List,
I have been planning to convert to disk brakes on the wife's Bugeye for
some time. Well this weekend was the time for the project. Several
years ago I picked up the remains of a Midget that had only the front
brakes and Diff left, remainder had been completely stripped. I had
also purchased a rebuilt a-arm and rebuilt front end kit, plus shocks. Then had
most of every thing powered coated for a nice look.
So yesterday I get the to the point of putting the steering arms on the
stub axle. The Moss and Mini-Mania catalogues have the arms angled away
from the axle, I installed that way. No good, at least 6 inches from the
tie-rod ends. Reversed and mounted the steering arms to angle towards
axle. (which is the way they were on the old assembly, and shown in the
Haynes manual). Now there is no room to mount the brake caliper.
So obviously, the correct installation is steering arm angled away
from the axle. But now the tie-rod ends are way out of position. Also,
the steering arm ends from the "parts Midget" do not fit the tie-rods
on the Bugeye.
Finally my questions. Can I simply(?) order the tie-rod ends for a late
model Midget and install them on the steering rack of the Bugeye to
solve my mismatch problems. Or must I start at the tie-rod ends and
go farther into the steering and possibly replace the entire steering
assembly. Or do I replace the parts I have installed so far with
a disk brake set up from an earlier Spridget.
Opinions?
Bob
Just a simple project getting complicated and more expensive!
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