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On the TSSC I was asked "Red or blue polybushes? Blue is relatively easy, red a nightmare."

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^ Pretty red ones of course !  I didn't know 'Polybush' was an actual brand name, I presumed it was just a generic name for bushes of this material, but these have the name moulded onto them along with a code 34F.

Not a nightmare at all, imo ..just a little time consuming . . .

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^ Replacement RHS trailing arm (left) courtesy of Rich, who had it blasted, and then visually inspected and refurbished it with new grommets, studs, thick washers and nylocs.  All very nice too ..would recommend. 

^^ There are quite a few detail differences, and the castings were clearly re-tooled, so it may be that the new one may be from a later car (ie., a TR6).  Aside from the fact that Katie's  had a big STANPART cast into it, whereas its replacement doesn't - the most obvious is of the stiffening web between the coil spring cup and the tube which encloses the half shaft.  I haven't run a tape measure over them to compare but as the part numbers are the same (marked onto each of these arms) I'm guessing they are dimensionally interchangeable.  I flipping hope so anyway !

So out with the polybushes, and.. in with the polybushes . . .

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^ Firstly I drove out the steel compression tube from each polybush.  I used an extended socket to do this with a block of wood as a hammer.  Thereafter this illustrates the extraction technique using a simple length of all-thread some washers and two nuts.  Sophisticated I know but I don't have much else in the way of facilities to hand.   (photo timed at 12:02 pm)

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^ Going, going . . .

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^ Gone.

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^ This is the other end being drawn out.  This photo was timed at 12:22pm, so it took me 20 minutes to set up and extract these two 'nightmare' red polybushes. 

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^ The inside, where the bush is fitted, was a little rough from where it had been blasted, so I quickly ran some emery paper through to smooth the high spots off.   

I then thought to clear lacquer this arm ..to avoid surface corrosion and lessen grubby finger prints on it too.  While that was air drying, I moved over to cleaning up the rear brake adjuster, together with its replacement adjuster screw.

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And then, back to fitting the polybushes . . .

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^ I used a liberal smear of this 'synthetic lubricant with Teflon' inside the hole to help prevent corrosion of the aluminium, and to aid fitting.  Non was applied to the polybush itself.   Then using the same length of all-thread I pulled the bushes into place.   (This photo was timed at 14:11pm) 

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^ drawing in

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^ and then I moved the nut and washers to the other end, to fit that, again just the hole is smeared with the synthetic lubricant. 

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^ Getting the first 1/8" of wider rim in is of course the most difficult part, but a pair of grips helped squeeze it.  I similarly used the grips (with soft rag) directly on the polybush, working my way around it to squeeze from different angles. It soon submitted to the pressure from the all-thread pushing it in.  NB. the steel compression tube is not in there yet, as that would make compressing the bush rather difficult.

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^ Once the rim is in, then a block of wood onto the end nut is quicker than winding the thread in.  The block of wood (mallet) of course is used at an angle, as required to straighten the bush's alignment. 

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^ that was not at all too difficult.  the bruising of the block of wood (which is only 350mm long so not at all massive) shows where I clouted onto the end of nut (while doing both ends).  This photo was timed at 14:43pm so with my dilly dallying around with running the nuts up and down that all-thread, my taking piccies, and making a cuppa coffee too, it took me 32 minutes to fit them.  Naturally I didn't break a sweat  and, unusually for me, I didn't have cause to curse either. ! 

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^ The compression tubes were cleaned up, with a power wire brush, smeared with the synthetic lubricant, and the all-thread used to pull each in for the first few mm. then they were knocked home with the block of wood..  

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^ Job done.

Pete

 

Edited by Bfg
correction of my **** grammar
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Pete - DON'T give up with owning a TR - there are other cars out there - just put the word out on here and elsewhere and I'm sure something will come up Chin up  Cheers Rich

Or these people? http://www.leacyclassics.com/parts/classicmini/engine-components/2k7440.html Roger

. Carrying on from TR4 -v- Tr4A engine, and my purchasing a 'spare'  < here >  ..so that I might get on and have an engine ready by the time the Chance is actually bought and shipped,  we h

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4 minutes ago, ntc said:

All been done before try search and red good luck you must have smooth roads 

Ha ha   ..it's a 54 year old car and the TR register and this other enthusiasts club have been sharing what they they've done long since before I even had a driving license ..so I would be really very surprised if I'm doing anything at all that hasn't 'been done before'. :D

No., the roads are not so smooth  ..just perhaps that's why the car has suspension.? :huh:

I have driven the car, and was very happy with the ride and its handling, which is why I'm not changing the poly-bushes. In my estimation the ones I have work well in both control and in isolating road and spring vibration.   

 

1 minute ago, Z320 said:

Pete,

I like you very well illustrated posts.

