1929 front axle

[BarryCambs]

I've always thought there was something a little odd about the way the Long Two looks compared with other pre-war cars. I know the bonnet line was lower than the salon cars to make them look "more sporty" but seeing it next to the other Long Two at the Grantham Rally showed it sitting about 4 inches lower at the front. As I pondered this state of affairs in the car park, it was pointed out to me this is due to the car being fitted with a 1930s axle! I assume this is off the 1934 car that donated its engine and gearbox and it was swapped to convert it to 4 wheel braking. The effect is to make the car look too high at the back and slope down towards the front. Having seen what it should be like, I think it spoils the look of it.

I remembered someone here advertising an axle a while ago and I now have the proper vintage braked axle, ready to overhaul and put on the car. I was about to put in an order to JCS for king pins, shoes etc when I suddenly noticed the steering arms(?) for the hubs are missing. These are the rods that bolt through the holes in the hubs and have the ball joints for the track rod and drag link on them. I've tried JCS tonight without luck.

I wonder if anyone has any spare? If not, it could be I could try and modify the ones on the car and it did suddenly strike me I do at least have the luxury of Daniel's car 3 miles away for measurements

[Tony Fearn]

Hi Barry.
I'm on holiday at the moment, so can't look in the garage.
If Iremembr corrrectly, the off-side steering arm for the early axle had a couple of steering balls on it. One for the steering box drop arm, the other for the tie rod. Please email me to remind me after the 10th July, and I'll search my spares. If you could photograph Daniel's drop arms it would help.
Regards,
Tony.

[BarryCambs]

Thanks Tony. I'll get over to Daniel with the camera and have a measure up too. The arms on the car at the moment have quite a crank on them, so I think the track rod will sit too low and the drag link will be at a steep angle if I use them.

Have a great rest of your holiday!

Barry

[Tony Fearn]

Hi Barry.
Just got to the deepest recesses of one of the garages, during a mammoth sort out, and I've found an axle with two balls on one steering arm as I mentioned back in June 2019!!

Image (81).jpg

The balls are rather rusty, but JCS should have new ones.
After you've drilled and knocked the old ones out, you'll need oxy-acetylene, and a good friend with a large hammer and a drift.

I presume you're sorted now, but if not I'll post a photo. The nut is soaking in Plus-Gas at the moment.

Regards, Tony.

[BarryCambs]

Hi Tony
You have a good memory! The axle I have is stripped down ready for overhaul. It needs king pins and bushes and it's just waiting for me to send the old ones to JCS as they wanted to check which they are. It needs new wheel bearings and I might treat it to some brake shoes to do a proper job.

I managed to get a track rod and and the arms ages ago off ebay, but they are still in a box in the office and I've not been there for 3 months! I'll go and retrieve it and see what condition the balls are in, as they might need replacing on that too. I did change all the brass cups from JCS some time ago, but there's no point putting them on worn balls.

Everything's been a bit on hold as we moved house 2 months ago, but I should get on with this. I'll let you know if I need your arm, but if you want it out of the way, then I'll happily buy it as a spare.

Are the new balls welded in, or piened over??

With best wishes
Barry

[Tony Fearn]

Image (105).jpg

Hello Barry and welcome to the world again!
There's no need to have a spare, but watch out as there are two different balls as you can see from my sketch - only in the rivet length part.
Everything else is common.
All the ones I've seen are peened over underneath, obviously by turning the arm over and heating the bottom end (usually with oxy-acetylene), and when glowing red, bashing with a drift and a heavy hammer against an immoveable vice back. The top of the ball is flat to allow this.
Three people are usually needed, one to hold the drop-arm (mole grips here), one to heat the rivet end (and it may need a few heating cycles as it will cool rather rapidly) and the third to bash it flat.
But the rivet ends needs to be proud of the underside of the drop arm so that they fit snugly into the countersink which I've tried to show on the sketch.
When they cool down, of course they will shrink slightly and so tighten-up.
Perhaps heating them beforehand, and then introducing them to the hole will be a mistake, especially if they only just pass through the drop-arm when they're cold.
Regards, Tony.

[BarryCambs]

Thanks Tony - fantastically useful as usual!

I didn't bring the parcel with all the bits from the office when I left in March as I thought I'd be back in a couple of weeks, so I'll pop in and see what I actually have. If there's any wear at all, it would seem a missed opportunity not to replace the balls. I replaced all the brass cups a while ago. Half the of the rod ends had some threads cut off to allow the cap to be screwed on further to save buying new cups, so it would be nice to replace these if the others are any good.

I stripped the new axle ages ago, so I must get onto JCS for new king pins and bushes. Half the hall ceiling is on the floor at the moment though, so struggling for time as usual.

Best wishes

Barry