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I've been lucky in my line of work from full engineering workshops to as little as a lathe in a corner with next to no tooling ! Currently I'm at a place that is the latter but the company have promised me this and that in the coming months and a milling machine, heaven !
There are places out there, along with laser cutters. welder fabricators etc but few are cheap or willing to do bits on the side. If you find one keep them sweet, bear, booze and cash can do wonders and they won't mind you going back !
Yesterday morning, armed with some folding money, I went to collect my brake drums from the above mentioned Good Samaritan. True to his word he brought them out, freshly machined. When I asked him "What's the damage?" he replied "Nothing, always glad to help someone out". Amazing! Earlier I'd Fertan'd my back plates so I was ready to start re-assembly. Woo Hoo!
I popped a back plate over a half shaft, and slipped the latter into the axle, only to find that the bearing was slightly too deep. Aaaaaagh! Being a trusting soul, I'd taken the Ebay vendor's description that they were correct for this application. So, I now have to go round the block again .
I've bought the correct set after VERY careful scrutiny of both the vendor's feedback comments and item photo's/description. Fingers crossed I'll be refunded and end up only the twenty quid I paid for having them pressed on out of pocket.
Depending on how far out they are could you fit an alternative bearing or get a spacer made up ?
Sounds like you have found an old school engineering shop, I'd give them something as thanks if you go back again !
Depending on how far out they are could you fit an alternative bearing or get a spacer made up ?
Sounds like you have found an old school engineering shop, I'd give them something as thanks if you go back again !
When I collected the half-shafts there was a young (well, to me ) lad only there. He said they were basically a garage: their only two machines were an hydraulic press and spring compressor. I looked at the brake drum establishment's web site and they have the lot! In their tiny reception area there were quite a few amazing CNC machined exhibits to admire.
The bearing is too fat, so when it's home against its register the retaining plate is clear of the axle's flange.
When the correct bearings arrive, as well as the half-shafts, I'll take my ally hubs with me for their bearing races to be pressed in - I don't fancy risking the 'socket and lump hammer' method. Yesterday I examined the existing front hubs and decided to remove the PCD adapters in case they were of use to anyone. Answer = No! I think they were not only machined from a neutron star but had stripped attachment threads.
My works pension arrived on Friday, and Saturday was my birthday (75th, ouch!), so I treated myself to some more shiny bits for the front end.
The nice man delivered them to my neighbour yesterday, and I collected them this morning. Calipers (Type 14); pads & fitting kit; hoses; and discs. I'm now waiting for the 'phone to ring to let me know that my half shafts have their correct (Consul Classic 315!) bearings pressed on, and likewise the outer taper races into my ally 108mm PCD adapter hubs.
On Monday, the guy pressing in my bearings rang to say that the half shafts were ready, but that there was a problem with the hubs which I needed to see. Today I pootled over there and examined the problem. These ally hubs came from Merlin Motorsport, a thoroughly professional outfit based at Castle Combe which I have used a good few times. It seems that whoever programmed the CNC for this batch of hubs made a boo boo and machined some inserts in an attempt to correct their error. Sadly, these are too thick and simply began to crush under the press attempting to push the bearing race into a too small recess.
My guy was extremely apologetic, as he takes pride in his work and was clearly gutted to have to disappoint a customer, even offering to contribute to the necessary remedial work. We discussed it and agreed that I should take the offending item to Maynard Ltd (an absolutely top notch specialist engine machining establishment of almost 40 years' standing), not far away, for an opinion. There, the ever helpful staff pulled up Merlin's spec sheet on line, and using vernier calipers confirmed that it was indeed the manufacturer's error. Whilst I was there, the proprietor, who is THE Imp (and hence Talbot Sunbeam 930) guru, talked me through what goodies I would need to get the sort of sprightly road performance I would like. The piggy bank is going to take a hammering!
So, tomorrow I'm off to the offending emporium with the errant items to seek their proposals for remedying the situation. Favourite for me would be replacement!
Merlin are very good on the whole, used them a lot over the years.
Take them back and ask for their opinion. Might be worth giving them a call before hand and tell them you are doing a 100 mile round trip to see them specially !
I've also been very happy with them over the years, but yesterday all I got was complete intransigence from a supercilious jobsworth. Apparently it was all my fault for not buying and having pressed in (at Merlin) their Timken bearings. I lost patience in the end and motored back, pausing at Maynard, who agreed to perform the necessary machining and pressing in. This won't be cheap!
However, a little further down the road I dropped in on my ever helpful welder. His first job for me was to attach the flared end of the donor car's exhaust downpipe to that of my Mini van, into which I'd dropped an MG1100 engine and 'box. It was in '80 or '81 - he gas welded it and charged 40p! Anyway, his two sons now run the gaff and said to bring the Phaeton's frame in (another Dutton Towing Gizmo outing), together with the prepared metal, and they'd do it as a folding money foreigner. This cheered me up no end!
I wouldn't have put up with the jobsworth at Merlin. They supplied you with a bodged part that wasn't fit for purpose and refused to replace it or refund your money ! You have consumer rights that you can exercise if you want to, so I'd send them the bill for reworking the hubs and insist they pay it, in full !
This morning, whilst down in the cave, I heard my house 'phone ringing but didn't get there in time. A 1471 revealed a Chippenham number. Hmmm, could it possibly be? I called back - Merlin Motorsport . "We're very sorry sir, but the batch of ally hubs yours came from is faulty, and we will replace them, transfer your UNF studs, and press in your bearings all FOC." The voice on the line was a young one so the above mentioned jobsworth clearly didn't want to grovel, unless he will when I return the duff hubs. I quickly 'phoned Maynard who thankfully hadn't got around to modifying them. Phew, as their machining charge is 80 quid an hour + VAT!