With a few words you bring it to the point!

Ciao, Marco

Thank you Marco.  I much appreciate your post.

Pete.

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^ Thanks Steve, and others who have positively commented.

 

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^ Sorry to keep you hanging on, time for a quick ( ! ) reassembly . . .

First, I fitted the replacement trailing arm, looking very neat and clean, sealed in clear lacquer and complete with the poly-bushes.  As the brackets on the chassis rail hadn't been loosened, the task was simple enough..  I first loosely hung the rear of the trailing-arm on the damper's drop link to hold that end up, and then fed the polybushes forwards and upwards into their brackets, aligning the pivot-bolt holes first with a screwdriver and then with a tommy-bar, so the bolts (liberally coated with Copaslip) then slid in easily.  

I then refitted the (cleaned up and well lubricated) brake-shoe adjuster onto the backing plate.

Before moving onwards to fitting the handbrake cable. . .

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^ A minor mod being fitted, for the handbrake cable. . .

Good man Marco, also has a TR4A and while investigating the poor performance of his own car's handbrake, recognised that the Bowden cable's run wasn't in the same plane as the actuating lever arm on the brake.  As a consequence, as the handbrake was applied., these arms (one on either rear wheel) would twist down / be tilted at quite an angle, instead of their being pulled perpendicular to the backing plates.  And this of course caused binding of the supposedly-sliding brake mechanisms and so a good percentage of the applied force (by the driver on the handbrake lever) was being lost. The solution was simply to raise the height of the cable run.. to that of the actuating arm. 

To do this, he very neatly turned on his lathe, an aluminium block to fit under the cable's original end-stop.  Naturally this block was sized and carefully shaped to fit onto the trailing arm's casting, without further modification to the arm or any other original fitting.  It of course had to be robust enough to take the full force of the handbrake cable, and so a steel inner sleeve was made and internally threaded to accept the stud of the original end-stop.      

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^ Unfortunately I assembled things in the wrong order.  And having bolted the post in place on the trailing arm.. the end-post of the cable couldn't be twisted and screwed in.  Duh .. I must have been having a greying-blonde moment. :wacko:   Never-mind I thought, I'd just undo the end of the Bowden cable, remove the original end-post so that it could be screwed on.  Wrong ! ..the cable end doesn't come off !  Hey ho., the height post from Marco had to come off again, to be first assembled onto the Bowden cable, before it was fitted to the trailing arm.  

I took the opportunity to clean and lubricating the end of that cable.

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^ assembled and now with the handbrake cable in the same plane as the actuating lever.  Nice one Marco B)

He also specifies, for better still efficiency, a very stiff spring (suggesting one from a sprung clutch) to be inserted between the cable's end adjuster-nut and the forked-end-bracket. This is to give a bit of elasticity in the cable's length ..to enable pulling an extra notch on the handbrake ratchet. Unfortunately as I no longer have a garage full of bits to rummage through, I didn't have such a spring to hand.. so that'll be acquired in due course, to be retrofitted on another day.

The bolt through the cable end / lever arm was also replaced for one which had a plain shank. 

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^ Rowlocks.., the thread of the new height block was too long, to allow the flange of the half-shaft to go through.  Out it came again, for me to cut the thread a little shorter.  This sort of thing is quite usual in prototype development and so no big deal.  In this case, I suspect that there is some variance in the wall thickness of the trailing arms.

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^ There she goes, and all is good. 

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^ With the half-shaft back in place, the hub was bolted up to the trailing arm. The brake drum was refitted, and the cleaned and now working adjuster used to accommodate the wear of the brake shoes. The handbrake cable was then adjusted to length. The loosely-fitted lever arm was disconnected, with the trailing-arm resting onto the trolley jack while the coli spring with its collars were refitted, and then this jacked up again to refit the lever-arm's drop-link.  The half shaft flange was re-bolted to the differential with new locknuts.  Lifting under the rear of the trailing arm to take this side of the car's weight (suspension compressed), I slipped back under the car to pinch up the polybush pivot bolts.  Wheel back on - Job done. 

I haven't yet done the same (cable-run / height) mod to the near-side handbrake brake cable yet, and I never recorded braking efficiency as it was. Nor does the recent MOT record the braking (in)efficiency from before.  Although I had well-lubricated the sliding brake assembly before, I've now correctly adjusted things. Still.,  I can categorically say that before .. the handbrake was not nearly secure enough to tighten up the wheel nuts.  But now   with the handbrake and its cable so configured, those same wheel nuts tighten securely with absolutely no indication of the handbrake not holding. The difference in feel is so obvious - I'm really pleased with it.  Highly recommended.  It's also worth remembering that without dual-circuit brakes.. the handbrake is truly an emergency brake.  

Thank you for this excellent work Marco ..and for providing me the opportunity to try it.  And thank you again Rich for your generosity with the trailing arm.

