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TR2/3/3A tr3 steering

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Aloha Lyle,

I bought mine a few months age from The Roadster Factory.

https://www.zeni.net/trf/sampler/20.php

I suspect Moss and others also offer the replacements.

It seemed to me that the hardest part of the replacement was removing the old silent bloc bushings. The new delrin bushings fit in nicely. I removed the center tie rod from the car and did the remove/replace on the bench which made it easier.

Since you have most of the steering apart now, take the opportunity to disassemble the steering idler arm to clean it up and regrease it.
 
TruCraft said:
Who sells the nylon silentbloc pins?
Click to expand...
Joe Alexander makes them. All "the majors" sell them. He also puts them on ebay fairly frequently at a reasonable savings from the other distributors. They are a worthy upgrade.
 
TruCraft said:
Will use tape on the spline to protect the seal when installing, as Randall suggested.
Click to expand...
Don't think it was me that suggested that; as I didn't do it. Just smeared it all with grease and set it in.

And mine doesn't leak enough to argue about. I did top it up every year but it never took very much.

Not sure how important it is with the Delrin ones, but after I installed the brass/SS silentbloc replacements, I also tried to align the idler arm with the Pitman arm. Loosened the bolts and moved it up and down to find the range, then held it in the middle while tightening the bolts.
 
The rocker shaft bushing is worn, so I will replace it.
Found the new style Silentbloc's. They use a Delrin bushing which will turn easier and last longer.

I will replace the felt bushing in the top steering tube and the bottom rubber ones.
Moss sell's them.
Lyle
 
MGTF1250Dave said:
Aloha Lyle,
I bought mine a few months ago from The Roadster Factory.
It seemed to me that the hardest part of the replacement was removing the old silent bloc bushings. The new delrin bushings fit in nicely. I removed the center tie rod from the car and did the remove/replace on the bench which made it easier.

Since you have most of the steering apart now, take the opportunity to disassemble the steering idler arm to clean it up and regrease it.
Click to expand...
Dave, I removed the center rod and pressed out the old Silentbloc's like you did.
The pins look like new, just the rubber bushing was hard and dry rotted.
I have some Delrin rod, I will just make some bushings. I will make them a 2 piece design with a head on both top & bottom, that way it will keep the center rod positioned better.

I have the idler arm and bracket out.
It has some wear.
*Up & down movement is about .015" to.020"
*About .005-.006" clearance between shaft and bushing.
I don't want to get crazy replacing everything!
The threads control the up & down movement, not much I can do with that, without buying all new parts. Not sure how much movement is too much?

The bronze bushing in the idler bracket is worn. I removed the old one today & will make a new bushing.
Delrin or bronze?
The seal between the idler bracket and arm is not available, so I will use a soft rubber washer or maybe an O-ring to keep dirt out?
Lyle
 
TR3driver said:
TruCraft said:
Will use tape on the spline to protect the seal when installing, as Randall suggested.
Click to expand...
Don't think it was me that suggested that; as I didn't do it. Just smeared it all with grease and set it in.

Not sure how important it is with the Delrin ones, but after I installed the brass/SS silentbloc replacements, I also tried to align the idler arm with the Pitman arm. Loosened the bolts and moved it up and down to find the range, then held it in the middle while tightening the bolts.
Click to expand...

Yep, Dave get's the credit for the tape idea, will use grease also.

The Delrin/brass ones are more like a bearing, compared to the rubber ones.
But, I agree it's still a good idea to get everything in position before final tightening.

I will take pictures of my modifications.
Lyle
 
DNK said:
I got a copy of the Bentley Manual on my hard drive and I could send you a copy. PM me with your e mail and it' on its way
Click to expand...
Don thanks for the info, it will be very useful.
And I can learn all the proper terms for my TR3.
Lyle
 
Everything is back together and leak free!
I made Delrin bushings for the old Silentbloc pins, they worked out great.
Also made a Delrin bushing for the idler arm bracket, and used an 1/8" thick O-ring as a seal.
New steering box seal, bushing and gasket.
Rotated the peg 90 degrees.
When assembling the box I put a very thin layer of permatex between the shims and gasket. Also I noticed one bolt that holds the cover plate on is a thru hole, so I permatexed that to.
The brass Olive was cracked, so I made a new one.
Adjusted the peg, steering feels tight but not to much drag.
Very happy!
Thanks for the help everyone.
Now I can put my front apron on and get this car on the road!!!!

Quick question about the 3 wires coming out of the the front park and turning signal lights.
Where do the ground wires go?
My new manual hasn't come in yet.
Lyle
 
TruCraft said:
Quick question about the 3 wires coming out of the the front park and turning signal lights.
Where do the ground wires go?
Click to expand...
Should be a metal clip on each side, screwed to the ledge just behind where the horns mount. Each clip takes two bullets, one for the turn/park lamp and one for the headlamp.

Sorry I don't have a photo of the clip in situ, but here's the illustration from the British Wiring catalog.
 
Randall, you are a TR3 info machine.
Thanks for the help on the steering, everything went good, and is leak free and smooth.

I found the holes behind the horn for the ground clips, but mine are missing.
Moss shows "NA", I don't want to have to make these! They have to be available somewhere!?
Any Idea's?

I got my factory manual today, lot's of good diagrams and info.
Thanks again
Lyle
 
TRF seems to have them listed (P/N236366A); or the other place to try would be British Wiring (P/N 990)
 
BTW, when the original clips on TS39781LO broke, I just made up a short wire with a bullet on one end and a ring terminal on the other. Screwed the ring terminal down in place of the clip; then used a 4-way sleeve to join the wire with the two ground wires.

Had forgotten all about that until the other day when I was robbing components from it and found my previous bodge.
 
TR3driver said:
BTW, when the original clips on TS39781LO broke, I just made up a short wire with a bullet on one end and a ring terminal on the other. Screwed the ring terminal down in place of the clip; then used a 4-way sleeve to join the wire with the two ground wires.

Had forgotten all about that until the other day when I was robbing components from it and found my previous bodge.
Click to expand...
Randall, will get a list of stuff together from TRF and get these clips. Thanks.
Was going to just cut off the bullet and do a eyelet with a screw, but I want it to be as stock as possible, for a couple bucks.
Hey, I want the full feel of how bad the electrical system was back then!
:smile:
I used scotch brite to clean the bullet terminals and then put a little Di-electric grease on them, hopefully that will help.
Will look for a tiny 1/8" diameter stainless steel brush to clean the female socket also.
Lyle
 
MMC has the brushes, but I haven't bought one yet.

I've actually found the wiring to be pretty good overall, considering how old it is. TS13571L still has all the original harness, although the cloth is falling off in some places; and I had to install bullets where the DPO had cut them off.

Kinda worried me a few days ago, when I flipped on the headlights with the engine at fast idle, and the ammeter went to discharge. :cry:

But then I realized that I must have left the 100w H4 bulbs in there and it's all working just as it should :thumbsup: I'm on my way to change the bulbs back to 55/60 now.
 
Lyle: Not a great photo, but maybe this will help.

good luck, Frank
 

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angelfj said:
Lyle: Not a great photo, but maybe this will help.
I use a small stainles steel wire brush made for cleaning firearm barrels. It works great!
good luck, Frank
Click to expand...
Frank thanks for the photo, I will just make a couple ground clips from sheet metal. I don't need anything else from TRF.
I found a SS small brush that will work.
Lyle
 
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