Fellow Mog-o-philes:
Many thanks to the folks who have responded to my initial inquiries into
the ways and means of kingpin/bushing replacements on the front of my
beloved 4/4. I've reviewed John Blair's description of the process as well
as Fred Sisson's in his book "Notes..." The parts have arrived as of last
night and I think I'll get at least the disassembly phase done this coming
weekend. I'm tracking down a machine shop that will do the honeing.
Unfortunately, I didn't receive some of your advice on king pins until
after I ordered a set supplied by the factory. That's okay. While I
wouldn't want to classify my car as a garage queen, it doesn't get more
than 3-4000 miles on it a year and with the gaitors that Fred suggests, I'm
hoping for a long term repair here.
One more question before I jump into this: Both John B. and Fred S.
suggest the use of a sort of home made apparatus for slowly relieving or
restoring the tension in the main springs. I have seen spring compressors
in auto parts stores/departments and am wondering if these commercially
available items will do the trick. They are a variation on the idea of
John's tool, with 'hooks' at both ends of a long threaded rod, the hooks
being adjustable with a nut, to compress or decompress a spring. One
concern I have is that the springs on my 4/4 are reletively narrow in
diameter, compared to the MGB (the only other car I've done front end work
on). With the B I simply used a floor jack, and it worked (tho there were
some nervous moments and I'm sure that if that spring had taken off on its
own I'd need plastic surgery now (some close friends will argue I need it
anyway)). Anyway, that was a bit spooky and I don't relish doing it again.
I want to use some sort of spring compressor and wonder simply if those
available at autoparts stores are up to the task. It doesn't have to be
art (Fred's proposal is a very clever one!), but...
Many thanks,
Will Zehring
p.s. Next project: new exhaust... stay tuned!
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