Pete.

 

...Next please !

 

Edited by Bfg
brake drum rather than brake shoes were refitted
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15 hours ago, Mk2 Chopper said:

Looking good, and what a great mod by Marco. Does it help with later TR's?

What's next Pete? 

Gareth

I think so, but I cannot say for certain.  I thought the trailing arm I now have fitted is of a TR6,  however it's not.  I'm advised that the TR6 arm is different insomuch in the mounting of its bump-stop rubber and that it had a slight reshape to allow for wider wheels (I think I read that in Chris Harvey's excellent book). Still, as I understand it., the handbrake set-up is the same with the TR4A., TR5/250, and each model of TR6

What's next..?   The other side handbrake cable likewise wants to be modified, but that's of low priority over play in the steering rack, which would probably not pass through an MOT.  I'll also check the front suspension trunnions are lubricated.  And then I need to address the gearbox oil leak(s), a poor quality after-market voltage regulator and a few of the ancient wiring connections (thankfully most are OK).  I'll also need to check the various sections of rubber fuel pipe, from the tank to the pump, are of an ethanol-resistant grade.  

Another albeit quick job is that I feel the chassis bolt through the spare-wheel-well really ought to have a thick steel washer on either side of the thin panel.  And I may yet have to temporarily lift the body up the chassis an inch or two. I'd like to touch-up the paint on the underside of the body tub and to slip in a little more rubber insulation between the underside of the body-tub and the top of the additional chassis stiffening (..to avoid the likelihood of their chattering). That's a bit of a pain, but it ought to be done sooner rather than later. 

Pete.   

 

 

Edited by Bfg
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Near side front wheel off this afternoon, as grabbing hold of the front wheel and one could feel a discernible amount of play in the steering, and it also produced a very noticeable clonk.

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Because the clonk is only from the near side, and the track-rod-end looks to be new, I mostly ruled out the likelihood that the rack & pinion was the issue, next out then is the inner ball joint.  This is hidden under a rubber gaiter but I felt would be accessible without removing the rack. And once dismantled it has shim adjustment. . .

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^ The gaiter is passed its best, not least because wire was used to secure it, and that has cut into the perishing rubber. Can't complain as it that wire has most likely done its job for the past 20 - 40 years.!

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^ There's the inner ball joint.  But no discernible play was to be felt.  ..good news or bad news Pete ?? 

Excessive play was found in the mounting of the steering arm onto the hub.. well when I say excessive, I ought to quantify that there shouldn't be any at all.  More of that in a moment.

First thing was to apply some fresh grease to the now exposed parts of the steering rack and to slip the gaiter back on place.  I particularly like CV joint Lith-Moly grease (lithium-molybdenum) for this sort of application, but the downside is that the grease is black and slimy to handle anything ..and it tends to get everywhere. . .

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 "Oh what fun I had"  ..trying to get an already split gaiter, slippery with black grease, over the twice-as-large knuckle of the inner-ball-joint.  I tried pushing and poking, I bent a teaspoon handle to hook and pull it, I carefully eased a small screwdriver in there to slide the gaiter up ..all to no avail  (..temper intact but I was starting to get warm enough under collar to remove my jacket !)

So, off to the kitchen to raid the store of plastic pots and jam jars.  I had an idea :blink:  . . .

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^ up-cycling the plastic walls of a sour-cream tub to be used as a cone to slide, and to evenly stretch, the gaiter up.  It's surprisingly easy when you know how, but it's just not something I had experience of doing on my old motorcycles ..which don't even have rubber gaiters. :huh:    hey ho., summer holidays are over, now every day is a school day !

Having succeeded, very neatly if I might smugly say, to get it over the knuckle ..I then needs to get the plastic out.  Too slippery to grip well enough, but my small vice grips came to the rescue.

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^ The gaiter is now back in place, this time with a couple of cable ties.  I'll order new gaiters and replace both sides in due course. 

In the meantime., it's back to the steering's clonking and looseness. . .

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^ The steering arm was loose, but its securing nuts were good n' tight.  When the nuts were removed the rust was obvious. The arm is rusted onto the bolts and most probably have been like this (with a little slack) for a very long time.  I applied penetrating oil and levered with large screwdrivers, hammered and sweated the arm on its bolts, and I used plain-washers under the nuts to pull it tight.  I then undid the nuts and sweated it some more, and then again, and again. The arm barely moves on those bolts., and with it in situ I'm not going to apply heat, so (again) for the time being, there's more penetration oil squirted on and I've pulled it up tight. 

With that tight, and no clonk, I can still feel a little play in the steering rack ..that ought to be addressed at some time, but it's not excessive, nor probably enough to vary the toe-in very much.

More jobs to do tomorrow, but for tonight ..it's time for supper.

