Hello all,
In the same vein as 'perfect is the enemy of good' or if you prefer Shakespeare, "Striving to better oft we mar what's well," I believe I have really jacked up one of my king pin oiler bolts. Was fitting a brake reaction bar to the right side, removed the oiler nipple, got the oiler bolt out, no problem. With the BRB on it was trying to screw it back in, but really struggled to get it lined up (did I miss a good thread on that? people say it but nobody says how they get through it).
Tried a few things to get the king pin a bit more aligned, thought I had it set. Hand turned, thought it had caught, used ratchet, wasn't moving. Took it out. It appears I have completely trashed the first 3/8" of threads, all flattened to nothing. Still not entirely sure how I did that, but it is what it is. While I suspect there'd be enough metal in the thread remaining to adequately hold the whole thing together, the thread's messed up to the point where I doubt I can get it to catch, even if I removed and replaced/realigned the king pin. I would need to chase the thread with a 1/2 BSF-16 die (which is what I believe that bolt to be). But is it worth that? Also, there's a real possibility both sides are now screwed up, or why would it have happened in the first place?
At this point, is trying to fix it a waste of effort for what would end up being a weak point, and a liability at speed? Is not a matter of replacing the oiler bolt, I don't think anyone sells the BSF bolts, suspect mine is original. Either I make a new one, remove king pin and chase that hole as well with a BSF tap, or I swap out both king pin and bolt, in order to have a king pin threaded for the newer 1/2" UNF threaded oiler bolt.
What do you think? Big ramifications because if I'm putting in a new set of pins and bolts, would be the best time to go whole-hog and put in an SSL front suspension set with the bushes, springs, steering bearings and such.
thoughts appreciated. so frustrating, but then again, its stuff like this that adds to the flavor of being a Morgan driver.
-Nelson
Last edited by NelsonG; 04/07/20 03:33 PM.
