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John_Mc

John_Mc

Jedi Knight
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I've gotten everything cleaned up and painted and ready to reassemble. I've noticed when I put the rubber bushings into the upper wishbones they stick out a bit. Do I just compress them as I put them onto the fulcrum pins, or do they need to be trimmed? I'm assuming the former. Thanks for any input.

Also, I painted the fulcrum pins. Do I need to leave the surface that touches the bushing bare metal, or is paint okay?

I know these are remedial questions, so please bear with me.
 
Sometime in the last couple of days someone posted a photo of a finished upper wishbone . Somebody chime up if they remember the post
 
They are supposed to stick out, so they are good as is. You would probably be best off to remove the paint from the fulcrum pins. It can make a mess after the bushings have been rubbing on it for a while.
Applying a little lubrication on the pins can't hurt before installing the bushings. If you are using nylon bushings, do not lube.
 
Thanks Doug. You are right. I just wanted to be sure before I got into it too far. I'm really having trouble fastening the nut on one side far enough to make room for the cotter pin, but I shall prevail.

Does anybody know what part of the suspension part # RFK 1325 (The Roadster Factory)is? The bag contains two bolts and 8 split washers. Since I got the Suspension Magic kit as a whole kit, I'm deciphering all the pieces that come with it. This is the only one I haven't figured yet, though it may become obvious as I move forward. Thanks again for all your help.
 
Partnumber View Page Description Status D_Code Core List Price Expires Your Price Quantity Cart
RFK1325 T46 HDW KIT UPPER FULCRUM CUR C 0 $6.95 $6.95
 
Thanks DNK. I don't know why that didn't come up when I searched, but I'm sure it has everything to do with my marginal searching skills. Anywhoo, it looks like I'm 6 bolts short!
 
John_Mc said:
I'm really having trouble fastening the nut on one side far enough to make room for the cotter pin, but I shall prevail.
Click to expand...
Was it Archimedes who said "give me a lever and a handle long enough and I can strip a grade 8 nut" ? AAAARGH! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wall.gif The nut I can replace but I'm hoping a machine shop can help me re-thread my fulcrum pin. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cryin.gif
 
I'd like to add some information to this, maybe helpful, maybe not:

The "rubber" bushings were too long for my TR4A upper wishbones. Trying to be a purist, I didn't want to trim anything down, and assumed the manufacturer had it perfect. After hours of adjusting and fitting, I did some research and learned that some "limited" trimming along the inner end is common, so I did that, but only slightly. I didn't want to take off too much.

Anyway, I compressed the bushings using some mix of methods. The compression was too extreme, and what I did was all wrong.

The bushings were so compressed that, after just months, they became deformed--the shoulder next to the washer became deformed. The bushings then cracked badly.

I had to remove them, and I replaced them with urethane bushings that came a bit shorter, fit perfectly into the bushing seats, and have been fine ever since.

If I'd do it over again, I'd use urethane bushings, or I'd definitely trim the rubber ones so that they still required compression, but not to the extent of the ones that came packaged to me.

Good luck.

(By the way, I assembled the upper wishbones off the car in my workshop, then bolted them down via the fulcrums).
 
And of course the classic question is.....how was the ride after you installed the urethane?

Terry
 
Not to beat this topic to death, but here was my just removed fulcrum pic:
fulcrumpreclean.jpg

Here's what it looks like cleaned up and painted (I painted the pin then took the paint off):

Fulcrumprestrip.jpg

and here's the side I stripped:
fulcrumstipped.jpg


Is it worth tapping new threads, or should I just go with a new one from TRF? Or should I buy a used one from the local TR mechanic?
 
Mine looked like that when I removed them too and I figured that the amount of rust penetration would fatigue the structure enough to warrant replacement. I bought new.
 
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