Saving Old Seagulls

I'm still working on the restauration of my 102. Now I'm facing a dilemma. I can't get the end cap off. I would like to see if everything is ok inside. I tried a bit of hammering on the prop shaft but that doesn't work. Peeking through the oil filling hole shows no problems, everything is running smooth and I flushed it a while ago to get all old oil etc out. What do you think: should I leave it as it is and fill it with new oil, ore should I try harder to get the end cap off. And how? Harder hammering, heating?

It's probably a good idea to remove it and clean all the sludge out, as well as getting the gears nice and clean. That said I ve often found a cleaned box to be more prone to leakage

The end cap will have stuck in place with a combination of corrosion and possibly old gasket goo. Apply some gentle heat all around and tap the lugs gently with a plastic or wooden mallet to allow the end cap to rotate. Do it in both directions and it should soon loosen. Once off give the whole thing a really good clean and you are good to go.

I've got a SD box to look at at some point that needs the pinion replacing.Thats going to be a right job I suspect.

Drain the contents of the gearbox first.
Remove the brass collar on the drive shaft and the 2 or 3 screws on the front cover.
Find something to place in the slot where the drive spring sits, heat the front cover and outer edge of the gear case and with a rubber or wooden mallet, hit quite hard on the end of the shaft.
Always works for me.

jon