Hi all,
a few weeks ago I sought the help of the group in the pursuit of a RH steering
box for a BN4. I was particularly interested in donor cars that may have
similar components that could be easily swapped. To all those who responded
many thanks, there were many variations on the theme but in the end only one
solution!! "at this stage"!!
I have spent the last few weeks looking at many cars, manuals and lots of junk
yards without any real outcome. There are Burman L3 boxes on several Austins,
Vanguards etc but nearly all have ears, legs or arms attached as mounting
attachments, Only the Vanguard Spacemaster has the clamp and the long drop
shaft characteristic with the Healey mounting method. The clamp is different
and I am trying to locate an actual car as I have only seen the manual at this
stage.
In the short term I am reversing the box, I have located a bolt on adaptor that
fits on the bottom of the box. Made of aluminium and steel it has a boss that
matches the Healey outer tube diameter exactly and the bolt holes match the
bottom plate dimensions exactly, I'm not sure what type of car it's from but it
is from a Burman box. The other end of the box where the outer steering column
was originally connected will be stopped and the stator slotted through the end
as usual. I will have to get a RH worm as the LH worm will make the steering
work in reverse.
I did obtain an Austin A40 front-end for a song and after closer inspection at
home there wasn't much that was Healey compatible, The shockers were visibly
similar but had a thinner shaft, the arms were shorter, the springs were
shorter and thinner and the lower wishbones were slightly shorter and a
different angle, the king pins are the same but the stub axels have a thinner
shaft the rest is the same, you could machine out the axel and weld in a
thicker shaft. All the threads were not Healey compatible except the king pins.
The Austin A90 and its siblings looks an exact replica for front end parts, but
not the steering box.
The cost of obtaining a RH steering conversion kit in Aus is about $800 which
includes a new cast box and idler and the RH worm, at this stage with all the
other restoration costs I'm keen to cobble up the original box until I have
some luck at the junk yard or manage to find some more slush fund money.
I will keep you all posted as I unearth more donor info
Cheers
Ian, BN4 in Oz
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