Daily Spit 1500 body repairs & more..

[alan.gilbert_6384]

9 hours ago, Chris A said:

Isn't it illegal to make your own whiskey? 🤔

only if you get caught

[wimpus]

Yesterday got dome more half shafts apart..

The 2 that where under Fox until 2018 and did 160.000miles.

First one not so bad.

But could feel an little edge..

 

then the second one... think this made most of the noise in 2018..

My new hub puller did it great.

 

Did have another rusty half shaft.

Noticed the hub was bend and lots of play at the bearings, 150% sure shaf is scrap.

 

So... a lot of scrap in this post 😅

[JumpingFrog]

I've taken something like 10 of these apart, all removed from scrap Heralds in the late 80s. I think out of 10 I got 2 usable shafts. None of the assemblies had failed bearings, but on all of the 8 scrap shafts the needle roller bearing had eaten into the shaft.

For the time and effort I think it might be worth just buying new shafts, although make sure not to get the type I had that fall apart after a few thousand miles, see: 

 and

https://sideways-technologies.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/7973-spitfire-drive-shafts/

[rogerguzzi]

Hello all

              The Fitchetts ones are still going strong I will look later at how many mils they have done!

But we have done over 6000 miles this year! (Spain and Spa 6hours etc)

Roger

[wimpus]

2 minutes ago, rogerguzzi said:

Hello all

              The Fitchetts ones are still going strong I will look later at how many mils they have done!

But we have done over 6000 miles this year! (Spain and Spa 6hours etc)

Roger

I have full assemblies from TD Fitchett fitted in 2018.

 

Now done 57.000miles 😅😅

 

I just wanted 1 or 2 rebuild shafts as spare part.

[wimpus]

In Germany they sell these and the normal ones.

 

 

Significantly longer service life due to the nitrated running surface on the needle bearing

[DVD3500]

Which store was that from...?

L!morea?

B@stuck?

Spitfire Sch€une?

[wimpus]

1 hour ago, DVD3500 said:

Which store was that from...?

L!morea?

B@stuck?

Spitfire Sch€une?

Spitfire scheune 

(Translated... Spitfire Shed 😆😆)

[DVD3500]

Or barn...

He used to be based near here... now he is up north... still, in many ways one of the best places as he would not sell something he wouldn't put it on his car himself...

 

[wimpus]

4 hours ago, DVD3500 said:

Or barn...

He used to be based near here... now he is up north... still, in many ways one of the best places as he would not sell something he wouldn't put it on his car himself...

 

I only discoverd him since brexit.. 

But he does give a great service.

One time something different arrived then what I ordered.

I needed to send it back and he paid the shipping , sended the right parts straight away.

He does have some rare parts at very good prices to, even NOS.

[PeteH]

Back in the 60`s. We had some NLA (prewar) production machine shafts, in a Factory, with similar scoring, they where sent out to be metal sprayed and reground?. They where refitted, and when I left some months later they where still operational?.

Is it worth looking into?.

Pete 

[Peter Truman]

We regularily used a similar process on big water pump shafts to recondition them.

[johny]

yes and as its sprayed I wonder about the possibility of doing it on small diameters like our half shafts - most of the metal spray will miss the intended target☹️ 

[wimpus]

Noticed something near work this morning.. 

1,5 year old screen..

 

[DVD3500]

17 hours ago, wimpus said:

I only discoverd him since brexit.. 

But he does give a great service.

One time something different arrived then what I ordered.

I needed to send it back and he paid the shipping , sended the right parts straight away.

He does have some rare parts at very good prices to, even NOS.

There is guy in Blegny near the German border call Cai (nickname Dyngo) that has 3 floors of spares often from US cars that are rust free... I can give you his contact if you ever need it... Speaks French, English and Dutch and I assume Flemish (he is Dutch)

[wimpus]

10 minutes ago, DVD3500 said:

There is guy in Blegny near the German border call Cai (nickname Dyngo) that has 3 floors of spares often from US cars that are rust free... I can give you his contact if you ever need it... Speaks French, English and Dutch and I assume Flemish (he is Dutch)

I know Cai to, bought some parts from him.

Really want to visit him for a few years, very helpfull guy !

Ron Verlaan in the Netherlands I know to, helpes me out from time to time 😆.

[alan.gilbert_6384]

15 hours ago, johny said:

yes and as its sprayed I wonder about the possibility of doing it on small diameters like our half shafts - most of the metal spray will miss the intended target☹️ 

It depends on the spray nozzle, metal type and skill of the operator, to ensure shaft is at correct temperature. You may need to check runout after spraying before grinding.  It is usually cost effective compared to a replacement shaft.  I have had many industrial shafts repaired this way in past, some smaller diameter than our drive shafts.  Worth investigating if you have someone nearby who can do it.

