"One is cracked," said my machinist Jim Burns.
"Another one? Where?" I asked.
"Same as the last one, right in the valley."
The above exchange refers to the steering wheel height adjuster unit on every
Sunbeam Tiger Steering Column.
As you may know from reading my tech-tip, for several years I have been
rebuilding Sunbeam Tiger Steering Columns and the latest fracture Jim
discovered may have saved someone's life.
Part of my rebuilding service is to remove the sliding adjusters and have
them Magnaflux Crack-Tested and this is the 3rd cracked adjuster I have found
after testing around 120 units.
The crack usually develops at the square junction where the steering wheel
bottoms against the adjuster and it is continually under pull from the nut
that holds the steering wheel on the slider. This tubular piece also
receives a torsional strain every time the steering wheel is turned.
If these cracked parts had actually broken in service, the drivers would have
been surprised to find their steering wheels in their laps. A broken
telescopic adjuster was suspected to be the cause of a horrible accident in a
Series 3 Alpine in Seattle, about 20 years ago.
When I disassemble steering columns, I do not mark the adjusters individually
so I cannot prove who the lucky winner of this "Lottery" is, but I know it is
one of the following six Tiger owners:
Arnie Sugar, Jerry Sheehy, Matt Hummel, John Sybrandt, Richard Trippel, or
Nick Fadich. Congratulations!
If you are interested in reading my steering column tech-tip, I would be
happy to zap it to you or I can mail a copy to you by snail-mail.
Jim Leach Pacific Tiger Club Seattle
|