Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Footer on Friday,April 17, 2020, 06:59:14 AM
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Good Morning, hope everyone is well,
I'm in the process of removing, cleaning and inspecting the front wheel bearings on my 73 TCS and have come to a stop in the process, needing some enlightening. The grease cap doesn't want to come off. Iv'e had others that were cylindrical shaped and could be removed with some channel lock pliers. Others had a base ridge you could get behind with a wedge to loosen. This one is a smooth dome shape that does not lend itself to those two approaches. I tried getting behind the edge with a utility knife and tapping on the sides with a hammer. I've also inserted a punch into the hole at the top, trying to pry it off but only bend the soft metal. Nothing seems to loosen them.
If nothing else works, I could destroy these and get new replacements, but my ego needs to conquer this obstacle.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Footer
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I hate the shape of the grease cap so I had some 10-32 nuts tacked into the inside and I can use a screw to push them out when I need. Some have done the same thing with sheet metal screws.
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Hi,
A self tapping screw in the hole and then a set of pullers to draw it out ?
Now for the Luddite approach. I will admit that as these things aren't seen I just use a hammer with that excellent tool the Sacrificial Screwdriver and gently tap around the edges to lever them out. Yes, you get "screwdriver rash" if you go too hard but it generally shifts them !
Brian
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Hammer and a screwdriver: pretty much how I removed every dust cap in 35 years of wrenching.
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Thanks guys,
These all sound like good solutions!