I'm happy to report that Bugsy is now the proud owner
of a set of Peter C.'s shocks(best price around BTW
and a pleasure to do business with) and an updated
steering rack. I wish I could say the replacement of
the rack went without incident.
'68 Spridgets and above take a different pinion gear
and bottom end than pre '68 steering racks. Found a
decent rack but steering column(collapable) didn't
appear to look like it would match up. The pinion gear
shaft on '68+ Spridgets is 1/2" longer. I ordered a
later pinion gear, thrust washer , et al to install in
the pre '68 rack. After getting new gear, and
installing, rack on the workbench didn't move anywhere
near as easy as with the old pinion gear in this pre
'68 rack. Played with shims and more shims trying to
get good action and smooth response from lock to lock
without success. Installed rack in car and even with
car on stands was not happy with results. Went back to
old pinion gear for this rack after discovering that
stering column had lots of movement available and
would come down and fit up flush even with shorter
pinion gear in place. Installed new pinch bolt and
metal locknut All in all this was the easier part of
the installation.
Shocks went real easy and the caution in the Haynes
manual about installing the trunion top backwards does
indeed happen. One wheel straight and the other at
about a 40 degree angle. Something wrong here.
I did discover the source of the shakes and rattle in
Bugsy's front end. Drivers side lower A arm is shot.
Disconnecting passenger side swing arm there was some
movement sideways but on drivers side things are just
plain worn out. It might be attributed to 2
washers/spacers under the swing arm where it rests on
the king pin. Certainly not anything that should be
there. Looks like drivers side A Arm, new king ping,
fulcrum pin, and all of the other stuff is definitely
needed. Oh the joys of British suspension systems.
I measured carefully and counted threads on the old
rack when installing new tie rod ends. For some reason
on reassembly wheels are pointing in different
directions. Took Bugsy around block to hear front
tires squealing when driving straight. A trip to the
alignment shop is definitely on the agenda tomorrow.
Lots of crispness back in the steering, action of rack
feels just right, scary handling right now with wheels
pointing in different directions. Hitting a bump now
with a tight rack and tight ball joints really makes
you notice problems with lower A arms. Car literally
now will shudder and jump sideways when encountering
and type of sudden bumps. Not a good situation and
Bugsy will stick close to home until new parts arrive
and the alignment get fixed. Thanks to all for their
help in steering me straight on geting Bugsy back on
the road.
Jim Gruber
P.S. I recall a mention about installing a pin to lock
steering column shaft down. Can someone send me info
on the how to of doing that.Sounds like a good safety
preventer to prevent the pinch bolt from working
loose. Any thought on how doing that would affect a
collapseable steering column.
=====
Jim Gruber
Bugsy '68 Sprite (future Bugeye in disguise)
Dayton, OH
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