>Hi all,
> I want to rebush my upper and lower wishbones and maybe put new trunnions
>on to my 77 spitfire. I've got a few questions though. Do the bushings have
>to be pressed out? Also how difficult of a job is it to change the trunnions?
>
>Thanks in advance
>Herb Hargraves
>77 Spitfire
Rebushing the wishbones is easy as many on the list will tell you (I
think). With the suspension fully disassembled heat the old bushings with a
small torch until they smoke then push them out with a suitably sized
C-clamp or vise and 2 appropriate sockets, one smaller than the bushings
and one with an ID larger than the bushings. Install the new bushings in
the same manner. Clean up the inside of the wishbone and smear saliva on
the bushing and in the wishbone. Then force the bushing in with clamp.
The tricky part of all this is getting the new bushings in the correct
position. Try and get them positioned in the same way as the old ones. When
assembling the wishbones, vertical/link/balljoint/trunnion be sure there is
no stress fore or aft on the trunnion. Adjust the position of the bushings
in the wishbones as necessary to achieve this, otherwise premature wear of
the trunnions or possibly vertical link failure could occur. Perhaps
someone else could elaborate on this further.
Replacing the trunnions requires disassembling the hub and brake backplate,
its pretty straight forward. Thread the new trunnion on all the way and
then back off enough so that it dosn't bottom out in the operating range.
One more thing. I replaced bushings recently and was not happy with the
results. The new bushings were softer than the old ones ('75 Spit) and made
the front end feel less tight than before. I wish I had used a harder
material/performance bushing. Does anyone have a suggestion for what and
where, regarding Spit/GT6 front bushing?
Hope this helps,
Bill
mah16@cornell.edu
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