Late BJ8 front suspension question

[Jerry]

I am having a few problems getting the hub onto the stub axle. It is not going on far enough and it seems that the late BJ8 has an extra distance piece (031-387) that must fit onto the stub axle.
1. first problem- My PO galvinized the stub axle so it has grown in size.
2. The distance piece above will not go on very far to the stub axle. It sits about 2 inches from the dust cover.

How hard should I drive this distance piece on?

About how far from the dust cover does it sit when in it's proper place?

Any ideas on how to re-size the stub axle?

thanks

Jerry
late BJ8

 

[BUNDYRUM]

Jerry I think the spacer you are talking about actually fits onto the stub axel first before anything else, ie on the inboard end of the axel so it should not be anywhere near the dust cover. It is what the oil seal runs on and is certainly not a tight fit.

It is tight because of the galvanising and you can either have the galvanising stripped off probably by someone who actually does the process or have it carefully machined off. You could also get some 1" wide sandpaper (not glasspaper) and polish it off. (Glasspaper is also called sandpaper but it is used to sand wood. The stuff I call sandpaper is actually called emorypaper but that is neither here or there.)

Regards, bundyrum

 

[Randy_Gay]

Have you tried to fit the bearings onto the shaft? That might present the same problem. The spacer should seat all the way down on the axle shaft. Too bad the shafts were galvanized. A healthy coat of wheel bearing grease would have worked just fine.

 

[Jerry]

The PO galvinized just about everything. With some of the suspension parts, it makes sense (if you don't mind the cost) but the stub axle has to fit a bearing and he should have known that the fit would change. I am not blameless, I bought the car in pieces. I also find that sometimes I have parts of a BJ7 and mostly at BJ8. For the front stub axle, those are different so I am going to see if the two stub axles measure the same.

Jerry

 

[BUNDYRUM]

Jerry, I don't know how adept you are at using a vernier caliper but if you aren't then take your stub axels to someone who you trust to measure them.

Measure the bore of the bearings then measure the outside diameters of the areas on the stub axels where the bearings sit.

If there is something in the region of 0.001" clearance then you have the right parts.

If the "clearance" is actually an interference then the galvanising is causing the trouble and it can be removed.

bundyrum.

 

[Randy_Gay]

As I recall there are two configurations for the axles. One has the tabs for mounting the brake caliper (BJ8), the other has no tabs but uses a separate bracket for the caliper. The piece you were talking about (031-387) will not fit on the earlier type axle. The surface that the seals rides against is built in to the axle.

Randy

 

[Jerry]

Well, I have the tabs for the calipers so these are the late BJ8 axles. Both axles measure the same with my micrometer. So now it comes down to removing the galvinization so I can get the spacer to fit.

He must have got a good deal on the galvinzation, he did it to all the fenders also.

Jerry

 

[Cutlass]

Your axles are probably not galvanized, but are probably zinc plated. Either way, zinc is pretty soft, and can be removed easily and safely with bead blasting, which will not alter the underlying steel. You can acid dip the part, but that will remove the zinc from the entire piece, which you probably don't want.

I do worry a bit about a structural part such as this that has been zinc electo-plated. If not properly treated after plating, a hazard known as hydrogen embrittlement can cause cracking of the metal. Because of the different nature of hot dip galvanizing, if that is really what you have, I don't believe hydrogen embrittlement would be a problem. At the very least, I would have your axle magnafluxed.

 

[Jerry]

The color of the metal is the same as a chain link fence, ie galvinized but it could be a zinc process. He did get some parts dipped in something which zinc clored the metal without disturbing the rubber bits attached. As an example, he replated the brake hoses ends, but did not replace the rubber hose itself. That was dumb because two of them, I could barely blow air through the old rubber. Is there also a cold galvinized/zinc plate process? He told me he had a friend that was in the plating business and could get it done for free. I could not get all the answers on the car since he died right after I purchased it.
On most of the parts that need paint, I have been bead blasting them with glass beads prior to painting to get a good surface for the paint to stick. I then use a acid primer, followed by a good rattle can cover coat.

Jerry

 

[Cutlass]

Heaven knows what's been done. I'd replace those brake hoses. Zinc plating requires immersion in some pretty nasty chemicals, none of which are particularly friendly to rubber.

 

[Jerry]

Oh, they have been replaced! I was thinking they were new hoses till I took them out of the bag they were in and noticed all the little cracks in the rubber.

In the meantime, I have started slow sanding onthe axle stub and with a small amount of work, I am back to something close to the original size as per the space piece and bearings.

does anyone know the thread count of the stub axle? I may want to clean those up also.

Thanks for all the help!
Jerry

 

[Randy_Gay]

I think those are 8 threads per inch. You might want to try a new (non galvanized) axle nut on it, working it on and off slowly with some cutting oil.

He didn't galvanize the calipers, did he?

Randy

 

[Jerry]

I have three nuts so used one to clean the threads. Yes he did galvinize the calipers. But I have in the records that he hired someone to rebuild them. So I get to test them and if they leak, I have a back up set that was not galvinized.

What fun!

 

[BUNDYRUM]

Hydrogen embrittlement should not be a problem here as it's usually associated with extremely high strength steels.

Having the axles magnafluxed would definately be a good idea even on axels that haven't been galvanised/zinc plated.

bundyrum

 

[bob hughes]

Jerry

If you do not have the engineering manual for the Healey, the Moss catalogue will give you a rough idea of what goes where and the order of things.
For the life of me I can not understand anyone who would galvanise such sensitive tolerance parts, wheel bearings, threads, oil seals all have tolerance fits that must be shot to heck.

Bob

 

[Jerry]

My wife and I find it funny. We pull parts out of a box and find that he bought parts for one wheel instead of two, or 3 wheels instead of two. On the engine, he only galvinized the timing cover, valve cover, oil pan and rear engine plate. I have not found anything done to the transmission, I wonder why he quit there?

I think in his final days, the brain was not quite working well. He put the steering column back in the car but forgot to put the blanking plates on the correct side of the firewall.

The only thing that he did poorly at was trying to fix the frame where it had some rust issues. A bad patch job. I had a new frame made by Jule and what a difference in feel to the stiftness of the substructure. With my new frame and galvinized parts, the car will last forever!

My BN4 is getting jealous!

 

[Cutlass]

Jerry: Keep us posted on how the Jule frame works out. What I'm interested in is how difficult it is to fit the shrouds, fenders, doors, etc. to the new chassis. I've heard that it can be a bear, not because of any fault in the Jule product, but just because the panels were so non-uniform at the factory.

 

[Jerry]

I cheated and hired Martin Jule to fit the shrouds and fenders. they look good! So far, I have no problems with the frame. There are some places where the old frame would have had holes for attaching parts. I don't have those to guide me on those parts but I have another Healey to measure those spots and drill for them.

No complaints so far!

Jerry

 

[Cutlass]

If you've got well fitted sheet metal on a new chassis, you're on a great track for a wonderful car!