MadaboutKitcars

Sounds a bit of a strange solution to me. So - are you building a car with an E36 donor then - or perhaps Marlin have decided to rationalise the wishbones so that one size fits all.

An alternative (and possibly better) solution would be to get a longer bolt and chop the head. Thread the end so that you have a thread on both ends - a stud I think you would call it like they used to use on cylinder heads. You could then easily get the stud in and put nuts on both ends. Shaving the head of the bolt sounds really dodgy to me - but I suppose Mark knows best...

Robin

No, my donor was an e30. I guess, as you say, they are rationalising the parts and having a common wishbone for both e30 and e36.

The shaving sounds odd, yes - but it seems to work for now. Should I get the jitters over it later on I'll try the stud method you suggested.

I'll take some photos tomorrow and let you all have a look at my bolt shaving. At least I haven't had to shave my nuts!

Cutting the head of the bolt wasn't enough to clear the arm and I also had to cut the length of the bolt 'cause it hit into the other arm when tighted.
Also, I was always taught that you need at least 2 threads visible to be sure that a nyloc nut is effective.
Before I modded my suspension arms, I had to cut the nut in half to make this happen. I ended up with a nut 6mm thick.
I wonder how the SVA chaps view this?

This is very strange....

All the pictures of e30 Sportsters I have, including Marlin's latest customer car (the red one) have wishbones like mine.
The e36 cars have wishbones like the ones supplied to Robin.

Did Mark explain why there are two diffrent types?

No - He and Terry just said that I'd got the correct wishbone, and Mark told me about the bolt shaving. Taking that a face value, the speculation that they're making it a common part now seems accurate.

Hi Peter

Don't suppose said covers/boots/thingamajigs have arrived yet?

Cheers

Robin

Here's some pics of my shaved bolts. It's OK, they're not mucky...

Hmm - 2 be frank don't think I would trust my @ss to that solution. If the bolt broke, dropped out or whatever the front suspension would colapse. All IMHO of course

Robin

PS - wish I had started this thread with better spelling Fornt = Front. Allegedly it's the main qualification for an engineer - the inablity to spoll...

I can't see how the bolt is any weaker for having this done - the main force on the damper is up and down, and the shaft of the bolt is still the same diameter as before shaving - it's only the head that's been touched.

All the fore to aft forces are going to go through the top and bottom wishbones, so the bolt head and nut are only there to stop the bolt from sliding out, and there's plenty of head on the bolt for that.

This is apparently the method they use at the Factory... Get me suffeciently scared though and I may make some threaded pins up with a nut either side as you suggested.

Hi Robin,
No sign of them yet.
They obviously don't have the 24x7 operation like Screwfix!

Peter

No doubt covered with a plastic cover?

Don't let me scare you - been an engineer too long that's the trouble and I am used to sod's law taking over. I guess if that's what Marlin do it should be OK.

Still think the stud would be a better solution though

Cheers

Robin

This is what mine look like:







EDIT, was looking at the first page and didnt see the second one so this was in response to the pics on the previous page!