Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing The Kingpin Job - Autumn 2014

I just use the jack to lower the kingpin and the single top bolt to pull everything up into alignment. The twin bolt method I find to be a bit of a faff TBH.

I think the twin-bolt method was evolved to cope with rebound springs that were under high levels of compression - which a properly set-up suspension won't have anyway.

Possibly the sort of brakes that you get on a bronze +8 maybe Peter?

Dave - always very impressive. Are you missing as screw driver in your collection?

Another great advantage with the Suplex front suspension is no compression on the front springs when jacked up.

I agree that winding down on threaded bar takes for ever on some of the front springs. However, when using a jack to lower the king pin it always runs the risk of it kicking out.
Did it once and ran out of drop on the jack. Quite challenging as I therefore did not have a jack to raise the car to get it out.

That must have been a bit of an embuggerance! Yes, two jacks are always handy. I've got a couple of little ones suitable for the Morgan, and a bloody great 3-ton jobbie I use for the Land Rover and the Tractor. The biggun will lift anything, but is so flipping heavy that It's a complete pain if you have to move it anywhere, it's almost too heavy to pick up.

I daren't tell you my method for getting them apart then, suffice it to say it involves an old wing cover and 2 Mole grips.......

The next photo shows the difference between the MGB and Morgan retaining springs. I've had a response from Caparo, so will let you know the details as soon as I know more.



So - using the wind down method... , this is how it ends up with tension off the main spring.
(These pics should rotate shortly).




Then once you've removed the bottom plate, it lifts out.......



Here's a comparison between my original blue Roadster springs (marked "Plus 8"), and the Plus 4 springs - shorter to accommodate MMC steering bearings.



And interestingly, here are the rebound springs - the longer thinner ones are Roadster (05), and the shorter thicker springs are Plus 4. The coils are compressed at one end.



Next a comparison between the Mulfab bearings, which I will use to replace the original MMC bearings, and the MMC bearing which I've removed. MMC bearing on the left. The race is smaller than the mulfab race, and the MMC cover is rubber. As removed there was significant stiction in this bearing, which is why the steering was not as light as the Roadster, already modified with Mulfab bearings. The Mulfab cover is metal, and it turns much easier.






More to follow.............

Here's the top of the kingpin. As you would expect, it's as new, at 1" 'exactly'.



Here's the bottom. Admittedly not as bad as I expected:



But with a noticeable zig zag wear pattern with significant troughs:



There's also a witness mark where the bearing has been rubbing on the stub axle:



Now it gets interesting. Extracting the first bush is a test unless you use a press to push them both out the same way. This time I thought I'd try sawing down the length, so made up a special hacksaw from two strips of aluminium with a limited depth. This worked well enough, but that first bush still put up a fight.





For the second bush I used Mulfab's tool, and it came out easily........



And so to fitting the new bushes..................

For this I use threaded rod and bits & pieces collected over the years, plus suitably sized sockets to keep it all lined up.
Today the bushes went in easily................This is the lower bush with a socket over the top to help it align.



Here it is nearly home. The bush hanging out is an MGB anti roll bar bush which is a perfect size for centralising the threaded rod.





And here's the upper bush going in:



Reaming was straighforward. This photo shows the end of the pilot. It's only just long enough, and I've modified the end to provide a bit better fit in the hole. I suppose that techically it would be better done vertically!



And here's the business end. It's an adjustable reamer so I go in on a loose fit first, then progressively go larger, testing the fit after each pass - going in from each end.
I also use cutting lube and the reamer makes easy work of it with just light pressure to make it progress.



Until suddenly the pin fits! How tight is a bit subjective, but this is reasonably tight - it takes a bit of effort to pull it back out by rotation.



Then it's important to clean up inside - I sluiced it with plenty of WD40:
First pass:


Second pass:


And then a bit more cleaning out followed.

Before degreasing, etch priming and painting. It's been a busy day, but it all went well.





No more spare time now until the weekend.

Dave brilliant as always
Thanks for posting