Jowett Technical Weekend

[Keith Clements]

Yes, Allen screws are a possibility. But I have a source of rivets now (£36 for 100 inc VAT and postage) just got to wait till they make the damn things. None in stock. I wanted 6x22 but they can only do 25mm, so some grinding will be needed.
I also thought of just cleaning up the holes and rivets and putting in with Loctite. Perhaps doing one threaded hole with an Allen screw will add some comfort.

[Keith Clements]

Yesterday I found some time before the Sarries match at Wembley (attendance of 80000!) to examine the dissembled parts.

Please click thumbnail for better image.

I first sorted the columns into keyed and splined types then looked at the pinions for wear or damage. This was the worst one , the others looked good.

Next two of the columns had either broken at the flange or the base had broken. This might be indicative of a problem elsewhere due to impact damage.

Two types of base were present , a thinner early and a thicker late. Although one of the early ones had an eccentric bush and the other one did not.

There was some wear on some of the cones but only one I think needs replacing. Unfortunately that one had been welded on so may not be easily changed.

One of the cases had been fouling the rack, so this is something to check carefully on reassembly.

The racks so far exposed looked good . This picture shows the seven rivets with one taken out.

This is the proposed mod using an Allen screw to replace one of more rivets.
I think I may be able to use the available 20mm long rivets rather than the unavailable 22 mm with the assurance of the Allen bolt to hold together rather than a thick over peening.

Today we will also have a look at the horn rings. This is the later spring steel pick up requiring two holes in the column.

[Keith Clements]

The team today was Graeme Browne, Geoff Jones and Bill Lock.

We did not get done as much as hoped because the rivets on one arm were difficult to remove with one having to be drilled out.
We decided to modify the columns to take the later horn slider. This required a second hole 1/2 inch to be drilled 30 mm from the other.

Also found in the cellar were two more columns to replace the broken ones.
This image shows the eccentric bush.

This whole post and the downloading of the images to the Gallery were done with my thumb on the smartphone.

[Keith Clements]

We also decided to have another session on Drive It Day 24th April, so if you want to come along please let me know. Probably start around 14:00 and finish around 20:00.
Here are some pictures from some additional work this week. Now have 12 shafts and 9 boxes!

Click on the thumbnails that were selected from the Gallery (Steering Box album in the Technical, Javelin section) using the g2img button. Really easy to use if you want to link images into a post.

Gently tap the chisel to push the keyway up the ramp. Then use parallel pliers to pull out.


An overgreased unit. No wonder the horn did not work.


An overgreased unit. No wonder the horn did not work.


The anti vibration felt on the splined shaft.


De burring the second hole drilled below the original hole on an early shaft so as to take the later pick-up.


The early single hole spring loaded horn pick-up. Note the grease which should not be there.


The horn wire solder joint

[Keith Clements]

Today saw Amy helping sort out some rattles on the Javelin. The clutch made a noise and this was cured by adjusting the pedal rod. The clutch was being pushed in too far with the fingers hitting the springs.
The exhaust pipe also squeaked and this was found to be a loose nut on the centre support rubber thimble. A couple of packing washers cured that. Then Amy took the Javelin for a blast along the bypass at the legal max. Going well she said.

Graeme Browne assisted and then we set on work on the steering boxes, with Bill Lock bringing some more seals. My rivets arrived a day early so we could test them out.
We spent a couple of hours prizing apart the two parts of the crank on a box. Here is Amy drilling out the rivets on the milling machine.
These Photos were taken on Amy's phone and transferred by WhatsApp and then shared with Regal Android directly to the Gallery Album.


Some more cleaning and grinding of the weld progressed things slowly.


There is another session planned for Thursday afternoon.

[Keith Clements]

Under Keith Clements' leadership a select group of amateur Jowett mechanics have been having a go at finding out why javelin steering box seals leak and how replace then! Simple you might say just follow the workshop manual.
Grind off welded edge of box, oh, I forget, clean all dirt and oil off box, undo casting from the tin box and rack. Thoroughly clean internally and externally, drill out spot welds? Didn't know they existed! Knock out 6(7) rivets joining rack together to release seal and half of box. First you need to grind off rivets peened over ends(you can see them when the steering box is in the car) . Now you need to punch out the rivets. First box of seven, no problem. Second box, five ok, one impossible so on the milling machine it goes for drilling out. Number three proved the rule 'there is always at least one'. Rivets would not budge so drilling out was employed again. Two more days later we succeeded. So now we have three fully dismantled steering boxes ready for new seals and assembly.
So what have we learned so far.
1 none of the racks or pinnions show any significant wear.
2 the oil seals are not hard or worn out but are only single lipped and the surface they seal on to is narrow . The box and seal seems to be loose from the rack and pinion casting.
So, the little three sixteenth bow nuts at the rear of the casting need to be dead tight and the spring at rear of the casting under the rubber cover( or the remains of it) needs to be adjusted as per manual. A double lipped seal on a cleaned up surface hopefully will then work. But as long as you keep lubricating, adjusting and tightening --the steering box should perform well but still leak! Hopefully after our efforts they will not leak?

