Re: Corse I rear suspension failure
Right, so it looks like the top forward wishbone mount has failed and that has allowed the wishbone to twist backwards and in so doing that has torn the corner of the square tube as the weld has broken away.
If you intend to follow the advice here I would not rip the engine out just yet as you need to ensure that the extra plates, tubes or whatever you add in do not foul anything. Particularly at the gearbox side as the box is very close to the frame.
It goes without saying that you will mod both sides of the chassis while you are at it?
Re: Corse I rear suspension failure
I'm surprised that you were unaware of this Bob.
It happened to Dave Carson's car while both Hugh and Dave were out playing in it, although allegedly they hit something hard to initiate it. But other early Corse I cars have also had to be modded. Neil/Arthur's car included but also Tony Aylot/Jan Leach's car and the other V reg Corse which was rallied from time to time. The guys name escapes me now, (Richard somebody??), but he modded his rear frame completely to allow the rear of the cradle to be removable.
This was the driving force for the mods which were carried out to strengthen the whole back end and make all the wishbone mounts double shear, as well as to allow eas fitment of the 24valve engines and exhausts. This coincided with moving the chassis production to CAGED at Frome, but only one chassis was built there to the correct modded drawings.
Sadly Steve's chassis was the last built at Skipton where there was, perhaps, some "inertia" to change and something of a disinterested attitude brought about by Lionel's insistence that they were charging too much!
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Re: Corse I rear suspension failure
John
was it Richard Gibbons ??........ that name rings a bell with me..... a Red car with yellow inset around the front indicators and white wheels.........
only have this photo from Abingdon 2001
Attachment 9589
Re: Corse I rear suspension failure
That's the fella Phil. Well done. Yes, the rear of that car had been radically reworked.
Re: Corse I rear suspension failure
Quote:
Originally Posted by
john
Right, so it looks like the top forward wishbone mount has failed and that has allowed the wishbone to twist backwards and in so doing that has torn the corner of the square tube as the weld has broken away.
If you intend to follow the advice here I would not rip the engine out just yet as you need to ensure that the extra plates, tubes or whatever you add in do not foul anything. Particularly at the gearbox side as the box is very close to the frame.
It goes without saying that you will mod both sides of the chassis while you are at it?
John
I have taken plenty of photos, and I think the mod that Craig posted will work. I think the engine needs to come out to do the repairs correctly as access is difficult.
I may also take the opportunity to convert to a cable gear change if Craig tells me I am suitable!
Steve
Re: Corse I rear suspension failure
Yes, I understand that you will need to take the engine out eventually to gain full access for the welding. It's just a cautionary note to say don't do it straight away until you are sure everything fits together.
Craig's gear change will undoubtedly work well on your set up. I fitted one to Frederics Corse without difficulty. That was an S chassis but no significant differences to yours I can think of for gear change purposes. It's cable after all. A degree of flexibility is in built!
Re: Corse I rear suspension failure
Quote:
Originally Posted by
hollytree
John
I have taken plenty of photos, and I think the mod that Craig posted will work. I think the engine needs to come out to do the repairs correctly as access is difficult.
I may also take the opportunity to convert to a cable gear change if Craig tells me I am suitable!
Steve
Whats the reason to change to a cable gear change, the corse rod change I had on my alfa box was one of the best I have used....
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Re: Corse I rear suspension failure
Looks like mine is a hybrid mongrel stage of design
It seems I have the additional tube support that Craig suggested I get welded in to match what he did (see above), but mine has not been filleted, nor does my bracket drop from the higher diagonal tube thus mine does not get the extended lever with a mid span brace.
Attachment 9590
Re: Corse I rear suspension failure
That's probably not a bad way of putting it. Clearly Craig's pictures show a better solution which is probably the best you will get without completely remaking the rear of the cradle to the last incarnation.
I'd take the advice of the Project Binky boys and carry out, as they call it, a CAD exercise. Cardboard aided design!
Your photo of the left hand side shows how close the gearbox casing is to that wishbone mount. The nut is hidden behind part of the casing.
Re: Corse I rear suspension failure
Quote:
Originally Posted by
hollytree
The weld on the tube section has completely torn away from the tube. This allows the wishbone tube to rotate and this has torn the weld out of the box section. The white line is the shiny bare metal from engine side.
Attachment 9588
750 miles total.
The mod looks OK-ish. Not ideal though as it's still in single shear but certainly better with it than without it, but it was let down by zero penetration on that weld by the look of it. Given the situation, reworking what you have there already to copy Craig's solution looks like the best way forward. You should be able to do that pretty easily once the damage to the right side has been resolved as you already know it will clear OK.
Could even consider a combination of that and Neil's solution for a proper belt & braces job.
Tim Page had his car modded after we spotted the same flaw. Sadly, the guys that did it took two stabs as the gearbox fouled their first effort.
Still amazes me that either Steve and/or Hugh let that go - seems so out of character. :(
