Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing HardChrome Kingpins

Vesconite is an interesting choice. I think gomog has a piece on it. I have used it in bearings in food contact areas with good results as it self lubricates

Roger, very interesting. I am aware of the Vesconite alternative, but know of no one that has used it exept Button, who no longer seems to be active on this forum. Permit me some questions: why did you plan on Veconite instead of oversize bronze bushings? Convenience? Price? Hoping for even less friction?
And can you give me the dimensions og the Vesconites (if they are still in your posession...) Outer/inner diameter (metric, please...) and length?
Finally, where can you get these? (I have seen their website, just wondering if there is a retailer)?
I am tempted to go dowm that route myself, when the day comes.

Robbie - sadly Bill Button passed away a few years ago.

Robbie there’s absolutely nothing wrong with conventional oversized bronze bearing, it’s been done that way for decades and much more convent. It’s just my personal preference to go down this road for numerus subtle reasons, and of course for the fun! Under the right circumstances modern polymers can offer better performance than PB, particularly in situations like this with light loads and no thermal considerations. As mentioned the low COF and the ability to run unlubricated is an advantage. Also should the tubes have distortion though welding I may achieve better axial alignment by floating the bushes in adhesive and using the pins to align them during curing.

Re the sizes… Please don’t copy mine as they are my best guess given that I never got to strip down the originals to investigate and should anything be wrong it might be a remake. However the length is 63.5mm and I have circa 0.07mm clearance on the pins (the Mulfab pins measure Ø25.38). The bush OD I was expecting to finalize when I removed the originals and inspected the tubes. I believe the tubes start out as 1-7/16” OD stock with a nominal 0.1” wall, oops imperial, sorry! So my final bush OD is dependent on the actual tube ID (if machined or not), if the axis has been distorted from welding and the recommended adhesive gap of the type to be used.

I made an enquiry on the website to purchase the raw material. It was a few years ago now. I don’t think there was any other UK supplier at the time, I think it came from South Africa.

Its a little academic now as the car has long gone. Hope it helps.

Yes have a look at Gomog article here. Note caveat re using plain Vesconite with Vesconite hylube apparently being best alternative. I recall the issues of nylon and it's derivities causing rudder bearing seizures on boats since its at the top of the list of plastics for water absorption. When a rudder bearing split on a yacht I owned we settled on Delrin as the best replacement, although technology may have moved on since then.

How about self lubricating bearings? I vaguely remember buying some for our engineers years ago. Basically built in porosity then allowed to absorb oil. I can’t remember more about their life though.

The stub axle tube is always distorted from the welding. I've considered having them line bored next time.

The bushes fit perfectly over a new kingpin, so it's really frustrating that having pressed them into place, the pin doesn't slide effortlessly into place.

“Oilites” perhaps? A sintered bronze bearing that stores oil in the micro gaps within the material during manufacture. Unfortunately if you ream them you tend close or burr over the little gaps so the lube is locked in and cannot leach out.

Gentlemen, thank you all for sharing knowledge and opinions. After reading all this, I have decided to just go for oversize PB bushings and hard chrome KPs when the day comes. Well proven and well functioning, and my remote greasing permits me to keep up my frequent greasing routine (and yes, I do check the discs!) Vesconite might be interesting, but I do not care for experimenting in this area. By the way, my mechanic comfirms that the KPs has been checked in the proper way. Pity with Button. I thought something had happened when silence fell. He seemed a nice guy, capable, knowledgeable and willing to share of his experience. Something to learn from.

Button was a true gentleman and hugely knowledgeable and capable when dealing with Trad Morgans. A real loss.