On to the Phaeton. In January I had offered up the engine cross member and decided to mount it under the frame rails, but this meant cutting and shutting the gearbox cross member. Not an elegant solution. On Sunday I had a good think about ways around this and decided that the channel under each end of the engine cross member would sit nicely over stubby lengths of 1.5" box sitting on the frame rails.
Yesterday I cut the lengths of box and this morning cable tied them in position on top of these rails (the middle of the cross member has to align with the white mark).
I then craned the engine into the frame, after bolting the cross member to its mounting rubbers and lowered away - rubbish photo' alert!
After the last few centimetres of lowering the engine sat very nicely in position.
I now need to decide whether to have the stubby bits of box welded to the frame or to the cross member, and how to secure the other side of whichever I plump for. That will only leave gearbox mountings to be fabricated before welding can be organised. Woo Hoo!
Sounds like the entire batch was machined incorrectly and then botched by the machine shop to get them out of the door.
Shame they didn't want to listen on the day you took them back !
Sounds like the entire batch was machined incorrectly and then botched by the machine shop to get them out of the door.
Shame they didn't want to listen on the day you took them back !
Absolutely! I'll work out how much petrol I'll have used in the two round trips and send Merlin the bill. A grovelling apology from the intransigent shop assistant would also be most welcome. I won't hold my breath.
Well, that's what it looks like. These are my replacement front ally Ford PCD hubs c/w 7/16 UNF studs. I have to say that Merlin has bent over backwards to rectify the error with timely communications and speedy despatch, so no hard feelings .
I'm still wrestling with how best to mount the engine and 'box. My previous imagined solutions would have resulted in their being either too high or too low, and probably insufficiently strong. I'm currently chopping some square plastic down pipe as a cross-member template for some 1.5" box. Time will tell!
I'm still wrestling with how best to mount the engine. My previous imagined solutions would have resulted in its being either too high or too low, and probably insufficiently strong. I'm currently chopping some square plastic down pipe as a cross-member template for some 1.5" box. Time will tell!
I'm now happy that my Moss Monaco next door is, after yet more minor fettling, fully operational, so I've turned my attention back to the poor neglected Phaeton. Having abandoned the above plastic pipe abomination as being too flimsy, I dreamt up the idea of a 'virtual engine' in the shape of a lightweight template that I can much more easily dangle in the engine bay whilst cutting steel for mountings. I can also easily transport it when the day comes to take the frame to my welding buddy for the various prepared bits to be stuck together.
Having purchased half a metre of inch square aluminium box, I transferred the mounting rubbers from the engine block to the Talbot Sunbeam cross member and, after lots of careful measuring and marking, fetched the hacksaw to it for the two birdsmouth cuts. I lay it across the mountings, bending it a little at a time until it lay snugly and symetrically. I then drew around the mountings' metal plates, put the gizmo in the vice, and lay a removed mounting on the marks to draw where the bolt holes were needed. I super carefully drilled through the box and firmly bolted the whole thing back together. It sat perfectly.
All that's left for its completion is natty little fishplates pop rivetted on each side of the birdsmouths to preserve their angles, its removal from the crossmember c/w the mountings, and my creation will be ready for engine bay action.
Digging out my Machine Mart aircraft quality tin snips, and searching through my scrap metal heap, I assembled the necessary, made a cardboard template and cut out two fishplates. I'd intended four but decided that was overkill. I drilled their rivet holes and G clamped them to the box section. After carefully and very lightly centre punching the box through the holes, I drilled and rivetted them in place. All that was then left was to remove the cross member and dangle my creation from a length of the ever-useful paracord for a photo-call.
I'm now reasonably confident that with its easily manipulated assistance I can accurately fabricate mountings. It's certainly considerably less unwieldy than the engine it represents!
In yesterday's sunshine, after a short drive in the Monaco, I decided to dangle my gismo from the frame's top side rails in position in the engine bay. It was quite a fiddle to get it aligned in all three planes: fore and aft and laterally weren't too tricky but the correct height (as determined by my fruitless earlier attempts to utilise the Talbot's cross-member) took a great deal of patience and not a few profanities .
It was then clear that the new mountings would need to sprout from the diagonal horizontal 1.5" square frame braces, so I dug out my length of matching section steel box, made a card template of the angle needed for the mount to protrude parallel to the car's lateral axis, and carefully hacksawed one end of a suitably oversized 'one mounting' length and offered it up. It was OK. Knowing my concentration limits, and tendency to commit schoolboy errors I called it a day, pleased with the tiny progress increment .
This morning I pitched in again, offering up my stubby blank and imagining how it would best mate with the gismo - a downward angle was clearly needed. More careful measuring, a saw cut through the top three sides of the box, and judicious bending with the aid of another card template had the engine end sitting at the correct angle. I marked where the bottom mounting rubber's stud met the box and drilled a slightly oversized hole (which I imagine will eventually need to be slightly oval). I then cut off the redundant end length at 45 degrees which both tidied it and provided access for the stud's nut to be tightened. Bolting my creation in place I took the picture below.
The open cut will obviously need a fillet, TDW's forty year old diagonal beefing up, and a diagonal strut to another frame member for full belt and braces effect. I didn't check to ensure the gismo had stayed central so this effort may have to go down as a prototype. However, if necessary, I have more than enough box to remake it as well as its mirror image twin.
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) lad only there. He said they were basically a garage: their only two machines were an hydraulic press and spring compressor. I looked at the brake drum establishment's web site and they have the lot! In their tiny reception area there were quite a few amazing CNC machined exhibits to admire.
