REcently I told everybody on the Friends of Triumph list that Southwick
Machine and Design plus me were working on supplying aluminum hubs for
Triumphs TR2 - TR6. You may not be on the FOT list, so I'm sending this
out to the whole vintage racing list. The reasons I'm doing this are
twofold -- first, to notify any Triumph racers we've missed, and second,
to ask if there are other cars for which Southwick could supply hubs at
a similar price.
My message to the FOT follows:
Thanks to all who indicated interest or no interest in the aluminum hub
project. I just returned from Southwick Machine and Design, who will be
supplying the hubs. Although the engineering is not quite complete,
material is being ordered based on the 20 to 25 sets of hubs that we
think may be sold. I think you will want to read the rest of this
message, whether you thought you were interested or not..
I am told that the current price of aluminum hubs from Britain is $200
apiece -- $400 a set. If this is incorrect, somebody please correct me.
The price that Southwick is shooting for is about $200 PER SET OF TWO,
including all studs, bearings, and seals!
Features:
1. The hubs will be made from 6061 aluminum -- the best alloy we can
get.
2. The external shape is modified, eliminating the necked-down portion.
Flanges are thicker.
3. Hubs come with studs installed.
4. The engineering is complete on the basic hub. However, we are trying
to upgrade both the inner bearing and the outer one to eliminate or
reduce bearing failures. We're looking at three possible improvements
there -- bearings with larger OD but same ID, bearings of more modern
design with more rollers, or possibly sleeving the spindle in one or
both locations to allow the use of larger bearings. This technique is
used by street rodders and circle track racers when they install disc
brakes, because the standard hubs have larger beraings than than the
spindles. We are reluctant to get into redesigned spindles. We can do it
but it complicates the project a lot -- metallurgical and engineering
advice, dealing with the heat treaters, etc.
4. We're trying for a different inner seal, to replace that dumbe sheet
metal and felt contraption with a modern lip seal.
Finally, we want to supply the hubs with the new studs and the new
bearings installed, partly to make sure they are installed correctly,
and partly to give a final check on bore diameters.
Again, it looks like the price will come in very close to $200 for a
pair. If you are considering a hub upgrade you may want to see how we
come out on this -- Southwick is shooting for April availability.
And, again, no financial gain for me.
--
uncle jack
Like I said, "Life isn't long enough for me to do another ground-up
restoration". Well, thank goodness, it is.
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