Austin A35 Project

[gazza82]

Had my Midget stub axles rebushed today. We tried several kingpins but one unit had too much wear so rather than have one with new bushes and one with old, had both refurbished and reamed.

Another item off the to-do list.

Also borrowed a Pitman Puller and loosened the arm on the steering box to replace the seal. The idler isn't playing ball .. so far. It's on tight and under tension .. hoping it might just "pop"!

[Dick]

Could you fit a mini steering rack or something similar

[gazza82]

Been done but lots of work. It would have to be cut-down to fit which could be a safety issue if not completed properly. The steering box/idler does work ok and with a small change to the track rods from fixed to adjustable (as fitted to the A40 Farina) you can get a better alignment helping the cornering and ride (apparently!).

It could also impact on the car's Historic classification as a modification. The rules are tight now as to what you can and cannot do. A few owners have also suggested the Spridget version of rack an pinion but there isn't a chassis cross-rail to bolt this to and again limted space in front of the engine and down the side where the column would go. The Spridget has the engine mounted a bit further back than it's older sibling and so the column/rack are closer.

Anyway, the idler arm came off today. Another small tweak with a spanner on the puller and a few taps on the arm with a hammer jolted it free. Now to upgrade both with proper oil seals to replace the cork one fitted as standard.

[Dick]

I used to own a low mileage 80s hyundai pony with the steering box.. half a turn play at motorway speed was worrying.. great little car though

[gazza82]

It's been a while since I drove it but don't remember much play. When I did find any it was a ball-joint.

There is a truck where you knock out the peg that runs in the cam slot and reverse it which wears on a different face.

The wear though is usually down to the oil having leaked out! So 140EP or an oil/grease mix helps ... plus new seals.

[gazza82]

Steering box and idler now stripped down and cleaned. A bit more wire-brushing (or something on a drill!) to clean off the outside of the box left.

The cork washer from the idler is out .. there wasn't a lot of cork left! So I'll got two jobs to do:

- bend back the edge of the box/idler around the seal/washer to get the old parts out and fit new seals, then peen back the edging

- turn the cam peg through 90 degrees as there is a small amount of wear, which isn't surprising as there wasn't a lot of oil/grease in the box (due to the worn/hard cork seals). That needs to be punched or pressed out ...

Actually three jobs. The two above and "find the new seals that I stored in a safe place"

[gazza82]

So .... somewhere in the depths of my garage is a small package with two Nitrile Rubber Oil Seals .. but do you think I can find it??

So a new pair have been ordered ...

The old ones will no doubt turn up where I least expect them either just after I've installed the new ones or as I'm rummaging for a tool WHILE I'm fitting the new seals!

[Dick]

So .... somewhere in the depths of my garage is a small package with two Nitrile Rubber Oil Seals .. but do you think I can find it??

So a new pair have been ordered ...

The old ones will no doubt turn up where I least expect them either just after I've installed the new ones or as I'm rummaging for a tool WHILE I'm fitting the new seals!

Welcome to my world... ive bought some extra clips for the greenhouse glass to replace the pack that's hiding in my shed, I'd fit them but the new buggers are hiding too..

[gazza82]

Pair of new seals arrived today and have been fitted to the idler and steering box. I rebuilt the idler and filled it with EP75/80 and it's now standing upright to see if the oil weeps past the seal. It should be EP90 but it what was in the garage, and I assumed if the thinner stuff stays put, EP90 should too.

I also drifted out the cam gear pin. This had some wear and showed up as a small amount of play.

Wear on steering box pin

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I started with a 1lb ball pein and soon replaced that with a 4lb club hammer which worked. Then put it back turned through 90 degrees so it runs in the worm gear on the unworn faces.

Pin part out

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New position in arm

Pin repositioned

20240326_175107_copy_1836x4080_copy_430x955.jpg (95.56 KiB) Viewed 353 times

[gazza82]

So .... somewhere in the depths of my garage is a small package with two Nitrile Rubber Oil Seals .. but do you think I can find it??

So a new pair have been ordered ...

The old ones will no doubt turn up where I least expect them either just after I've installed the new ones or as I'm rummaging for a tool WHILE I'm fitting the new seals!

Welcome to my world... ive bought some extra clips for the greenhouse glass to replace the pack that's hiding in my shed, I'd fit them but the new buggers are hiding too..

I am pretty sure several more small or thin packages will be taking it in turns to hide .. either I'll find them, I'll have some spares somewhere for the future after buying more, or I'll be selling them once the car's finished!