Differntial Pinion Nose Housing Question

I have a 1969 2A Bugeye. Rover axles front and back. My question is on the Diff Nose housing that retains the pinion oil seal and keeps the outer pinion bearing retained. There is a thin metal shim/gasket under this housing. There seems to also be a gasket. None of the part suppliers show a listing for a gasket here? Any help would be appreciated if there should be a gasket and where I can source one. If no gasket is available my plan right now is to coat the thin metal shim/gasket with blue Hylomar sealant. Good enough? I did find the thin metal shim/gasket at RovahFarm. Trevor calls it a "Differential Nose Joint Washer". It is quite flimsy but I think I see no reason to reuse it. Any opinion on reusing? Thanks in advance for help. Cheers, Tom.

My parts book lists Hylomar sealing compound part 534244 to be used when fitting , Joint washer 553412. I think it is a metal shim type joint washer to maintain the correct preload on the bearing . A paper one may compress differently. The Series One LR diff. had a thin paper gasket 233473 in that position , which may have been fitted in error to yours.

Hello. Thanks for the info. On the Hylomar 534244 number I have not been able to cross reference this. Do you any further details? I have used the Hylomar Blue non setting sealant that Rovers North sells. So far it has done a fantastic job. I used it extensively on my Rover V8 conversion for my MGB and one year later none of my gasket joints are leaking.

I will check those other gasket part numbers (UPDATE: The 553412 part number is indeed the same part listed by Trevor at RovahFarm).

I do have a update here. After some additional investigation it actually is the same thin paper gasket that is used between the Hub and Drive Flange. Is the additional paper gasket there by error? I will do some research. I am trying hard to restore this truck with a goal to be oil leak free. From what I read this might be a unachievable goal : ). But I will try. Tom

The brass joint washer has a small dam on the lower side that was fitted to retain lubricant and keep the pinion bearings better lubed. The paper j.w. does not have this advantage. One gasket more or less will not affect your preload to a significant degree.

Hi Charles1943. Thank you for confirming the peculiar design of that brass joint washer. It is always interesting to learn small details such as this and that everything was indeed done for a reason. I wonder if the paper gasket was intended to help better seal the housing joint if oil will accumulate right adjacent to that area. I think adding the paper gasket would not really impact any of the bearing preload. Tom

Hello. UPDATE!!!!!!!!! After spending time cleaning the flange surfaces for reassembly I have found that there was no paper gasket at all. I think what looked like a paper gasket outline was simply the sealant used for brass joint washer (Hylomar?). No paper gasket after all. Mystery solved : ). I assume a further benefit of the brass joint washer is to keep the steel differential housing and the aluminum diff nose housing from causing a reaction. Tom