Z320 Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 Or you make your own a slim fan extension Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaryBZ Posted February 18, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 Very good. Perfect balance. How did you secure the shaft to either end? Stick a nice modern plastic fan on the end and the ideal solution. Is it made from stainless steel? Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Z320 Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 The flanges are machining steel, the tube is seamless construction steel, all are zinc coated and than fixed on my lathe and glued with Loctite "shaft/bearing". A BMW 18002 fan and a shroud is fitted, they do a great job. Also a Peugeot expasion bottle, there is no need for. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 13 minutes ago, Z320 said: The flanges are machining steel, the tube is seamless construction steel, all are zinc coated and than fixed on my lathe and glued with Loctite "shaft/bearing". A BMW 18002 fan and a shroud is fitted, they do a great job. Also a Peugeot expasion bottle, there is no need for. Whats "T`d" into your drain cock Marco? Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Z320 Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 (edited) The return hose from my Peugeot expansion bottle. This is part of my automatic bleeding system, still at the car but needless, just don't overfill the rad / let enough air in there (I know this is a very unpopular story, not as sweet as "bleed the rad") Edited February 18, 2022 by Z320 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 Thanks Marco I had forgotten you built that system a while ago. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Z320 Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 (edited) No matter Edited February 18, 2022 by Z320 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaryBZ Posted February 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 Excellent, Marco. I guess Loctite is fine as you still have the main bolt as insurance. I raised the engine 5mm with my stainless steel washers and now I have at least 5mm clearance under the fan extension, so all good. Things were going well until I came across another problem with the steering column splines. It’s a well documented issue with Roger among others coming up with clever solutions to allow the clamps to work on the splines. It’s a poor design and the clamping action just doesn’t work as it should. Thought about the solutions for a while and then decided to see what I could fine on the internet to change both rubber couplings to UJs. I found the ones in the attached photograph. These are pressed steel and it looks like they should compress around the spline better than others I have seen. They do sell cast versions, but they are 80mm long. I measured the originals and they are 93mm long. That’s the exact length of the pressed steel versions. The splines are also correct at 9/16th x 36. I have bought two for just under £60 delivered. With a bit of luck I will only need to drill out the holes and they should fit perfectly. Time will tell. This is a very cheap upgrade and keeps the original steering column in place. I will get them on the car as soon as they arrive and let you know how well they work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Z320 Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 (edited) I have one of them down on the rack, on the upper end not, because it is much effort to fit it and dismantle again. And my hope is it will brake in the case of a traffic accident. Is this a safety feature already on this unsafe cars? Edited February 21, 2022 by Z320 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Z320 Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 You have problems to fit the upper rubber coupling? This video could help. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 12 hours ago, GaryBZ said: Excellent, Marco. I guess Loctite is fine as you still have the main bolt as insurance. I raised the engine 5mm with my stainless steel washers and now I have at least 5mm clearance under the fan extension, so all good. Things were going well until I came across another problem with the steering column splines. It’s a well documented issue with Roger among others coming up with clever solutions to allow the clamps to work on the splines. It’s a poor design and the clamping action just doesn’t work as it should. Thought about the solutions for a while and then decided to see what I could fine on the internet to change both rubber couplings to UJs. I found the ones in the attached photograph. These are pressed steel and it looks like they should compress around the spline better than others I have seen. They do sell cast versions, but they are 80mm long. I measured the originals and they are 93mm long. That’s the exact length of the pressed steel versions. The splines are also correct at 9/16th x 36. I have bought two for just under £60 delivered. With a bit of luck I will only need to drill out the holes and they should fit perfectly. Time will tell. This is a very cheap upgrade and keeps the original steering column in place. I will get them on the car as soon as they arrive and let you know how well they work. I would still be inclined for safety and bump transference to keep at least the upper doughnut in place. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 12 hours ago, GaryBZ said: Excellent, Marco. I guess Loctite is fine as you still have the main bolt as insurance. I raised the engine 5mm with my stainless steel washers and now I have at least 5mm clearance under the fan extension, so all good. Things were going well until I came across another problem with the steering column splines. It’s a well documented issue with Roger among others coming up with clever solutions to allow the clamps to work on the splines. It’s a poor design and the clamping action just doesn’t work as it should. Thought about the solutions for a while and then decided to see what I could fine on the internet to change both rubber couplings to UJs. I found the ones in the attached photograph. These are pressed steel and it looks like they should compress around the spline better than others I have seen. They do sell cast versions, but they are 80mm long. I measured the originals and they are 93mm long. That’s the exact length of the pressed steel versions. The splines are also correct at 9/16th x 36. I have bought two for just under £60 delivered. With a bit of luck I will only need to drill out the holes and they should fit perfectly. Time will tell. This is a very cheap upgrade and keeps the original steering column in place. I will get them on the car as soon as they arrive and let you know how well they work. Hi Gary, as Stuart states try to keep the upper rubber doughnut. I would go further and say keep both. I go overboard with my mod on the clamp but a simple hacksaw slot does exactly the same. Once they are pinched up they become sturdy. