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Due to wear I had the g/box cradle on my '71 Roadster converted to take cotter pins like on the MK3. Plus a hollow stud fitted where the 1/4 inch locating bolt originally went so I can run a tube up under the seat for easy oiling. Just gone to fit the swing arm and realised that with the spindle fitted correctly ie 1/4 inch hole at the top and slots for cotter pins facing the rear, the threaded end is on the drive, rather than timing side. My understanding is that all new spindles have the slots but every photo I've come across doesn't show which end is threaded. Are they all like mine? If so guess I could fit it as is, the spindle is in good order (and new ones not cheap) and with new bushes it shouldn't need removing for some time.

Should not matter until removing spindle, just have to remove primary and pull out form that side, provided you keep an oily mess enough to avoid wearing a lip in spindle that can trap it. If not rusted nor lipped and just drift out w/o a puller. Put marks on the feed tube to give volume sense to its leak down rate. I did a feed tube reservoir but now I just count grease gun pumps once in a long while.

Steve makes a good point about putting it in anyway and not worrying about for years.

Heinz Kegler and I removed my spindle to take off the swing arm about 10 years ago.

Heinz said the swing arm at the point it meets the spindle rotates only a very small amount up and up.

In theory, the original "oil lite" bushings would slowly release that oil for some lube.

Heinz felt that if the spindle was put back into the cradle with a light smear of an anti-galling compound, that
would be sufficient to give a cushion between spindle and cradle, and he also felt that any lube of almost any weight was unlikely to get down those tiny 1/16 inch holes in the spindle anyway, and in fact that regular 40 weight oil was a better choice than the factor stated 140.

He said it was a stupid idea, and that the entire exercise of injecting oil in the spindle in the hopes it would migrate down those holes resulted in 95% of the oil finding its way out the ends and dribbling out.

Thanks for the replies. Decided to fit it as is (was orientated that way when I removed it). Now has a nice up and down movement and about an inch less sideways movement than it had...