Hi Stu,
You're not the first to face this.
The Andrex is a friction damper, like the old Hartford damper found on
US iron. To slack it, loosen the locknut on the one bolt that is not
around the circumference of the face plate of the Andrex. Then loosen the
bolt that passes through the locknut and into the face plate of the
damper. The bolt squeezes the steel and beech disks inside the damper,
and that's the friction that makes these high-tech devices work.
If you can't move the lever arm, it's waaay too tight. Better ease the
adjustment on all the dampers. Meanwhile, I'll look up some figures I
have on the adjustment of the things and send the figures to you.
I keep mine backed off completely. On a smooth road, they're great. On
a bumpy road, I find that the tires are on the pavement more w/o the
benefit of the Andrex. E.Bugatti built a car once to test why we use
springs. Turns out that not only to they support the car, but the springs
push the wheels down after a bump faster than gravity would pull the
wheels down. I think the Andrex can interfere with this action.
The Girling is the hydraulic unit. Removing its top merely allows for
its filling with fluid. The damper's action is effected by the orifice
(s) inside the unit itself. The damper is not adjustable by mere mortals.
Back to the Andrex--at the end of the "pin" on which the rubber bushing
was mounted there should be a plate or a washer welded onto the pin.
That was probably installed after the rubber bush was installed. How one
replaces the rubber is a good question. Perhaps a PO ground off the
washer and slipped on the plate. To replace bushings on mine, I split
the bushings in a spiral and wound them onto the pin. The washer passes
through (barely) the opening in the link.
Bob
On Tue, 14 Nov 2000 10:37:50 -0500 Stuart Keen <simbafish@home.com>
writes:
> This morning I was under my '51 TD MkII. I discovered one of the
> right
> rear shock (hydraulic damper) arms was free of the linking arm,
> connecting it to the leaf spring bracket. The link is suppose to
> have a
> rubber inset/bushing (now missing) in which the hydraulic arm's
> rod/pin
> fits. Since this is a Mk II, there are two shocks per wheel. The one
> disabled is the Andrex. Fortunately I have the other a Girling.
>
> Question:
>
> 1. I have tried to pull down the Andrex hydraulic arm but it will
> not
> budge. How do I get the arm and link mated together? If it was the
> Girling, I'd remove the top filler cap to release the pressure. But
> the
> Andrex has no cap, just a plate on the SIDE with a couple of screws
> in
> it. How is pressure released in an Andrex hydraulic Damper and what
> is
> the procedure?
>
> 2. I don't see how the two pieces became separated. Perhaps the
> fact
> that the rubber bushing is missing means it wore in half. But still
> the
> two should not been able to separate. Does anyone have an idea how
> to
> prevent this from happening again? I would think a washer and cotter
> pin
> at the end of the inserted pin would have been designed into the
> system,
> but the rod/pin was not made long enough to do this.
>
> One solution, of course, is to forget about the Andrex. I really
> don't
> need two shocks per wheel. However, I'd like to return the MkII to
> its
> proper configuration. In the meantime, I should have no problem
> driving
> it (like 300 miles this weekend).
>
> Any and all assistance will be appreciated.
>
> Stu Keen
> 1951 MG TD MkII
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