On the Subject of Anti Roll Bar Bushes

The car came without an antiroll bar, still, no problem, I know that the Vixen uses Herald/Spitfire antiroll bars. Very simple bits of kit. I managed to get hold of a 22mm Spitfire ARB, then a kit of replacement mounts, U bolts and drop links. The car came with a complete set of Superflex bushes, including one for the ARB.

The Vixen ARB bushes from Superflex look like this:

Note the bulge at the bottom. But the Vixen ARB mounting plate looks like this - flat

Since the Vixen uses a Triumph roll bar, I imagine that Superflex assumed the mounts were the same. The Spitfire mount does have a curve in it that would take the bulge. Anyhow, to cut a long story short, it seems that the Vixen ARB bushes should be cylendrical and I am going to get some from Adrian Venn at Exactly TVR (http://www.exactly-tvr.demon.co.uk/)

A bit of Progress

OK, I sussed out the problem with the wishbone mounts. First, the undersize of the hole was down to good old Iron Oxide.

I finally plucked up courage to drill out the holes in the wishbone brackets to 3/8", only to find that, rather than metal shavings, I just got a load of rusty dust! The chassis was painted (maybe in 2001) with Smooth Hammarite and it seems surface rust has begun to develop underneath. In the insides of the hole, and also on the mounting brackets themselves,  the rust is quite thick. A quick clean with the 3/8 drill bit and all was well.

The problem with the new lower wishbone appears to have been acombination of thick rust on the inside of the bracket and one of the hinge tubes being too wide. The opposite wishbone fitted fine and, comparing the two, I found that the new one was about 1mm too wide. So, out with the file, clean up the rust, lube-up and hey presto.

I am really pleased to have finally got to the point of fitting the wishbones and uprights. This is the point when it starts to look like a real car again. Looks great but still a couple of niggles. (i)  I can't for the life of me find a grease nipple that fits the uprights. Even the ones sold to go with the new up right don't fit. The old one fits fine but is rather gnarled and rusty. (ii) I can't get the cones on the upper ball joints to grab the inside of the eye on the vertical link with enough tenacity to do up the Nyloc without the cone spinning.....still, it was about 9:30 and dark when I gave up. Sort that another day!  

On the subject of the rust: If you look at the chassis, yoiu can see that it has quite a few dinks in the coating where rust is starting to take hold. The plan for the chassis is to use it, as is, to mount all the ancillaries and check them. Once I have a rolling chassis with the drive train fitted, I will trial fit the body and measure up for the planned roll cage. This means that any welding or drilling that needs to be done doesn't have to damage the powder coat on the chassis. Also zinc coating a chassis prior to powder coating apparently makes it harder to weld to.

Reassembly begins

Over Christmas, everyone was sick. I had about 10 - days holiday all told over the holiday period and had hoped to get some work done on the car. But, what with snow and flu, very little got done at all. I had really hoped to get the suspension wishbones and uprights attached, however, things didn't go smoothly. It was not a straightforward "bolt it back together job".

I got the wishbones back from the powdercoaters and they looked fine,

Lowers

Uppers

Poor photography! But they do look good!

so, I rushed off to the garage like a kid with a new toy to fit the bushes and attach the wishbones to the car. Problem one: having fitted the bushes to the new wishbone, I offered it up to the wishbone mounts and it didn't fit. It appears the wishbone is about 2 mm too narrow for the mounts....

Problem two: the top wishbone fits fine, but the spacer tube of the new bushes has a 3/8 inch I/D to take a 3/8 inch pivot bolt. However, the hole in the wishbone mount to take the bolt has a smaller diameter, so the pivot bolt won't go throught the hole, probably just needs drilling out to the correct diameter. I will need to get to the bottom of this before I start messing about with the wishbone mounts on the new chassis. I don't want to start drilling out holes before I am sure. Its easier to drill out metal than it is to put it back again! In the mean time I have to get something bolted back on the chassis!

 I decided to go for the steering rack. The rack was in good condition mechanically, but the track rod ends were both shot. It took a week to get the rack cleaned and de rusted and to clean up the rack mounts and repaint them. I also checked the gaiters and replaced all the gaiter clamps because the old ones were nasty .......and then re fitted the rack!

I have a few receipts from the previous owner so I can tell you the new chassis was bought in February 2001. So there it is. The very first bit to go back on the chassis since February 2001 is the steering rack on the 9th January 2011, almost 10 years since the new chassis and just over 24 years from when the car was taken off the road!

All I have to do now is get to the bottom of the wishbone issue and I will be well on the way.

As a bonus, I have discovered where the cat, disappears to when we can't find him. While I was fitting the rack, I heard a rustling noise coming from the back of the garage. There, sitting in the in well at the rear of the car, where the petrol tank goes, was Jazzy Jeff the cat. There is a small hole in the back garage wall where he obviously sneaks in sits in the back of the Vixen.