1970 Clutch Cross Shaft Zerk Fitting Thread Size?

[Gary B.]

Re: 1970 Clutch Cross Shaft Zerk Fitting Thread Size?

Ron------


By the way, the original plastic plug was never available in SERVICE but I suppose it's probably available in reproduction.

Joe,

If I’m not mistaken, Pete Lindahl reproduced the orange-red plastic plugs for the cross shaft. I don’t know if he still had an inventory of them when he passed, and if he did, I don’t know who might have them now. But it’s possible Steve Walker took possession of them.

Gary

PS. The plugs Pete reproduced were orange/red. The ones LIC sold were red red. No orange. Knowing Pete’s meticulous research and attention to originality, I bet Pete’s were closer to the original color.

gary

[Joe L.]

Re: 1970 Clutch Cross Shaft Zerk Fitting Thread Size?

Mark, Joe, others--

I finally got curious enough to go take a look at the cross shaft on my 1965. After a bit of a search, I located the grease zerk that was once installed in the cross shaft. Removed the plastic plug and screwed in the zerk fitting. There may be some zerk fittings with a 3/8 X 24 thread but my car is not one of them. I then tried a couple of other fittings from my brass assortment that matched the zerk threads and all were the correct thread size. A bolt with a 3/8 X 24 thread will screw into the threads on the cross shaft but gets tight after a couple of turns. Using a tap from my Craftsman set to verify the threads - the tap is clearly stamped as ( 1/8 PIPE ).My guess is that the cross shafts would have had a pipe thread to easily accept a standard grease zerk fitting.

Ray

Ray------

Nothing beats empirical information and you've done that. I did not try a bolt or grease fitting in the cross shaft. I just "eye-balled" it and the diameter was 3/8" and the thread appeared to be non-tapered fine thread. So, I mistakenly concluded that the thread was UNF 3/8-24. That conclusion was bolstered when I learned that UNF 3/8-24 grease fittings do exist (which actually surprised me). I should have considered 1/8-27 NPT which is also about 3/8" OD. Just goes to show that seemingly well thought-out conclusions can prove to be dead wrong.

[Mark E.]

Re: 1970 Clutch Cross Shaft Zerk Fitting Thread Size?

I ordered a bag of 3/8" zerks from eBay. No specific thread type specified. I'll post how they fit.

[Mark E.]

Re: 1970 Clutch Cross Shaft Zerk Fitting Thread Size?

A delayed update: The "standard" 3/8" zerks from eBay are the correct thread type/size.