Hill, Stephen M EDUC:EX wrote:
>
> Rich, thanks for all the detective work! This is very useful. I am sure
> finding Herald uprights is tougher than finding early Spitfire uprights.
Rimmer Bros has them in stock (superb service always)
and so does David Gerald.
>
> Do you have any thoughts on what using the Spitfire or GT6 steering arms
> would do to bump steer, given that they are shorter?
>
Yes. No effect. The rack needs to be moved height wise.
> Lastly, has anybody on the list used a Spitfire rack and pinion on their
> Vixen TVR's? I understand they are faster lock to lock, and are virtually
> identical.
I think mine is a Spitefire rack and I can't say that I've noticed
any difference.
Regards,
JU
>
> Stephen
> 1970 Vixen
>
> > ----------
> > From: Rikrock@aol.com[SMTP:Rikrock@aol.com]
> > Reply To: Rikrock@aol.com
> > Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2000 8:39 PM
> > To: tvr@autox.team.net
> > Subject: Vixen Front Uprights
> >
> > Listers,
> >
> > I spent Friday afternoon visiting The Roadster Factory, and Classic Motors
> >
> > (Gene Bird).
> >
> > Here's what I learned about Vixen uprights and a few other parts......
> >
> > While the source for the uprights has been previously identified as Herald
> >
> > drum brake cars, the uprights on Spitfires up to Commission #15,575 are
> > identical to the ones I removed from my Vixen.
> >
> > Dave at TRF was very helpful. I took my old upright with me, he brought
> > some
> > uprights to the front counter, and we compared. He didn't have a Herald
> > upright, but he had an early Spit, and a GT6 part. We measured EVERY
> > dimension with a vernier caliper. The early Spit upright checks out
> > perfect.
> > The GT6 upright dimensions match up except for the hole for the stub
> > axle.
> > The stub axle on a GT6 is larger diameter, by about 1/16". Looks like
> > using
> > the GT6 upright is possible, but it means going with GT6 bearings/seals.
> >
> > Spit and GT6 steering arms are considerably shorter than the ones on my
> > Vixen. Dave didn't recognize my arms, and didn't have a Herald arm for us
> > to
> > look at, but we looked at a TR4-6 steering arm and it is completely
> > different. It will not bolt up to the Vixen/Herald/Early Spit
> > upright--the
> > hole spacing is wrong.
> >
> > The caliper mounting plate on the Vixen is from a TR4-6, but is modified
> > to
> > fit the Vixen/Herald/EarlySpit upright---four new holes are drilled in it
> > to
> > make it fit!
> >
> > So I bought the early Spit upright from TRF and headed to Johnstown, PA to
> >
> > see Gene Bird. Gene had told me he had a set of uprights in stock, I
> > wanted
> > to compare them to what I had just bought. The uprights Gene has are
> > slightly different. Not in any of the machined dimensions, or hole size
> > for
> > stub axles, ball joint, trunnion , etc. but they are just a LITTLE beefier
> > in
> > the dimension of the stiffening rib that runs vertically, and a LITTLE
> > wider
> > in the area just above the threaded portion of the upright. Gene would
> > only
> > sell the pair, I decided to go with what I had.....I didn't think that the
> >
> > extra material in his parts would make much difference. The way I see it,
> >
> > the weak point is at the top of the threads, so the only way to improve
> > the
> > part is to make the threaded portion thicker, along with reinforcing the
> > area
> > where the threaded portion meets the rest of the upright. If anyone
> > thinks
> > I've missed, or got something wrong, please speak up!
> >
> > I'll keep you all posted on how it goes. Got to get the car back together
> >
> > for Giants Despair Hillclimb next weekend!
> >
> > Rich Rock
> > Pottstown, PA
> >
--
Dr John Upham, The UKMotorSport Index,
http://www.ukmotorsport.com/, webmaster@ukmotorsport.com,
Voice: +44 (0) 976 634 053 (W), Voice: +44 (0) 125 287 2551 (H),
Voice: +44 (0) 976 634 053 (M)
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