Re: Mark 55 magneto drive

[r-c]

There are two kinds of towers. The early ones had brass tabs, the later stainless steel. Which I think you have. In either case, bending the tabs usually break one or more, with the brass ones almost impossible not to break all. If you lose one or two it may still be enough to hold it together.
Your one fix is not to soak in gasoline but I would suggest carb cleaner. The kind you can buy in one gallon or a five gallon bucket as it penetrates better.
I like the ideal of heating it is probably better, but once hot pump in the new grease to extract the old until both ends show the new grease. 105 can work but I like something a little thicker so it won’t want to leak out so easily. More in the vain of wheel bearing grease.
Now for a racing trick. Disassemble and don’t worry about breaking tabs. Cut down the top of the outter sleeve a 1/4" or so in a lathe. Mark the inner sleeve for a groove and use a snap ring. I tried to look for the snap ring size and this info is lost in all my racing notes. However it is a standard snap ring.
The top bearing there is often good and I would leave it alone if it turns freely. There are only four tabs to hold it in and if they break there is little hold the new one. You could cut the depth deeper and try a snap ring above the bearing. But you also have to cut the step in the drive shaft an equal amount.
Bottom line it maybe easier to find a replacement. However I think the heat and pumping in new grease is the easiest fix to try first.