Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Fitting BRB, King pin Oiler Bolt Problem

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

Best way to ensure king pin alignment is to use a old screw driver or hex key. The one I use is an old 10mm crosshead screwdriver shortened to about 4".

Can you confirm that the damage is to the top bolt/oiler bolt? If so, it would be preferable to replace the bolt. Replacement bolts are readily available from the usual sources though. I might have a spare one in my stores, but it will be second hand - I'll check in the morning.

The threads in the kingpin would need to be cleaned up with a tap as these will probably have been damaged too.

Regarding liability at speed, in theory no as the kingpin is clamped into the crosshead by the bottom bolts. In practice, who knows?

Arwyn

Most definitely it’s the top bolt that the Oiler fitting connects to. If I figure out how to post a pic I’ll do it.

If you have an old one I’ll give it a shot, thanks for checking.

You need to line up kingpin then engage threads of oiler bolt by hand before even considering tightening with spanner or socket. I've found one side will engage on first attempt but other side will be a PIA. Strangely this seems to follow through with many aspects of car maintenance Having an alignment tool close to minor diameter of kingpin thread helps, I use a tapered drift. Leaving BRB (if you have them) chassis fitting very loose also helps, tightening only after oiler bolt fully engaged.

Yes, I’ve unfortunately learned that the hard way. In lieu of a tapered drift I took a 1/2” bolt and ground the treads off of the first inch or so. I thought it worked reasonable well, but maybe I should have tapered a longer segment. Is possible that In trying to align the king pin I put too much pressure on the top threads and that led to my Oiler bolt getting stripped. Won’t know until I drop the king pin out of there. Waiting until I get a 1/2” BSF tap before I pull the whole thing apart. Once I do I may discover the pins are worn enough to merit changing. Will have to see. A great adventure so far.

Hello all - nearly 2 years later, I have completely taken down my front end, replaced the cross head, rebuilt my C40, upgraded to narrow pulley, and am getting things back together. I have the new Rutherford suspension kit on and I think I’ve messed up a bit. My steering dampers look way off. See pic, I know they will not line up with the suspension unloaded, but am wondering if I should have placed the bronze plate on top of the steering bearings, rather than under. I have an email in to the folks at New Elms, haven’t heard back yet. Anyone have thoughts?

You don't run the damper blades with the steering bearings- it defeats the object of them...

So at this stage would you suggest removing them completely and seeing if we are shimmy-free at speed?

Is there downside to putting them above the bearing? I would think that would let the steering bearing do its job for the stub axels, while keeping the damper function. May just not be necessary though.

I did the conversion on my 97 +4. It worked well. Some people report the need for a steering damper. Look up GoMog on the web on this.

I didn't get a shimmy when I did my Roadster, but the steering was really light and I was advised to add a damper which just gives it the right weighting.