Didn't have time to file a report last week because I was too busy (filing a
new a-arm)
You may recall, I stuffed my Vixen a couple weeks ago at the Pagoda
Hillclimb. I bent an upright and an a-arm on the right front side. I didn't
see the a-arm damage until I installed the new upright. Gene Bird at Classic
Motor Works had a new a-arm for $100. The holiday weekend got in the way,
and I wasn't able to get the new lower a-arm until this past Thursday. I was
planning on leaving home Friday afternoon for Wilkes-Barre, PA to run Giant's
Despair Hillclimb, so I figured I had plenty of time to put the car back
together.
Well, it turned out that time was not on my side. The new lower a-arm just
plain did not fit. It was fine as far as the inner end, where it attaches to
the frame, but the holes for the trunnion bolt were not aligned properly, and
the bracket for the sway bar link was wrong--- the hole for the drop-link
stud was 1/2" instead of 7/16" diameter, the bracket was in the wrong place
along the arm, and the bracket was too short, it located the hole about 3/4"
too low, which leads to a preload on the sway bar.
In order to make the new a-arm work, this is what I did--------
Removed the sway bar link mounting bracket from the new a-arm (carefully,
with a hacksaw and cutoff wheel)
Did the same with the bracket on my original a-arm after measuring (and
writing down) the location dimensions.
Welded the old bracket on the new a-arm.
Welded up part of one trunnion bolt hole on the new a-arm and with an
assortment of files made a new, properly located hole. (one that did not
require twisting the a-arm to install the trunnion bolt) Took a couple of
hours.
Gene told me that he got the a-arm from one of the TVR specialists in
England, and that he would contact them and see what they had to say, try to
get them to make an adjustment on the price. No word on that yet, but I will
let you all know how it turns out.
As you can imagine, I am really "up in arms" over this.The good news is that
I got it all back together, ran the hillclimb, it stayed together, and I won
my class.
One other thing I don't feel quite right about is the way it went back
together. I expected not to have to make any adjustments to my toe setting
but an adjustment was required. There are a couple of possible explanations,
but the one I am focused on for now is the steering arm. I didn't think mine
had bent, but I'm not sure. A close look reveals that the distance from the
center of the hole for the end link on my steering arms to the brake rotor is
different from side to side. Could some Vixen owners take a look at their
cars and see what they find, please?
That's all for now!
Thanks!
Rich Rock
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