classic rover 90 has

[400+bhp]

had an mot today after being dry stored for ten years, she is a 58 with 50k, body and chrome and interior is very good.
failed on tight steering / rough steering front shock bushes rear brake effeciency and the rear axle king pin.. any one advise on what the king pin does and if we can get the relevent spares any where many thanks

[davepoth]

https://www.jrwadhams.co.uk/Index.asp

http://www.roverp4.com/contents.htm

http://www.head2head.free-online.co.uk/Rover/spare...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rover-P4-60-75-90-80-100-105...

[400+bhp]

davepoth said:

https://www.jrwadhams.co.uk/Index.asp

http://www.roverp4.com/contents.htm

http://www.head2head.free-online.co.uk/Rover/spare...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rover-P4-60-75-90-80-100-105...

great will contact them tom big help

[jith]

400+bhp said:

had an mot today after being dry stored for ten years, she is a 58 with 50k, body and chrome and interior is very good.
failed on tight steering / rough steering front shock bushes rear brake effeciency and the rear axle king pin.. any one advise on what the king pin does and if we can get the relevent spares any where many thanks

Well, after only 40 years repairing cars I'm finally stumped!

What on earth is a rear axle king pin?

A king pin is a vertical steering member pivoting around two swivel joints onto which the stub axle is mounted on the front of the vehicle. I'm trying to work out how you can possibly have one on the rear axle of a Rover 90!

J

[400+bhp]

jith said:

Well, after only 40 years repairing cars I'm finally stumped!

What on earth is a rear axle king pin?

A king pin is a vertical steering member pivoting around two swivel joints onto which the stub axle is mounted on the front of the vehicle. I'm trying to work out how you can possibly have one on the rear axle of a Rover 90!

J

just reading off the fail sheet perhaps the word rear axle shouldnt be there my local man js having a look and have sourced the parts available thanks to earlier replies must be a steering joint then as its really and earlier ball joint assume thanks all keep the views coming learning about the oldies a little thanks

[400+bhp]

400+bhp said:

just reading off the fail sheet perhaps the word rear axle shouldnt be there my local man js having a look and have sourced the parts available thanks to earlier replies must be a steering joint then as its really and earlier ball joint assume thanks all keep the views coming learning about the oldies a little thanks

hello again ok its the nearside king pin front after looking at her with the mechanic on ramps cant believe how good the underside is, one question we can see a steering box and ajacent to that seems to be a fluid filled reservoir, looks like a form of power steering set up but sure not in a 58 rover 90 ??? any one got any light on the steering side and also how heavy should it be to turn cheers all

[tonys]

P4s were never fitted with PAS (well, not from factory).

[jith]

400+bhp said:

400+bhp said:

just reading off the fail sheet perhaps the word rear axle shouldnt be there my local man js having a look and have sourced the parts available thanks to earlier replies must be a steering joint then as its really and earlier ball joint assume thanks all keep the views coming learning about the oldies a little thanks

hello again ok its the nearside king pin front after looking at her with the mechanic on ramps cant believe how good the underside is, one question we can see a steering box and ajacent to that seems to be a fluid filled reservoir, looks like a form of power steering set up but sure not in a 58 rover 90 ??? any one got any light on the steering side and also how heavy should it be to turn cheers all

You have what sounds like a nice car.

Your problem with the kingpin was very common on these cars, particularly if they were laid up for a while or not regularly greased whilst being serviced. The solution is to heat the kingpin at the area of the bushes with a large gas torch and then pump in grease, but be very careful when you do this as the grease can ignite if the kingpin gets too hot.

The reservoir you mention is almost certainly for the chassis lubrication system. This works from a small pump, activated by suspension reaction, usually attached to the rear axle and fed from the reservoir. It slowly bleeds oil from the reservoir to points on the chassis, e.g spring shackles and steering joints.

