chassis leg replacement, suspension dismantling

[Dean Moriarty]

Successful afternoon. I can verify that one body is enough to replace the weight of an engine, (even if its a B series) .

So suspension dismantled as recommended:





Torsion bar marked at both ends:





Eye bolt unit removed:



Bushes to be replaced with SuperFlex poly items, (I'm also going to replace the tie bar and upper trunnion bushes as they all came with the car - previous owner obviously knew this job was on the cards. This obviously means that the other side will need to be dismantled to balance the car but at least I know what I'm doing now):





Now, a bit of a bonus. It appears that I've actually got two chassis legs, one inside the other. Thats what I call value for money....





Really pleased with the afternoons work. Just need to see how far back the leg needs replacing. Thanks for all the advice guys. Bottle of red now opened. Job continues tomorrow....

[MarkyB]

Result! and a useful datum point for anyone else in the same situation.

Those bushes actually look good, I've seen plenty where they wore through years ago and are well into grinding a slot in the eye bolt.

The other side will be a piece of urine, the chassis legs less so .

[Dean Moriarty]

Yes, all the pins are in fine condition so the bushes were doing their job.
Fortunately, the passenger side leg is solid so on that side its only going to be a re-bush situation.

[David53]

Good work Yes, my eyebolt bushes were nothing but hard crumbly bits of old rubber that just fell out of the hole. Amazingly the eyebolt and pin were both OK.....

You sure do have your work ut out on those chassis legs - will you have to remove the master cylinder?

[Dean Moriarty]

Hi David.

Its only the drivers side chassis leg. Shouldnt be too much trouble. As far as I can see its just a case of drilling out the spot welds and plug welding the new leg into place.

On mine the master cylinders are bolted to the bulkhead so no worries there.

[Dean Moriarty]

A bit more progress today:



This photo is down the rear part of the chassis leg.



Dilema is, do I replace the whole leg or use a half leg up to this point.....Lap welding the half leg at this point would save a whole load of work if that is only surface corrosion. Hmmmm

[fussyoldfart]

Hi David.

Its only the drivers side chassis leg. Shouldnt be too much trouble. As far as I can see its just a case of drilling out the spot welds and plug welding the new leg into place.

On mine the master cylinders are bolted to the bulkhead so no worries there.

I was sure on earlier pix that I saw a slave cylinder for the clutch. I'm very interested in seeing the bulkhead mounting for the master cylinder and the clutch master. What parts were used in making the conversion please? Spridget? Later Morris/Austin?
Is there a kit or a set of instructions for the change-over? Will this work on a LHD car? Could you do a couple of PIX? So far this is an excellent tutorial on chassis leg replacement and I will be following closely as I do my own.

Darrell McDonald

[Dean Moriarty]

Hi Darrell

Glad you are interested. Its very much a learning curve for me.
I have to confess that mine is not a Minor . This is its B series cousin, the Riley 1.5.
As far as I'm aware the suspension is identical, (as are many other parts of the car), so jobs done here will equally apply to yours.
I'm happy to post some pictures....

[MarkyB]

Aha! I thought the reinforcement for the eyebolt looked very heavy duty.

The cross member you have cut back too looks OK, if you can't poke a flat screwdriver through it, not using a hammer, I'd say it's probably good enough.

What type of welding do you plan to use?

[Dean Moriarty]

I've got a good MIG so just planning to plug weld the flanges and butt/lap weld the ends as appropriate. The replacement half leg apparently has tapered ends that fit just inside the existing leg. If I clean up as far back as I can reach then I'll get clean surfaces to weld to. Finally I'll create a few holes from the inside of the car and blast with cavity wax then plug with rubber grommets. Thats plan-A...

[MarkyB]

Sounds like a sound plan, MIG isn't ideal on thin metal but welding onto sound steel has to be ideal.

With the gearbox cover off, you can see most of the inside of the chassis leg on a Minor at least.

I'd wait for much warmer weather before applying the Waxoyl though, even then it benefits from being warmed up so it reaches the places that other treatments wont.

[fussyoldfart]

Hi Darrell

Glad you are interested. Its very much a learning curve for me.
I have to confess that mine is not a Minor . This is its B series cousin, the Riley 1.5.
As far as I'm aware the suspension is identical, (as are many other parts of the car), so jobs done here will equally apply to yours.
I'm happy to post some pictures....

Yes, I remember the Riley 1.5 well, I fitted Riley drums etc to a Minor I drove in the early 60s. I will have a look around to see who has one locally, might be able to make an adaptation.

[Dean Moriarty]

Darrell

Photo of bulkhead showing master cylinders



If you want any more detail, just let me know.

[fussyoldfart]

Thanks Dean, I can also see where the master cylinders would be bolted if the car was LHD. The Minor is different, however, and has the fuel pump just there and the battery box. Hmmm, I wonder if it's worth the trouble?

Darrell

[IslipMinor]

do I replace the whole leg or use a half leg up to this point

I started with a similar dilemma when I started the Minor restoration - I was not going to do a full 'back to bare metal' restoration, just repair what was needed. Right! Ended up doing the whole deal, and very pleased I was that I did.

With what you have done so far, removing the rest of the RH chassis leg is not really too much more work. Make sure you have some very accurate datum points for the eye-bolt location, after that the rest sorts itself out pretty well. I did one side at a time and made sure that the new eye-bolt centreline went back to exactly the same place as the old one. Seems to steer pretty well, so can't have been too far out!

[Dean Moriarty]

Hi Richard

Its been bugging me whether to do the whole leg or not.
I'm probably never going to be entirely happy with a chassis leg that I've welded in the middle. Also, if the new stuff is thicker than the old metal I'll probably be blowing holes all over the place.

One things for sure, this is not going to develop into a full restoration. There are loads of things need doing but I've gone in too deep with my previous project, got disillusioned and ended up breaking it for parts. I've learned my lesson there. One job at a time.....

Did you just plug weld the new leg in?

[IslipMinor]

Hi Dean,

Yes to locate the leg firmly in place, but then fully seam welded both sides of each flange for maximum strength and minimum chance of corrosion getting into the joints. Same for the rest of the replacement panels. After welding then cleaned up the excess weld to give a nice neat smooth flange again! All MIG welded. I did use a car roller so that I was not having to do too many overhead welds.

[Dean Moriarty]

No worries. I'm going for the weld splatter down the neck, cuff etc option
My objective is to get her back on the road by new year.
Yes the full leg is probably the right option.....

[IslipMinor]

Hi Dean,

Good luck!

[Dean Moriarty]

Not much progress on the chassis/suspension I'm afraid as all the parts I've ordered are stuck in the frozen courier system.
All I've managed is to clean and degrease the engine ready for a new coat of BMC green.

Now that the temperature is a bit more reasonable I thought I'd replace the bushes in the upper trunnion.
With the lower arm currently removed, the king pin and brake drum assembly is hanging from the damper and the steering arm.
I assume I'm going to need to support the weight when I unbolt the damper otherwise the whole weight will potentially damage the steering?
Or is it better to unscrew the king pin from the upper trunnion first?

Cheers