Step belt J-Head - quill skirt loose from quill - how to re-attach? (and related ?s)

[aribert]

So my step belt head has been having issues - worn Splined Gear Hub. I picked up a couple of parts step belt heads at auction and am using the best parts and a few new bearings to reassemble a head. While transferring parts between heads I noticed that the quill skirt, P/N J-35 was not attached to the quill - there was about an 1/8 inch gap. Impulsively I reached for my pocket knife and pried up the skirt some more - it moved freely so to make matters worse I poked my finger into the gap and pushed the quill skirt fully up. Now the skirt appears to sit on the quill and limits the quill upward travel.

Looking at Bport manual, the bottom edge of the skirt appears to have an inward flange. Would I be correct in presuming the upper portion of the quill would have a relieved diameter for the quill skirt? If so, what keeps the skirt from sliding up off of the quill - as happened to me? Looking down onto the quill, I see two flat head screws on the top of the quill securing a metal stamping that retains the felt - do these screws also by chance somehow retain the quill/skirt overlap?

I already had the top off of the head - gear housing asm (bull/spur gears) is removed. Is there a chance I could reattach/reposition the skirt without removing the quill asm? Skirt does not want to slide over the quill - I could turn a mandrel to spread the skirt to the ID of the quill bore. Doing so would require me to remove the bevel gear J-324 that drives the fine feed gear ratio shaft - and I can't seem to be able to pry the bevel gear up off of its shaft.

I realize many questions, I would be grateful for any that you might be able to answer.

 

[abarnsley]

Best to watch a video.....

Reassembling the Bridgeport Quill Housing - YouTube

Not much work involved.

BP often puts setscrews on top of setscrews...

No need to mess with spindle bearings, unless they need replacing.

Quill can drop out the bottom as a unit...

Should be no need for fancy spreaders.

A thin steel sleeve with 2 tabs, 2 large head screws...

 

[aribert]

abarnsley:

Thank you for your response. I'm typically not a video watcher person so I did not consider looking for a video but I found the H&W video you linked to be of value, so much so that I viewed several of their videos related to the Bridgeport head.

I did not understand the configuration of the tabs on the quill skirt with the matching groove on the quill. Turns out one tab was pretty much chewed away and the second tab was straightened on the skirt that freed itself. I found a better skirt on one of my parts heads and was able to clean and swap.

OT - does anyone else dislike the new graphics?