On 10/5/2015, Johan Goudsmit wrote:
As you wrote on your website, getting the acorn nut loose is a "challenge" to put it mildly. What did the trick for me is gripping the counterpart in a lathe chuck (seems to grip well and dissipate the force) and slam the acorn nut with a chisel (or wrench). It came off without applying heat and the shims intact (although diagonally cut, but this seems to be the way they leave the factory). You are right about (homemade) special tools with pins: it will take ages to make/get one, and they'll snap anyway. You do need a lathe of course, but chances are somebody in the street might have one....

Parts ultrasonically cleaned (below). These are definitely steel shims. They came from a late production MGA 1600-MK-II, (c)108789, but not known if the shims are original.


On 10/7/2015, Johan Goudsmit wrote:
"I was amazed to see how little of the sphere of the tie rod is actually doing the job. Only a very small part seems to be polished through use over the 50 plus years. When I moved the cup over it, simulating full lock of the steering wheel, I could feel the roughness of the sphere. Since the tie-rods are (temporarely?) unavailable, I decided to polish them with a cloth wheel using polishing paste. When lubricated with the steering rack oil they should be smooth as babyskin now".