Another way of identifying sides is to look at the caster angle. The trunnions should be angled towards the back of the car (i.e., positive).
Another way of identifying sides is to look at the caster angle. The trunnions should be angled towards the back of the car (i.e., positive).
In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :
"the left-hand thread goes on the left side and the RH thread on the right side. " I believe you have that right (er, correct).
Darn it, you made me go out to the shop and check, since I've only taken one apart (not wanting to mix the parts, go figure). I have the right one apart, and it is threaded conventionally (right handed... no offense to you lefties). What JoeTR6 said is basically correct, but it is the vertical link that angles back, not the trunnion, and it's not a lot (I think 4 degrees). Still, noticeable if you're looking for it.
Yeah, Joe was spot on. Proved the worth of his screen name!
I went out and looked too, and also saw the significant tilt in the trunnions.
Holy Moley, Plastidip spray stinks!
First jack point is sprayed.
In regards to the trunnions and threads, this discussion reminded of this article: Trunnions
Though for the life of me, I cant recall if you can do that with the TR6 uprights
In reply to RoddyMac17 :
That's interesting. Though I don't know what the car would feel like with all the caster switched the other direction. Maybe the Vixen parts got their caster in the A-arms or something.
Tires!
That looks beautiful
In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :
Those do indeed look very nice!
Had a busy day in the garage yesterday. Sort of disheartening.
First off, my orange plastidip jack point peeled off with the masking tape. Stupid. I guess I'll get some regular orange spray paint and use that instead.
Next I got to welding up the diagonal braces on the rear lower control arms:
A close up:
Kind of nice tig welding sitting down at the table instead of standing at the frame.
Was feeling good about things, until I found this little jem:
Great. I was hoping to have to do some crack repair. That's what I get for buying a clapped out run-hard, put away wet mess. Should have got a neglect garage orphan.
Looks to be a pretty standard weld-joint fatigue crack. Another view:
Now the question is how to fix it. The half-assed version would be to grind out the crack and reweld it. Might last for a while.
Better would be to add in a gusset or secondary patch of some kind. I'm leaning this way.
Part of me wants to just make new A-Arms, but then I get all exhausted just thinking about that.
Another semi-depressing disaster-mess - the front upper control-arms. Actually just the right one:
Sweet slots there.
Added some blobs of tig rod. Doing this kind of filling can add so much porosity and bad metal, but I tried being careful to melt in the new with the old:
Ground the plates flat and then reshaped the slots a bit with the dremel:
Not bad. Needs a little more filler to bring it up to full thickness. I'm going to make some additional bracketry to stabilize the camber adjustments too. Just relying on the slots isn't really enough in my mind.
One step forward???
In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :
Don’t create unnecessary work for yourself. The camber adjustment stays where you clamp it. Never slipped on my car. Never slipped on any TR6s, that I ever heard of, either.
It sucks making repairs when you thought you were almost done with that part. However, it sucks far less then tearing down a completed, painted, and assembled subassemly to make repairs!
I'm loving the bright orange jacking points.
On the cracked joint, what about grinding out the existing weld and the crack, weld back up, and add a fish plate (maybe not the correct application of the term) to widen the load path around the corner joint? Sort of like boxing a stamped control arm but just in that corner of the arm. I'm not a mechanical engineer so big grains of salt like always.
You will find ALL the ones you missed, once it's painted.
I elected to ignore the crack repair issue today, and instead work on the front lower control arms. These were significantly ovalized on the insides. See here with a socket for reference:
Too much metal smush for my tastes!
Removed most of the old part with the sawsall:
When I started grinding on it and the part heated up, a bunch of greasy schmoo started dripping out of that open inside seam.
Removing the remainder only took about an hour and a half. Ten minutes on the lathe and the replacement looks ready to go:
I was wondering if the bushing was welded to the tube first and then to the plate, but it appears all the parts were fixtured and welded at the same time.
Three more to go!
TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) said:First off, my orange plastidip jack point peeled off with the masking tape. Stupid. I guess I'll get some regular orange spray paint and use that instead.
Being removable is kinda the point of plastidip. You have to pull the tape while it's still wet.
Sweet tires. :p
dps214 said:Being removable is kinda the point of plastidip. You have to pull the tape while it's still wet.
So I found.
"Maybe the Vixen parts got their caster in the A-arms or something."
Not sure about the parts source (Heralds) but early Triumphs (TR2s, TR3s) had NO (i.e.0 degrees) caster, as the vertical links were straight. That's why I replaced my TR3 components with mostly TR6, to get 4 degrees caster (and the ability to add negative camber by slotting the upper ball joint mounts).
In reply to Stu Lasswell :
There you go. Good info!
Ok, spent another two hours grinding out the elongated mount on the other side of the right lower control arm. Really is a lot of work.
I couldn't believe the amount of fine rust that spilled out of the insides of the tubes - I guess it just wicked in the unwelded tube/plate interface.
Fret. Fret. Fret.
Should I try cleaning them out more?
Fret. Fret. Fret.
Are these even going to hold up? Will any of this crap hold up??!!??
berkeley it. I took advice from Duster on this: Full Send!
I did go ahead and fusion weld the insides, so that moisture won't get in. (You catch that, Colorado guys??? Moisture! Hilarious!)
Close up, because I know it makes Stampie happy:
Two down, two to go.
In other news, I'm formulating a plan to reinforce that cracked rear unit. Watch this space...
In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :
Some people weld the two pieces together, using a square section of tube to connect them. Supposedly, it helps to resist twist.
I would like to remind you of a post I made very early on in this thread..... I saw a Vixen 2500 have a rust induced control arm failure in the mid 1980s. The arm in question looked fine on the outside, all of the corrosion was internal. That part was 1/3 the age of yours. The car crashed gently as the front wheel buckled under.
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