progress update and ball joint advice needed please.
Discussion
how do guys long time no see,its all looking good for my little mini as a good buddy of mine has invited him to move in to his huge garage so the last week has been all go (well kind of)........ As its been jacked up at the front for some time due to a subframe rebuild which was held up for a few months by the good old british weather and i havnt been able to touch the car for even longer, i have no garage so im weather permitted and with ALL of the new parts just sitting in my house ive been 1 frustrated PH so now im very excited. Ive taken my space in bobs garage and im trying to get the mini on all 4s ready for the big move and it has taken me a week to paint the subfrme because its been so cold so 1 coat a night for 3 nights and it was ready........NO it wasnt cus my buddy (ginger bob) decided to do some grinding, aiming the spark line in the direction of my last coat of paint.... cheers bob your the best....
with that rubbed down and repainted i sarted the build, up to this morning ive done the bottom arms, heavy duty tie rods, 1 suspension cone and 1 upper arm but when i came to putting the other cone in, i couldnt spin the tool into the bottom of it due to a s
t thread on the rubber cone so i had to rench the bugger bak out of the frame but as these are 1 item i havnt bought new i couldnt separate the trumpet from the rubber so i damaged the paint on the cone and frame in the prosess (not happy but trying to smile), i had access to a box full of thread taps but do you think we had the right 1....NO....so that put a stop to that mission so i moved to the nxt mission which was assemble the swivle hubs. the bearings went in fine along the steering arms but when i fitted the ball joints with all the shims in place the ball and cup gring alot and are quite stiff and thats with only a few turns of the domed nut i.e not even close to home let alone torqed down, i still have atleast 3 full turns till its home flat on the shims.
ive consulted the haynes bible chapter 11 verse 10 'qoute' ahummmm... using a trial and error process,removing the retaining nut, take out a shim and then refit the nut and recheck the movement of the ballpin. Continue doin this until it is possible to move the ballpin in all directions without binding but with slight resistance to movement bein felt.
it does say to do the 1st asembly dry...i did not read this bit befor hand so i greased it up 1st, would this be the problem. i was thinking that if i fully tightened the domed nut with 1 less shim this would sent the cup down to position then remove nut and add the other shim, does this sound feasable or no. advise would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance and merry xmas.
with that rubbed down and repainted i sarted the build, up to this morning ive done the bottom arms, heavy duty tie rods, 1 suspension cone and 1 upper arm but when i came to putting the other cone in, i couldnt spin the tool into the bottom of it due to a s
t thread on the rubber cone so i had to rench the bugger bak out of the frame but as these are 1 item i havnt bought new i couldnt separate the trumpet from the rubber so i damaged the paint on the cone and frame in the prosess (not happy but trying to smile), i had access to a box full of thread taps but do you think we had the right 1....NO....so that put a stop to that mission so i moved to the nxt mission which was assemble the swivle hubs. the bearings went in fine along the steering arms but when i fitted the ball joints with all the shims in place the ball and cup gring alot and are quite stiff and thats with only a few turns of the domed nut i.e not even close to home let alone torqed down, i still have atleast 3 full turns till its home flat on the shims.ive consulted the haynes bible chapter 11 verse 10 'qoute' ahummmm... using a trial and error process,removing the retaining nut, take out a shim and then refit the nut and recheck the movement of the ballpin. Continue doin this until it is possible to move the ballpin in all directions without binding but with slight resistance to movement bein felt.
it does say to do the 1st asembly dry...i did not read this bit befor hand so i greased it up 1st, would this be the problem. i was thinking that if i fully tightened the domed nut with 1 less shim this would sent the cup down to position then remove nut and add the other shim, does this sound feasable or no. advise would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance and merry xmas.
Did you lap the ball into the cup before assembly? If you do this, you won't get the 'stiff spots' after assembly. Use fine grinding paste initially and with the cup in the vice and the threaded end of the ball in a drill, you put on the paste and with the drill running at low speed, swivel the ball around to 'lap' it in. Finish off with fine paste mixed with a bit of 20w50, then wash all the paste off.
You just keep on adding shims until it's a nice easy sawivel fit. When tight it MUST move fairly easily and smoothly and not be tight. I once had to fix a Mini on which someone had changed the swivel pins and one was much too stiff. The pin snapped and the owner was lucky not to crash.
You just keep on adding shims until it's a nice easy sawivel fit. When tight it MUST move fairly easily and smoothly and not be tight. I once had to fix a Mini on which someone had changed the swivel pins and one was much too stiff. The pin snapped and the owner was lucky not to crash.
Cooperman said:
Did you lap the ball into the cup before assembly? If you do this, you won't get the 'stiff spots' after assembly. Use fine grinding paste initially and with the cup in the vice and the threaded end of the ball in a drill, you put on the paste and with the drill running at low speed, swivel the ball around to 'lap' it in. Finish off with fine paste mixed with a bit of 20w50, then wash all the paste off.
You just keep on adding shims until it's a nice easy sawivel fit. When tight it MUST move fairly easily and smoothly and not be tight. I once had to fix a Mini on which someone had changed the swivel pins and one was much too stiff. The pin snapped and the owner was lucky not to crash.
thanks Peter i was patiently waiting for a reasponse off you. now i was told to use this method by a guy in old skool minis but when i came to confirm with John at mini spares he told me not to use cutting paste as it will wear your ball and cup out before you even use it although it does sound logical to seat the pair together so ill give it a shot today. thanks agen and merry xmasYou just keep on adding shims until it's a nice easy sawivel fit. When tight it MUST move fairly easily and smoothly and not be tight. I once had to fix a Mini on which someone had changed the swivel pins and one was much too stiff. The pin snapped and the owner was lucky not to crash.
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