Spare Front Springs Cleaned and Painted

I took a little bit of time over the weekend (Laurel says a lot of time), to wire brush, clean and paint the spare set of front springs for the Vogue.

Wire brushing them wasn't much fun. Here they have been wire brushed already.
Next was a coat of rust converter.

  I also cleaned, rust converted, primed and painted the un-bent spare front anti-sway bar.

Then a coat of etch primer and a top coat or two.

Now I know that no-one likes to leave comments but is this colour too "loud". I still have time to paint them black.

They are a bit darker then it looks here. The Flash lit them up.

It's the same paint I used on the rear brake drums.




I read on some 4x4 and street car forums that it's a complete waste of time painting coil springs - oh well - they'll look better for a little while.

Front End work Delayed

I went to drop the Vogue in at around 5PM and the mechanics place was crowded with dead cars. They had an unexpected influx of problem vehicles. I really didn't want to leave the Vogue there with guys squeezing past it doing other work so I was quite happy just to leave it to sometime next week when the place had cleared a little.

This will give me a chance to clean and paint the spare sway bar and springs this weekend (yes I found two spare Vogue springs under the house). That way I might be able to clean and paint the wishbones on a weeknight - minimizing the time that the Vogue is dry-docked. There is always the option of not bothering the clean up the wishbones at all but Laurel (better half) says I wouldn't be happy if I did that. She's probably right.

It would be really nice to have this front end - maybe one day I'll pull it out.....
(Not mine but off a similar Rootes vehicle!)

Picture from Bill Ashby's Sunbeam Alpine

I'm getting Back on the Bus tonight

No it's not a failure. The Vogue goes "over the road" tonight so that the front end can be partially dis-assembled on Friday. I'll take the Bus home tonight and bring the Super Snipe to work tomorrow so that I can pick up the parts that have been removed and spend some time on them on the weekend.

Meanwhile here is a picture of my array of SuperPro bushings.
(The bushings are missing from the lower shocker mounts packet as they are already installed in the shockers - see previous post):

Lower front shocker bush kit - SPF0718-80K
Control arm upper bush kit - SPF0730K
Control arm lower bush kit - SPF1059K
Sway bar to control arm kit - SPF1060-19K (19 is the sway bar diameter in mm)

(Control arm = wishbone)

Converting HQ Holden Shock Absorbers to Humber/Hillman

Dampers - OK they're dampers - but most folk call them Shock Absorbers.
The Holden H series shockers fit the Hillmans, Sunbeams and Singers(Humber Vogue) of the early sixties I'm told; so I just bought a set of Ultima Shock Absorbers off an eBay seller. They look about right - a minor change is all that is needed. Remove the bottom bushing and metal attachment and replace with a suitable Hillman style bushing. I have already bought some SuperPro SPF0718-80K bushings.

Step 1
Cut around one side of the bushing where a lip has formed when the bushing was installed.

Step 2
Drill out some rubber to make removing it easier. Try not to hit the metal.

Step 2.5
Make a mess.

Step 3
Place the shocker on a flat board and apply pressure with foot while pulling on the metal attachment with a big pair of multi-grips/pliers. A bit of rotational force helps.
Sorry no picture for this one but here the Holden style bushing has been removed (plus the one from the first shocker I did).

Step 4
Apply some of the supplied lubricant to one end of the new bushing.

 Ready vice...

Step 5
Squeeze the bushing in with a vice. The rag is just so I don't take too much paint off the shocker.

Once you reach the limit of what can be done with the vice a little heal-of-hand thump seats the bushing nicely.

All done.

About time for some Front End work

The Vogue's 49 year old control arm upper and lower bushes are on their last legs so I'm currently collecting parts to replace all the front end bushes - and shock absorbers.

I haven't been very happy with the knocks and squeaks that the Vogue front end has been emitting for a while, so last week, having got a ball-park price from elsewhere and not been happy with it, I visited Knox Tyrepower (over the road from work) to ask for some advice. These are the folk I spoke of here that gave the Vogue it's Silicone tyres and who mentioned in no uncertain terms at the time (point 5 in this post) that the front end was "on the way out".

As soon as I indicated why I was there, Ross took me by the arm and led me next door to the mechanics (unrelated business). They all appeared to know about the "Electric Vogue" and were keen to help out. They had a good look under the car (up on a hoist) and confirmed we needed the upper and lower wishbone (control arm) bushes renewed. This is a job I do not want to do as by the time I get someone else to press the old bushes out etc. it will become a major pain - I know I'll want to re-paint the whole front end! Spring compressors scare me too.

So this may look a bit different in a week or two.
(Knox Tyrepower has put tyres on, and aligned, all the cars in our family for a past 12 years and I have never been disappointed in their advice or workmanship - no they're not family!)