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaryBZ Posted February 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 Roger, apart from the fact that the clamps don’t work, and probably never have, the doughnuts are in great shape. I think I have to change the lower one as this has become quite loose and the UJ will/should clamp a lot better. The rack is fine and I don’t want to replace in later because the spline has worn away. As for the top one, I get what you are saying. I might try and keep this one. It will also keep the original look as the lower one is difficult to see past the carburettors and manifolds. The down side is that the top UJ will be much easier to fit as you don’t have to wrestle with the position of the doughnut to get it connected. The answer maybe to fit the upper doughnut first and then use the shaft as a lever to fit the bottom end in the UJ. I understand the original set up was designed for poor road surfaces. Even Triumph changed to having one doughnut on the TR6, so possibly the combination set up is best for me and my spline. Good news is that I get to keep a spare UJ and a doughnut coupling. I will take my hacksaw to the coupling shortly and report back. For the record. The splines on the column and doughnuts are very good, however, no matter how much force I put on the clamp nut it will not grip the column. You can still move the column backwards and forwards a mm or two. These are all the original parts that came with the car, so it never clamped properly, which isn’t right in my opinion. I found a photograph you posted of your machining mod. You can quite clearly see that the slotting wheel they used to make the part doesn’t relieve enough material to allow the clamp to flex. Most modern joints have extended slots at the very least. The UJ I have ordered has a slot all the way through. A much better idea !! Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Z320 Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 The cut in the clamp which allows to tight it up ia a fake cut. See this photos what to do, they are self explaining https://photos.app.goo.gl/H51qMay6mgacy3bu2 Ciao, Marco Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 Hi Gary, I feel you have set your mind in doing it your way - and that is what you must do. However fit the bottom clamp first as that has a straight attachment into the rack from the steering centre shaft.. This makes it easy. Fitting the top rubber doughnut really is easy. Fit a bolt at the 3/9 o clock position. Push the bolt in to sit at the start of its thread. Using a 1/4 drive socket/ratchet - lever up the bolt head to be in-line and start turning. Do not tighten at this point. Repeat on other side. Rotate column to put remaining holes at 3/9 o clock Repeat as above If you modify the clamps they will not be loose and good for another 50 years Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaryBZ Posted February 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 So I made the saw cut ! I was careful to break out the bit of metal at the bottom of the slot which gave me a clear cut into the spline area. Bolted it back on the rack spindle as this is by far the one with most wear. Absolutely perfect. Didn’t have to over tighten the nut to get full clamping. No movement whatsoever. Ummm! Decisions, decisions. Too many options. Shall I fit the new UJ on the bottom and the doughnut on the top, should I change them both to UJs, should I saw out the other clamps and keep it all as standard, or do I just use the one I have modified and keep the rest the same, as there is little to no movement in these when they are clamped up anyway. Think I will go with the last option as the path of least disruption. UJs can stay in my box for another day. Hey ho ! Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaryBZ Posted February 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 Thanks, Roger. I’m going to fit it all back together now and see how things go. Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 OMG Only joking. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaryBZ Posted February 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 Just before you say it first. I couldn’t resist at having another go with my hacksaw. I put a slightly shallower cut in the next clamp and it works just as well. The key is just to break into the spline. No point in having any slack when it is this easy. They are all getting done now. Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tr4aJim Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 On my TR4A I fitted a TR6 UJ at the lower position and kept the rubber one at the top. On LHD cars this also gives more clearance between the steering shaft and the lower radiator hose. Marco, I noticed in your video that there is no clamp holding the upper (outer) steering shaft to the lower shaft. Instead there appears to be a bolt holding them together. Am I correct? If so, why did you make that change? thanks Jim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Z320 Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 Jim, you are a detective Yes, the clamp was missing on the video, I fitted it later while the assambly. Ciao, Marco Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TR4A1965 Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 Here's the one I made. You'll notice it has squared ends to get a spanner on to aid removal when you need to. Fan belt slips between the rack and this fan extension. Now, a roadside fan belt change is no issue.:-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaryBZ Posted February 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2022 Some good solutions. It’s part of the fun of having these old cars. Everyone can have a tinker in their garage and come with an improvement that works and makes ownership a great experience. Finally got everything back together. No dramas and the original doughnuts live on, at least for a while. Downside about the engine height increase is that I cannot easily change the fan belt, but I have left the space recommended in the manual. Top hose matched without having to raise the radiator beyond the normal rubber spacers. I don’t have a spare fan belt otherwise I would have tried to cable tie it somewhere out of the way, as suggested by Roger. However, I do have a complete narrow belt kit I bought a couple of years ago which I may fit instead of keeping the original belt. Probably a few more days before I can start the car again after all the work I have done. Hopefully I get the results I am looking for. I have just ordered a complete LED light set from Duncan at Classic Car LEDs. He was very helpful and gave good advice. The lights have always been awful, so I’m hoping for a big improvement. Pleased that I will also have less demand on my 57 year old dynamo. Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted February 22, 2022 Report Share Posted February 22, 2022 Your dynamo will love you for the LED's Now if only we could get the starter motor powered by LED's Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted February 22, 2022 Report Share Posted February 22, 2022 Stupid boy ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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