Bidding you a good evening,

Pete.

 

Edited by Bfg
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Hi Pete,

I'm very pleased you fitted my spacers, I enjoyed making them for you and hope you are pleased when you test them on the road.

With the steering gaiters: my new rubber ones have been worn after only 2 years, so next I fitted silicon once. Sadly they are all ugly yellow or signal red.

Red could fit to your car (browse eBay), I found black silicone ones at Paris at the Retromobile some years ago, they still look like new.

A bit tricky to fit because they are both the same, some [mm] too wide for the tie rods, too tight on the other side.

If you buy them, don't cut off too much, they are very quick too short!

Ciao, Marco

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this are the french guys https://motorstore.fr/shop/fr/ but I can't find the gaiters

they look like this ones from China, another color is blue

You see, the end to fit on the steering gearbox on the driver side is too tight, DON'T cut too much off, just pull it over, they are very elastic.

And they are too wide to fit on the steering rack of the passenger side, you need a spacer or a wrap made of a rubber strap.

This solved you have a very durable solution

Edited by Z320
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5 hours ago, Z320 said:

Hi Pete,

I'm very pleased you fitted my spacers, I enjoyed making them for you and hope you are pleased when you test them on the road.

With the steering gaiters: my new rubber ones have been worn after only 2 years, so next I fitted silicon once. Sadly they are all ugly yellow or signal red.

Red could fit to your car (browse eBay), I found black silicone ones at Paris at the Retromobile some years ago, they still look like new.

A bit tricky to fit because they are both the same, some [mm] too wide for the tie rods, too tight on the other side.

If you buy them, don't cut off too much, they are very quick too short!

Ciao, Marco

Yes Thank you very much Marco, I'm very pleased with the spacers you made.  And I look forward to the reassurance one feels when the brakes hold tight.

I definitely owe you a beer or two B)

Similarly I appreciate your advice on the gaiters.  I did note that the gaiters have to extend a huge amount, which I guess is a consequence of the TR's excellent turning circle.

cheers,

Pete

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Those gaiters are sure fun to get in place, I've seen your method of using a cone before, but I was lucky and got mine on without. 

Thanks for adding the red arrow, makes seeing the loose steering arm much easier! 

Good progress.

Gareth

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3 hours ago, Bfg said:

Similarly I appreciate your advice on the gaiters. 

I did note that the gaiters have to extend a huge amount, which I guess is a consequence of the TR's excellent turning circle.

cheers,

Pete

Good man,

if you continue thinking about you maybe notice:

to let the gaiters slide on the tie rods (and not to fix them there)

reduces the stress for the material considerable and the gaiters are less "pumping".

Ciao, Marco

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Did you check for up and down movement at the left hand end of the rack with it fully locked over that side as the bush in the rack tube is a favourite for wear.

Stuart.

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1 hour ago, stuart said:

Did you check for up and down movement at the left hand end of the rack with it fully locked over that side as the bush in the rack tube is a favourite for wear.

Stuart.

That is what I originally thought Pete would find was his problem.  I have a slide hammer somewhere for pulling those bushes out.

Check the diameter of the rack bar so the (invariably) metric puller will fit the (expected) imperial bush inner diameter.

Cutting the internal of bush with hacksaw blade will aid removal. (and fill the rack tube with swarf) Use blade so you pull to cut.

 

This sort of thing - Blind Hole Pilot Bearing Puller Internal & Extractor Remove w/Slide Hammer.

image.png.740a24d925b7af1d766d6072ffb7d355.png

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392765309358?epid=3047149224&hash=item5b72a301ae%3Ag%3AMXkAAOSw0n5hgLHp&LH_BIN=1

Edited by BlueTR3A-5EKT
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46 minutes ago, Z320 said:

In my opinion on this steering racks the problem is the bush on the drivers side….

The only bushes on the drivers side support the pinion.  The pinion is loaded onto the rack with a split bush with spring and shims.  RHD drawing below.  Bush in rack tube at passenger end is item 3 and is most often worn.

image.thumb.png.d44f6a8037a5570e5593b5c3602e08b2.png

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1 minute ago, BlueTR3A-5EKT said:

The only bushes on the drivers side support the pinion.  The pinion is loaded onto the rack with a split bush with spring and shims.  RHD drawing below.  Bush in rack tube at passenger end is item 3 and is most often worn.

image.thumb.png.d44f6a8037a5570e5593b5c3602e08b2.png

Beat me to it Pete.

Stuart.

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6 hours ago, stuart said:

Did you check for up and down movement at the left hand end of the rack with it fully locked over that side as the bush in the rack tube is a favourite for wear.

Stuart.

Yes, there is a little but nothing dramatic .. difficult to assess by hand but I'd guess no more than 0.5mm vertical play.

Pete

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