Front upright/trunnion has snapped!!!

[npanne]

When the trunnion went on my Spit, I had to drive for about a hundred yards as I was sitting on a blind bend, and I knew how fast the local buses came round. Interesting trying to balance my body weight over the back wheels to lighen the load whilst whinsing at the horrible grating noise.

To top it all, after the FOUR HOUR wait for the AA, they refused to drag the car onto their flatbed until I signed a disclaimer, and even then my stepdad and I had to physically lift the front corner of the car whilst it was winched onto the truck - I was not amused!

[JohnD]

Sorry, Kevin, but borrocks to Cromwell.
My 'special oil gun' is a telescopic jobbie, that lloks exactly like this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lumatic-APOUS-Telescopic-Hand-Grease-Gun-120cc_W0QQitemZ370184194863QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Hand_Tools_Equipment?hash=item370184194863&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1689%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

It leaks oil, so I keep it on dish, but it doesn't fail whe pumping the the juice.
£5 with P&P.
I'll sell it it to anyone for £50 - half the price of a Cromwell!  Roll up, roll up!

John

[tiggrr1]

npanne wrote:

To top it all, after the FOUR HOUR wait for the AA, they refused to drag the car onto their flatbed until I signed a disclaimer, and even then my stepdad and I had to physically lift the front corner of the car whilst it was winched onto the truck - I was not amused!

No problem with the Guy from the RAC.
He was careful and we worked it between us, I was lucky he was a top fella and he got a few beer tokens for doing a great job.

[heraldcoupe]

KevinR wrote:

This is the dogs danglies of oil guns http://www.cromwell.co.uk/CTL5404515R
But look at the price !

?????
That's exactly the one I use. Bought it new from one of the DIY stores, Texas I think, about 18-20 years ago. Cost about £12 at the time, which was a bit more than an equivalent Draper, but nothing like that kind of difference!
Cheers,
Bill.

[Velocita Rosso]

Doug_P wrote:

Halfords do a fairly similar 'looking' gun for about £15-20.  I have 2 - one used for grease and the other for oil.  Works just fine with oil.

Also have replaced the blanking bolt on the upright with grease nipples - every time I have the front in the air I give the trunnions a squirt or two.

I know its a Spitfire, "in the air" , how do you reach the trunnion at the same time in mid flight?
I have a thumb operated oiler with a rubber seal, removing the nipple the oiler the nozzle fits inside.A few thump squirts and the oil come through to the top. If they are regularly oiled then theres no problem of oil not running free. No need for a high pressure gun

[Deleted User]

heraldcoupe wrote:

?????
That's exactly the one I use. Bought it new from one of the DIY stores, Texas I think, about 18-20 years ago. Cost about £12 at the time, which was a bit more than an equivalent Draper, but nothing like that kind of difference!
Cheers,
Bill.

Bill, are you sure it is the Oil gun version and not the Grease gun version - externally they look identical.  I use the grease gun version with oil and it works very well.  I also have a cheap Clarke grease gun and it doesn't even work with grease any more.

There has been a sharp rise in the price of Wanner guns recently - Wanner is a Swiss company, and the £ has plumeted against the Swiss Franc, which probably explains the price rise.

[GT6 M]

Steeve,  three options on the no plate position

1,  you can, with a bit of patiance,  and a soft faced hammer,[body work type,]

knock the plate you got, to the shape of your front spoiler,  so it fits like a glove

2,  you can put a black sticky bacground on the spoiler, then stick the  sticky letters to it.

3, or you can put on black back ground, and then glue the raised typr letters to it

regards Marcus

[heraldcoupe]

KevinR wrote:

Bill, are you sure it is the Oil gun version and not the Grease gun version - externally they look identical.

Possibly not then, damned good piece of kit whichever it is.
Usual problem I'v found with cheap grease guns is the quality of the union to the nipple. They so often fail to seal that it's a wonder they'll pump grease at all! A cheap(ish) grease gun with the union replaced by a decent quality type will usually work OK, but no guarantees,
Cheers,
Bill.

