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+--- Thread: Ruby Mk1 brake shaft removal (/showthread.php?tid=5716)
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Ruby Mk1 brake shaft removal - darcher121 - 24-02-2021
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Any clever ideas to remove this lever?
If I have read the drawing right, if I can get this O/S lever off, the inner shaft should draw away towards the N/S.
But it is stuck fast. Plenty of penetrating oil and some heat, but there is little to grab onto.
Rear springs still stuck in the chassis. Buying a bigger hammer
RE: Ruby Mk1 brake shaft removal - John Cornforth - 24-02-2021
Hi darcher
If it really is a Mk1 Ruby, i.e. predates the Semi-Girling setup, the inner and outer cross shafts are spot welded together near the centre of the shaft and won't come apart without major surgery. The inner lever in your photo (which joins to the brake pedal rod) is a permanent part of the outer cross shaft. The outer lever is held on with a "bicycle cotter". To identify which shaft you have, if there is a swinging compensator below it you have the later Semi-Girling shaft, if not then it's the earlier type I just described. The Semi-Girling type isn't welded and allows you to slide out the inner.
If you need to take the whole shaft off to service it, you can remove the 16 rivets which hold the two support bearings to the chassis rails by a combination of drilling out the heads and a sharp cold chisel. Use 1/4 inch BSF high tensile bolts and nuts when reassembling.
RE: Ruby Mk1 brake shaft removal - "Slack Alice" Simon - 24-02-2021
Remember to take photos and make notes as you dismantle.
This is a notoriously complicated assembly.
Not helped by worn zinc bushes which come out in pieces, so difficult to work out how the original assembly looked, even if you dis-assemble carefully.
RE: Ruby Mk1 brake shaft removal - darcher121 - 24-02-2021
Can't see a compensator so probably the earlier one.
it seems quite tight with no play, though this may be because it is gummed up.
I may well leave well alone unless there is discernible play after a good clean up.
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RE: Ruby Mk1 brake shaft removal - andrew34ruby - 24-02-2021
I removed my cross shaft from my early Ruby without drilling any rivets out. This was about 33 years ago so can't remember just how. I then put it all back together with new bushes about 3 years ago.
RE: Ruby Mk1 brake shaft removal - John Cornforth - 24-02-2021
Hi
Yes, that looks like the early Ruby one. The shaft runs in 3 thin zinc bushes, which in turn are within spherical bearings to give self alignment even with a little chassis twist. As long as the shaft turns easily in the bushes, without too much clearance, but the SA bearings are still stiff enough enough not to turn in their flanged housings then all should be well.
I suggest you clean it up and oil it, then see how it goes. Taking the shaft off is quite a palaver so I'd only recommend it if you really need to attend to the bearings.
Whilst on the subject of this shaft, there is no compensation between front and rear brakes except for a tiny bit of springiness in the cables etc. For this reason, setting up the cables is needs care. By adjusting the nut on the semicircular yoke for the front brakes, you can easily go from nearly all fronts to nearly all rears over a surprisingly small range of adjustment. The key to understanding brakes is that the movement of the various parts is the thing you can see, but it's the invisible forces and tensions which actually do the job of braking.
RE: Ruby Mk1 brake shaft removal - Dave Mann - 24-02-2021
RE: Ruby Mk1 brake shaft removal - Geoff Halstead - 25-02-2021
“That looks familiar” thought I?
It was very easy to remove.
Take lots of photos, as I did, for the time you put it all back together.
Geoff
RE: Ruby Mk1 brake shaft removal - Dave Mann - 25-02-2021
It's all very quiet on the Ruby renovation Geoff.
RE: Ruby Mk1 brake shaft removal - Bob Culver - 28-02-2021
John Cornforth's comments all very relevant.
Sorting my shed I unearthed a complete assembly I cut from a very neglected RP nearly 60 years ago. Whereas the regularly oiled shaft on my car was buried under an inch and more of black goo, the other was quite dry. The zinc bearings are stuck solid and all movement has clealry been in the very loose spheres. Was there originally a pin or suchlike to stop rotation?
With a tyre lever I could just detect that the concentric shafts were separate. But this seems the oddest design feature. It is hard to imagine the miniscule difference in rotation mattering.