Rubber prop donut

[Motorhole]

Hey guys,

Just got a new one of these (E36 328i item for my m52 conversion) from GSF, but it doesn't have any marking arrows to show which way round it goes on! What do I do??

[Rtaylor2208]

On the lemforder one I bought for my M20 it looks like its in two halfs. With one side thicker than the other. The thiner side has an arrow pointing forward. No idea if your will be similar but hopefully that might help or make sense.

[Motorhole]

Yeah that's what I was expecting but it doesn't seem to be the case here.

Here's some pics of what I have. One side has the part number stamped on it:



The other side has numbers 09, 10, 11, 12 in little circles but not seeming to be in in place of particular importance:



The outside is completely unmarked all the way around:



No fitting instructions

[Rtaylor2208]

Ah, bugger. Is it possible that its interchangable and thats the only reason its not marked?

[Motorhole]

I'm not sure - I assumed that they have to fit one way as manufacture means that they are more resilient to twisting (and therefore breaking down over time) in one direction? I might be wrong.

Won't be fitting until the weekend at the earliest so hopefully someone will have a definitive answer - not that I don't appreciate your input Rtaylor

[Rtaylor2208]

I still need to fit mine as well. Had a stumbling block on saturday and still not found time since to have another go.

[Motorhole]

What's the prob you're having?

[Rtaylor2208]

I couldn't budge the diff bolts, so posted up and Brian advised I can disconnect the prop from the gearbox end. Got the exhaust \ heasheilds, gearbox mount and the cab floor brace out the way first.

Removed the bolts for the carrier, and removed the nuts and bolts on the donut to gearbox output flange. But was strugling to get it disconnected.

Brian reckons I just need to pull the centre carrier down and it should pop off the gearbox flange. I can then split the prop to replace the dount and bearing. He also said I might need to loosen the sleeve so I can move the splines on the prop back to give me a little more clearence to get the prop off of the flange.

[Motorhole]

Yeah, that might be possible. Loosening the sleeve will give you another 20-30mm of room to work with. Bear in mind you'll need something like a 36-38 mm spanner to loosen the sleeve though, or a pair of stilsons/adjustable that will go that big

[Brianmoooore]

Your donut looks like it is divided into three pairs of holes joined by thick rubber. Position it so that the leading hole of each pair, when the prop. is turning in a forwards direction, is bolted to the gearbox flange.

[Rtaylor2208]

Yeah, that might be possible. Loosening the sleeve will give you another 20-30mm of room to work with. Bear in mind you'll need something like a 36-38 mm spanner to loosen the sleeve though, or a pair of stilsons/adjustable that will go that big

Ah Bugger again, I dont have anything that will go that big I don't think. I'll hopefully get a chance to go check again tonight.

[Motorhole]

Your donut looks like it is divided into three pairs of holes joined by thick rubber. Position it so that the leading hole of each pair, when the prop. is turning in a forwards direction, is bolted to the gearbox flange.

Thanks Brian, spot on

RTaylor - believe me, it's much better finding out you don't have the tools at the beginning of the week than it is at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon when nowhere is open...

[Brianmoooore]

As long as some semi trained gorilla wasn't the last one to tighten the sleeve nut, a pair of water pump pliers or a chain type oil filter wrench should be adequate to undo it. It should only be compressing the rubber, and not up against a stop or the end of the threads.

[Rtaylor2208]

I suspect its never been touched since it left the factory going on the sorry state the guibo is in.