Justin- The dreaded king pin bushing is not the problem. Installing it
is. It has to be reamed in place after pressing into place. The problem is
that the top and bottom bushing are different sizes and you have to be a
pretty clever machinist to pull off the in line reaming that is needed. I
found a great local guy who installed them, reamed them perfectely, and
installed the wheel bearings for me for $45.00 US ( I supplied the parts).
Look around your area, ask parts guys, ask garages (especially foreign) for
names of machine shops that are clever. Regards Geoff Branch
'74 Midget "Yellow Peril"
-----Original Message-----
From: Justin Cook <justincook@yahoo.com>
To: spridgets@autox.team.net <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Date: Tuesday, January 05, 1999 2:03 PM
Subject: Front suspension advice please
>Thanks to prodding from the list, I put rebuilt shocks on the front of
>my sprite (1966). I was pleased it was so easy. In the process I
>found that the four top bushings were missing or toasted. I am
>wondering if I should just order new bushings or order the whole
>suspension kit in the victoria british catalog. I know it NEEDS the
>whole thing redone. However, I'm kind of concerned about a message
>about a month ago talking about a king pin bushing that was supposedly
>very hard to replace (I think I was supposed to give burnt offerings
>to anyone who could do it in two tries...) I'm not much of a mechanic
>-- this is my second car, and the first I've had to lay hands on.
>
>Question: given that the front suspension is shot (lots of play when
>grabbing a wheel, I've already replaced the bearings), should I order
>the whole kit? Does this kit in victoria british (part number 5-309
>major suspension kit) contain this horrible king pin bushing? If it
>contains the bushing, would I lose anything by replacing everything
>BUT the dreaded king pin bushing. Is it unsafe to drive a car with a
>fair amount of play in one front wheel?
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