Good Idea or not a Good Idea???

[Langus]

Tonight I was working on the Input shaft of the 1948 TE 20. I did get it all removed fine but in doing so, I realized I had a few more questions.
1) Is there an easy way to get the clutch release beaing out of its housing. Seems like a dumb question I know but in my world nothing comes easy.
2) right below where the half shaft goes into the transmission, there is another round cover that appears to have a bearing on the back side of it and then the first big gear of the transmission on that. The question being, is it a good idea to remove this cover and replace the gasket now or am I asking for a mountain of trouble?? I have included a pic of the area I am talking about.

Thanks for the help!

 

[John(UK)]

Place the Thrust bearing across the jaws of a vice and use something that is the same diameter as the bearing carrier and knock it out of the bearing. (piece of pipe) don't hit the carrier directly or it will be damaged and then will stick when you press the pedal. If the bottom plate is not leaking, then leave it. It can be difficult to remove in some instances, so if you can get away with leaving it, then do that rather than make work for yourself. There are shims in there that pre-load the bearings and if you get it wrong, it can cause problems like jumping out of gear or difficult selection of gears..John(UK)
 

[Langus]

It does look it was leaking a little bit from the bottom of that cap. So if I do take it out I am asking for some big trouble or it is possible to gently remove it and replace the seal? I would like to stop the leak but I really do not want to mess with the shims/gears behind it if I can help it.