[johny]

yes you can get new replacement half shafts for around 100 pounds including VAT so think its a tall order to get your old one to the machine shop, spray and machine for less than that....

[wimpus]

Think you all know what I will be doing this weekend 😅😅

 

 

Anglo Parts wanted to work with me for once.

So reserved a new windscreen of the 2 they got laying, normally they never do that.

Will go after it tomorrow evening.

[PeteH]

6 hours ago, johny said:

yes you can get new replacement half shafts for around 100 pounds including VAT so think its a tall order to get your old one to the machine shop, spray and machine for less than that....

Ahem!!. Back in the day that would have been a "guvey job" for the night shift.😁.

Robert Blackburn, (Blackburn Aircraft), was alleged to have reckoned the 5pm Exit, was costing him £5000, (at 1950`s prices) in the "stuff" that got smuggled out!.

"one piece at a time" Johny Cash????.

Pete

[daverclasper]

On 08/11/2022 at 09:22, JumpingFrog said:

I've taken something like 10 of these apart, all removed from scrap Heralds in the late 80s. I think out of 10 I got 2 usable shafts. None of the assemblies had failed bearings, but on all of the 8 scrap shafts the needle roller bearing had eaten into the shaft.

Wow. Did the hubs turn smoothly with the shafts off the car, and suggest they were ok?

Also, it does make you wonder if they may do a fair few miles with some wear on shafts?

Dave

[JumpingFrog]

2 hours ago, daverclasper said:

Wow. Did the hubs turn smoothly with the shafts off the car, and suggest they were ok?

Also, it does make you wonder if they may do a fair few miles with some wear on shafts?

Dave

None of them were seriously gone, but had rough patches where the surface hardening had gone through. And in these situations if you're rebuilding with new bearings (a decent RLS8 bearing is £50!) you aren't going to risk a subpar shaft. Rotating by hand they felt relatively smooth, as smooth as 40 year old hardened grease can feel!

Probably it takes some time for them to get loud. Maybe with the mileage most do you could just fit such a used shaft, pump some new grease into it and it'll do five years before it becomes bad.

Most shafts you buy will be from cars that were dismantled when they reached the end of their mechanical life in the late 80s (bottom of the value curve?), so it makes sense to me most used shafts are in such a condition.

[daverclasper]

29 minutes ago, JumpingFrog said:

Most shafts you buy will be from cars that were dismantled when they reached the end of their mechanical life in the late 80s (bottom of the value curve?), so it makes sense to me most used shafts are in such a condition.

Thanks, and neglected with servicing as well often, I assume (front trunnions breaking after 10 years, etc).

Saying that, if the bearings you've found to be ok, does the shaft wear, regardless of regular greasing?

[JumpingFrog]

10 hours ago, daverclasper said:

Thanks, and neglected with servicing as well often, I assume (front trunnions breaking after 10 years, etc).

Saying that, if the bearings you've found to be ok, does the shaft wear, regardless of regular greasing?

I don't know to be honest, my gut feeling is yes they will wear out eventually, but regular greasing will help. Remember, these shafts were designed for the 948 Herald (35hp?) and ended up being used for the GT6 and Vitesse (95hp), I guess they were designed to last about 100k miles, and that's about what they do. Maybe the shafts I removed had received new bearings, but my feeling is the bearings fail once the shaft wears since the bearings Triumph used were pretty decent (Hoffmann for the ball bearing, Torrington for the needle roller bearing).

The only thing I can report, is from my two reproduction driveshafts that fell apart after driving to Mongolia, I disassembled the one that survived 18,000 miles and the needle bearing surface was polished but had not failed, so at least the hardening on the new shafts seems to be okay. Not much use if the yoke falls off, though.

There's always the classic driving developments replacements, but not cheap...
https://www.classicdrivingdevelopment.co.uk/category.asp?cID=19&carID=16&pID=105&page=SPITFIRE+UPRATED+REAR+UJ+DRIVESHAFTS

[johny]

Unfortunately grease doesnt do much for roller bearings of any type Dave apart from keep dirt out. It only helps on sliding surfaces such as in roller cages or between rollers and wont reduce wear between rolling contact surfaces which is controlled more by quality of materials, number of revolutions and load.

In fact packing roller bearings with grease can be a bad thing as it gets churned and if trapped generates heat...