[Paudman]

So why not just replace the grease nipple with a bleed nipple - remove the grease nipple or blanking bolt, screw in a bleed nipple of the same thread, pump oil in with a can, then replace the grease nipple or blanking bolt? I modified a 1/8 bleed nipple by cutting the end off to make a threaded pipe, push onto the end of a flexible pipe from an cheapie oil can, screw into the upright and pump oil in.
Works for me, very simply and easily.
I'd upload a photo if this thing would let me.....

[tiggrr1]

796 wrote:

Steeve,  three options on the no plate position

1,  you can, with a bit of patiance,  and a soft faced hammer, [body work type,]

knock the plate you got, to the shape of your front spoiler,  so it fits like a glove

2,  you can put a black sticky bacground on the spoiler, then stick the  sticky letters to it.

3, or you can put on black back ground, and then glue the raised typr letters to it

regards Marcus

Thanks for the pointers Marcus but for the moment it shall remain an air scoop whilst I get my repairs done ;)

[tiggrr1]

This is what it looked like, already halfway through before it gave up



And I had to butcher the Trunnion to get it out as the bolt was siezed in the bush sleeve.



And now my car is back where it should be, just got to clean up the garage to get it back in there.  



All I have to do now is replace the offside one at the weekend.

I AM NOW USING NOTHING BUT GEAR OIL ;) :P ;D

[Billy Boy Bailey]

Looks great, I can see your neighbour is into MGBs ,I can just make out a green one and a purple one parked out the front  ;D

[Royboy66]

705 wrote:

Looks great, I can see your neighbour is into MGBs ,I can just make out a green one and a purple one parked out the front  ;D

;D ;)

[irish44j]

705 wrote:

Looks great, I can see your neighbour is into MGBs ,I can just make out a green one and a purple one parked out the front  ;D

I see what you did there...  ??)

[sparky_spit]

I notice from the picture you had to saw the trunnion bolt off so I assume it was badly seized? This would not have helped your vertical link/trunnion thread at all, unless the bolt was really slack and rotating in the wishbone holes, as it would have added extra flexing pressure to the bottom of the vertical link and maybe contributed to the metal fracture and eventual breakage?

I'm no metalurgist and can't tell which half of the fracture broke first, the rough bit or the smooth bit (?) but whichever it is, it is in the right plane to suggest a stressing movement at 90deg to the centreline of the car. This is what you would get if the trunnion bolt was seized and therefore applying bending force to the bottom of the vertical link as the suspension goes up and down.

[99176]

I too use a pump type oil gun, but I do keep a 'special' tired grease nipple, as the pressure is insufficient
to go through new ones. If ever I lose it I'm in trouble.

[tiggrr1]

sparky_spit wrote:

I notice from the picture you had to saw the trunnion bolt off so I assume it was badly seized? This would not have helped your vertical link/trunnion thread at all, unless the bolt was really slack and rotating in the wishbone holes, as it would have added extra flexing pressure to the bottom of the vertical link and maybe contributed to the metal fracture and eventual breakage?

I'm no metalurgist and can't tell which half of the fracture broke first, the rough bit or the smooth bit (?) but whichever it is, it is in the right plane to suggest a stressing movement at 90deg to the centreline of the car. This is what you would get if the trunnion bolt was seized and therefore applying bending force to the bottom of the vertical link as the suspension goes up and down.

I think you have a good point there, It is now nice and free to move so hopefully not under any more stress than normal :-/

As a precaution I also changed the drivers side vertical link and trunnion last night at work. (in my dinner hour,cough, cough)
That too was tight in the trunnion bush/sleeve.
Just goes to show you can oil them as much as you like but check the trunnion bush moves freely too!!!

[tiggrr1]

99176 wrote:

I too use a pump type oil gun, but I do keep a 'special' tired grease nipple, as the pressure is insufficient
to go through new ones. If ever I lose it I'm in trouble.

It is possible on some grease nipples to take them apart and remove the spring and ball.