring gear installed to a machine shop and have them add 4 "keeper screws" on the flywheel to pin the ring gear on.

Big job.

I have heard of guys working through the starter motor opening and drilling/tapping 4 holes in the flywheel to lock the ring gear on with 4 bolts. I don't know exactly where they drilled or what they used to bolt the ring gear on. Proceed at your own risk.

[Willynch]

thanks Jim. I like the idea of the "keeper" screws. Appreciate the suggestions

[john charlton]

I have several flywheels where the ring gear has been tack welded by MIG at 12. 3, 6, 9,. o,clock. These tacks are about 1" long and no doubt was to cure the problem that you have . The ring gear is junk anyway so no loss there . Looking at the flywheel I can see the welds can be removed fairly cleanly when the flywheel is removed and put on a bench . If you take this route make sure that you ground the welder direct to the flywheel so the ground does not go through the babbit .This should be a permanent cure untill the ring gear needs changing .

John in sunny evening Suffolk County England .

[The Master Cylinder]

Originally Posted by john charlton

I have several flywheels where the ring gear has been tack welded by MIG at 12. 3, 6, 9,. o,clock. These tacks are about 1" long and no doubt was to cure the problem that you have . The ring gear is junk anyway so no loss there . Looking at the flywheel I can see the welds can be removed fairly cleanly when the flywheel is removed and put on a bench . If you take this route make sure that you ground the welder direct to the flywheel so the ground does not go through the babbit .This should be a permanent cure untill the ring gear needs changing .

John in sunny evening Suffolk County England .

I have done the same until if/when the engine is out for another reason. Never a problem.

[Jim Brierley]

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There's a system called a "Dutchman", where you drill and tap half way into each piece, in this case the ring gear and the wheel itself. I did this with the flywheel off the engine, but it could be done without removing it. The engine on our 4 cyl.'s only stops in 2 places, 180 degrees apart. You will see this by the wear marks on the ring gear. I put these in 4 spots at 90* from each other, but I think one at each wear-point would suffice. If I remember right, I did not tap all the way in, so the set-screws I used bottomed out on their threads, holding the screws in place. Good luck!

[SAJ]

Here is a link to previous posts on this topic. Scroll down to se what I did. This has now been done on a number of club cars. We call, these grub screws "Scotch keys" when used in this manner. It is interesting to hear Jim Brierly call it a "Dutchman.
SAJ in NZ
The link didn't work. I will try again

[SAJ]

Here is a link to previous posts on this topic. Scroll down to se what I did. This has now been done on a number of club cars. We call, these grub screws "Scotch keys" when used in this manner. It is interesting to hear Jim Brierly call it a "Dutchman.
My pasting of the link did not work. Here is a copy and paste of the text. The photo has not attached. I have run out of time to figure out how to attach it since I have to go to my factory now.
" Here is a picture of what I did. I used a countersunk cap screw but a simple grub screw is all that is needed, since it is the threads forming a "Scotch key" that hold the parts together and the head holds nothing, should the threads strip. I used 4 screws, and the ring gear is actually moving forward between them (bending) after many thousand miles. I think 6 screws is better.
The ring gear was shrunk on and loctited after cooling. Starter is 6 volt. It still overcame the loctite and shrink fit.
We have had to do 3 other cars recently too.

I drilled mine through the starter hole. I had to use a titanium nitride coated drill since a high speed steel one would not cut. The TiN one was just a cheap import but did all 4 holes really easily. It surprises me that the drill goes in very centrally between hardened ring gear and much softer cast iron, without wandering further into the cast iron."
SAJ in NZ

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