DAVE'S GUNGE

by Dave Jones (published in the Isetta Gazette January 1982)

When the pivot pins and bearings of the Isetta front swinging arm suspension have seen a bit of service, the problem arises as to how to keep the oil in the reservoirs and off the garage floor. One chap that I spoke to at Burford said that he had drilled and tapped the covers of the reservoirs and put in grease nipples. He then lubricated the swinging arms with light grease.

The only problem with this is that the bearings aren't designed to be grease lubricated, and there is the danger that some of them will receive insufficient lubrication and cause trouble later on. Using thick oil is a better solution, but most freely available thick oils seem to be of the 'Hypoid' type, which contains free sulphur and chlorine. These are fine for steel to steel lubrication, but likely to cause corrosion in non ferrous surfaces.

Thus it has fallen to me to 'invent' a suitable lubricant, which I offer to you, for what it's worth. I've called it 'Dave's Gunge'.

To make Dave's Gunge, blend together roughly equal parts of LM lithium based grease and engine oil. You will find that the grease will dissolve in the oil to produce a black, flowable lubricant. By altering the proportions the viscosity can be made anything you like. I chose a consistency that flowed slowly - about the same as syrup on a cold day.

The 'Gunge' will flow through the passages of the swinging arm assembly quite freely and is thick enough that it won't seep out past the 'O' ring.