Bill Lock

[Tony Fearn]

Today saw Amy helping sort out some rattles on the Javelin.

Please would you buy Amy some safety goggles.
She can't read a brief if she has a splinter in her eye.
Tony.

[Forumadmin]

Amy sat in the car accelerating it up to 70mph whilst Graeme and I listened for noises under the car....
Safety goggles are always available in the KLJH&BS as are gloves but Bill and I both drew blood whilst battling with getting the rivets out.
The H&S issue was commented on whilst taking the picture but vanity overcame her.

[Keith Clements]

Bill Lock came around today and we made great progress.
The holes for rivets in the steering arm were reamed for a tight fit.

The oil seal bearing surface was polished with emery. A tool was made with two different sizes of pipe welded together to act as a surface to hammer the rivets in.

The rivet ends were first centre punched and then the air hammer was used to peen them over.


I had sand blasted the case and base so that the spot welding of the rim would be better and paint would stick.
The two halves of the case were clamped together with 6 G cramps and two Mole grips. We should also align the two halves with the base and arm assembled so that the seal is running true.
The spot welding was done in three stages with cooling compressed air to keep the seal cool.


The gasket was made and o ring found to seal the base. There was some trouble lining up the base but eventually it was assembled and the steering arm lock nut adjusted to give free movement. The outer seal of the twin lip seal was ineffective but hopefully the inner seal will do its job.


Notice the gasket and O ring (which had been poorly fitted by the factory!
Also the early (on top) and later base.

Notice the castle nut, spring with squared washer next to base.
The spot welding was quite difficult with little meat to grip and sometimes the copper rods touched the side of the case. But we learnt so the next one should be better.
I will have a go at TIG seam welding but another solution may be some plastic U channel with silicone to seal the seam. It would also tidy the edge that has been ground and spot welds drilled out.

[Forumadmin]

After some gardening planting out the broad beans, and sowing carrots and chives (companion sowing) plus constructing a cold frame over the bed housing this, I set about milling and turning the hastily constructed tool we used to provide support for the rivet peening.
The result is the tool now fits snugly where it should and should improve the riveting.


The first image shows the two welded tubes after milling but before turning. There is a raised part of the quadrant so the turning was need to put the tool inside this so as to lay flat.
The second image shows this. The third shows the tool and quadrant inverted with the steering arm inserted.

[Forumadmin]

Friday saw Bill Lock and Graeme Browne do battle with some more steering boxes.

I welded up the edge of the completed box and we tested for leaks with diesel. A few were found on one edge so some rework is needed. The seal was cooled with a wet cloth whilst welding.


Graeme set about drilling out the spot rivets on the milling machine.



Bill put the oil seal in and worked the rivets into steering arm.



This time we used 4-5 tonnes of pressure on the press using a tool I made up on the lathe rather than the air hammer to fix the rivets.


We also made a new tool to hold the arm whilst drilling out the rivets.


I ground off the edge of the case and split the case with sheath knife and hammer to reveal this well packed box.

[Keith Clements]

Technical week.

Peter Pfister will be in Kings Langley (WD4 8AR) and hoping people can help him get his Javelin back on the road from Tuesday 18th July to Sunday 23rd July. Anybody interested in helping please contact Keith by PM, email or phone(Jowetteer). Accommodation can be arranged if you want to stay for more than one day.

[Forumadmin]

See report in theEarly Javelin Rebuild topic.

[Forumadmin]

Who is up for some more technical weekends in 2019?
They can be anywhere in the world, we just need somewhere to hold them, a bit of organisation and Jowett enthusiasts will flock to them !
Reply in this topic if you can host or would like to come along to one.
Kings Langley is a popular venue, so I am happy to host and let people use the facilities.
We still have the steering boxes to finish . Chris reckons his new welder might solve the case sealing issue.
So come and learn a few skills.
I have a few gearboxes to put together and some crankcases to test with my sophisticated vacuum and pressure test kit.
So come and learn how to do it.
The distributor tester can be used to set up your dizzies to the new advance curve I trialled on the Alps and Dolomites tour last year.
So bring yours along to test.
Four engines are waiting to be built.
So come and help.

There is plenty of wood in store for the wood burner,--tea, coffee and beer can be laid on. You are welcome to stop over if we want to do a few days on the trot.
PM or email me on possible dates.