The only other reservoir like this I have seen from this era was a Redex valve cleaner that would bleed Redex into the inlet manifold on opening a valve under the bonnet. This was aftermarket of course, but was fairly common in the 50s and 60s.

Regards,

J

[400+bhp]

J thanks for the input must say car is very good for the age and well worth getting her on the road again paint is also good with few little marks so now deciding should we spray her to get that all over new look or just polish up. once done she will have to be sold due to space now but would love to see her looking good for the new owner.. thanks for the inputs its a learning curve on these oldies..

[jith]

400+bhp said:

J thanks for the input must say car is very good for the age and well worth getting her on the road again paint is also good with few little marks so now deciding should we spray her to get that all over new look or just polish up. once done she will have to be sold due to space now but would love to see her looking good for the new owner.. thanks for the inputs its a learning curve on these oldies..

I forgot to mention that the steering on these cars, when properly maintained, is beautifully smooth and not at all heavy for such a large car. You have to consider the fact that it's not PAS, but is certainly lighter than many other similar cars of the day.

I found the trick was to ensure there was no passive resistance in the steering at any point; and I would drop the track rod ends off allowing each kingpin to be tested independently. That way you can isolate any steering problem at its source.

By the way, the handbrake lever suffered the same problems if unused, and would also seize, so worth checking befire it does.

Regards,

J

[400+bhp]

jith said:

I forgot to mention that the steering on these cars, when properly maintained, is beautifully smooth and not at all heavy for such a large car. You have to consider the fact that it's not PAS, but is certainly lighter than many other similar cars of the day.

I found the trick was to ensure there was no passive resistance in the steering at any point; and I would drop the track rod ends off allowing each kingpin to be tested independently. That way you can isolate any steering problem at its source.

By the way, the handbrake lever suffered the same problems if unused, and would also seize, so worth checking befire it does.

Regards,

J

we had the car up on the lift and with the help of our local mech have renewed the brakes and free up the rod links for the brakes so that hope will be the breaking sorted on the mot said heavy and rough steering so poss dry joints will free up when noew king pin arives have opted for full kit as not sure what it will need assume the bush will come reamed to suit the pin with it will update as we go many thanks

[400+bhp]

king pin kit arrived looks like the bushes have to be reamed as they are way tight is this a common practice as would have thought the bush would come matched to the new pin ??? old one has to come off first tho so let see what happens

[47p2]

You will need to fit the bush before reaming. It might be worth checking if the brake backplate has to be fitted before reaming, I know the Rover P2 has to have it fitted.

[400+bhp]

47p2 said:

You will need to fit the bush before reaming. It might be worth checking if the brake backplate has to be fitted before reaming, I know the Rover P2 has to have it fitted.

thanks the old bush we hope will be coming out this morning every thing crossed

[jith]

400+bhp said:

thanks the old bush we hope will be coming out this morning every thing crossed

The new bushes should be split to enable them to be pressed in. You then have to reamer them out until you have a nice sliding fit with the kingpin.

Now I hope I'm not teaching my granny to suck eggs here, but you MUST use an adjustable reamer with an inline guide. This guarantees that the bushes have the correct alignment when reamed; and ream them out very gradually until the fit is perfect.

Then all you have to do when the car is back on the road is grease them every 3 months so they don't seize again!

J

[400+bhp]

any idea where we can get an adjustable reamer from not one we can lay hands on here know we will have to mic up the pin to get the sizes etc many thanks

[jith]

400+bhp said:

any idea where we can get an adjustable reamer from not one we can lay hands on here know we will have to mic up the pin to get the sizes etc many thanks

I'm not familiar with your part of the country 400, but you could try some of the tool hire shops. The best choice though would be a traditional tool merchant or mill furnisher.

I use Axminster who have a cracking website and are really helpful. You would normally buy a set of adjustable reamers complete with guides. It might set you back a few bob, but if you are into old cars, you will definitely find a use for them in the future.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/

Regards,

J