Rear coilover bracket questions.....

[manifold]

No reason to have them handed Alan.

Mine are both normal threaded, WITHOUT castle nuts and split pins. They are just thread locked. Just had to thoroughly degrease the thread on the stud and nut well before putting the threadlocking fluid on. Keep it simple. Might bring the cost down too not having to mess about tooling up on the lathe for the reverse thread.

[DavidL]

My car uses these brackets...

...but I'd agree that the extended stub axle seems like a better solution, and if you're going to be making a batch, I'd certainly be interested in a pair. Any idea what sort of money you'd be asking?

[Alan D.]

Any idea what sort of money you'd be asking?

I'm doing the drawing now, so should be able to get a price in a week or so. One of our Midas owners works for a specialist vehicle manufacturer and he has done a computer stress test on the extended stub axles, as he wanted a pair for himself, which he has already made. His conclusion was that they were strong enough, but needed a 3mm radius in the corners as a further precaution, this will be done, but i don't know if it will interfere with the hub/bearing fit! I'll also consult him on what grade of steel to use, as my knowledge is 40 years out of date!

Alan

[DavidL]

It's the simplicity of the extended stub axles that appeals to me.

My father, who served an engineering apprenticeship before HIS father "persuaded" him that he was going to take over the running of the family farm, taught me a great part of what I know about mechanical stuff - his farm workshop was where I spent a lot of time growing up - and some other stuff also sank in, such as the phrase "Add lightness and simplicate".

I realise this did probably NOT originate with him, but possibly with Henry Ford, but it IS one I do remember well.

[Rich]

Are they ex-mine? I painted them hammerite hammered black.

Looks like they have been modified at the back with weld. I assume thats what you meant by widening them?

Offer the handbrake brackets up. I can't remember whether they go front or back, but they will have a natural fit. You will then need to use 3 or 4 packing m8 washers up against the radius arm casting so it sits square. They then should fit right, assuming the subframe was centred and properly fitted. When I built my convertible I had to drill all the holes to fit the subframe. The coupe which I didn't build wasn't centred correctly until I sorted it.

I believe they are yours Dave, widened as you say with weld and powder coated.

The back end appears to be square, I understand my car was built by Charlie Dodds originally.. I guess he'd had more practice than most.

[All That Glisters]

Any idea what sort of money you'd be asking?

I'm doing the drawing now, so should be able to get a price in a week or so. One of our Midas owners works for a specialist vehicle manufacturer and he has done a computer stress test on the extended stub axles, as he wanted a pair for himself, which he has already made. His conclusion was that they were strong enough, but needed a 3mm radius in the corners as a further precaution, this will be done, but i don't know if it will interfere with the hub/bearing fit! I'll also consult him on what grade of steel to use, as my knowledge is 40 years out of date!

Alan

Alan, did you ever get any quotes for these stub axles? What diameter is the shock absorber end? Did the corners need the 3mm radius? Did you produce any drawings? What is the concensus on LH/RH threads? Could nylock nuts be used? What grade of steel are we talking about?
Sorry about all the questions but my (very) slow rebuild is starting to move towards the back end (of the car) (actually thinking about it both the car and my life) and I think I'll probably be up for a pair soon.

Regards Mark

[Alan D.]

Any idea what sort of money you'd be asking?

I'm doing the drawing now, so should be able to get a price in a week or so. One of our Midas owners works for a specialist vehicle manufacturer and he has done a computer stress test on the extended stub axles, as he wanted a pair for himself, which he has already made. His conclusion was that they were strong enough, but needed a 3mm radius in the corners as a further precaution, this will be done, but i don't know if it will interfere with the hub/bearing fit! I'll also consult him on what grade of steel to use, as my knowledge is 40 years out of date!

Alan

Alan, did you ever get any quotes for these stub axles? What diameter is the shock absorber end? Did the corners need the 3mm radius? Did you produce any drawings? What is the concensus on LH/RH threads? Could nylock nuts be used? What grade of steel are we talking about?
Sorry about all the questions but my (very) slow rebuild is starting to move towards the back end (of the car) (actually thinking about it both the car and my life) and I think I'll probably be up for a pair soon.

Regards Mark

Hi Mark,
Sorry for the late reply

I did try to get a price but I was let down. I've sent my sketch to Aitchi and he is going to turn into a CAD drawing, but Aitchi is busy at the moment! The trouble is that doing anything like this, it will cost me hundreds of pounds for say 10 pairs of stub axles. One of the original six sets which I had made were sold by someone else on this forum for £90 the pair as he went down another rought. I am in fact moving away from this idea and am trying to make a whole radius arm from 38mm CDS tubing. So if we do go ahead with this stub axle order, I would need some very strong commitment from people.
I do have a spare set of stub axles, already pressed into some new radius arms. these and my original ones, which are fitted to my my Mk 3 will be available for sale if I can get the new idea to fruition.

To answer some of your other questions, why not go to the forum magazine section on this board and read the artical in Hans's excellent forum magazine. (maybe Stuart could post a link to it.)

The coilover end diameter was 1/2 inch, the original Mini fitting was 3/8inch, so we made it stonger. We could make it 12mm diameter, but you would need to bush your coilovers accordingly. The new stub axles would all be made with a 1mm fillet radius in the corners, sorry the original post should have read 1mm, not 3mm.

Alan

[Stuart]

(maybe Stuart could post a link to it.)

Your wish is my command

Alan's article is in issue 1 of the magazine for download here mcf01 http://midas.orba-design.com/

[All That Glisters]

Thanks Alan and Stuart. I've no doubt that I'll be after new rear shocker brackets soon, although I haven't had a good look at the ones that are already on the car.

Regards Mark

[Hans Efde]

Alternatively we could knock up drawings of the excellent GTM brackets. These are made of just steel plate and a piece of square tube: