Advice opinions please

[Thomas591]

Hi Roger,

I totally agree to what you wrote, but I think you referring to an fully operational system which is nicely and properly adjusted.

In my case, I can’t leave my steering system “well alone” because out of 6 track rod ends 3 are worn out, one has been replaced by a previous owner with a non correct TRE, one track rod is damaged by severe mishandling and the left track rod is adjusted to be about 20mm shorter than the right track rod.

You can see from the above that, while renewing the complete system, it will help me to set up the track, to have conventional lh/rh threaded TRE’s.

Regards

Thomas

[DODD]

Hi Roger,

I think we may be talking at cross purposes here.

The outer track rods do affect the steering geometry. They can’t just be taken out of the box and fitted in the hope the central track rod will do all the necessary adjustments. Otherwise why have adjustable outer track rods.

I maintain that on a Bristol with 4No. LH threaded TRE’s the near side and off side wheels have to be aligned first, the outer track rods are then adjusted and fitted accordingly. Once aligned, fitted and secured, the central rod is adjusted to provide the tracking i.e toe in or out.

Tracking on cars do go out of alignment for many reasons, often one of the early signs as you know is excessive wear on the inner or outer edge of the front tyres. To correct the problem the wheel alignment must be checked before the central track rod is adjusted again.


Where a car has what in my mind is a more conventional system, where the two outer track rods have a LH and RH thread. The alignment and tracking (toe in or out) is done in the same procedure.
This system also negates the need for an adjustable central track rod. On many cars the central rod is a fixed length and not adjustable.

The steering wheel position has nothing to do with what I am saying above but when you have your car tracked the mechanic will position the steering wheel “straight” and clamp it in position while carrying the adjustments to the tracking.

Finally, I don’t think you are being too bossy, we just don’t agree and yes I would like some further advice please albeit on a different subject, I have set my question on a new thread for simplicity.

Brian

[AndrewA]

Not doing much on the car front as tied up with house building and moving. That said, a recent highlight was when Sam Frost popped down to pick up rear screen I was selling. He brought his 410 and we took the opportunity to drive each other's cars which was fascinating as well as good fun. It was a very hot day (by UK standards anyway) and the most immediate and wonderful difference with Sam's car is the fully functional, factory fitted aircon - that's now on my shopping list!
Picture below is a bit like one of those "spot the difference" puzzles....mine's the early one on the right, still sporting its upside-down moustache under the grille.

[David C]

The Vintage Air "Builder Series" aftermarket aircon is on my shopping list for the 410. Does anyone have any first hand experience?

[peter dowdle]

David while I can give you no specific advice on fitting Vintage Air to a 409 I have done a lengthy and difficult fit to my 411 Mk2.

Nearly every air conditioner fitted by the factory were what I call under dash units which fit between the gear box hump and the dash board. I did not want to do it that way but instead purchase a Vintage air unit with the intention of utilizing the 411 air vents on the dash. The only way to do this was to remove the existing heater and blower and cut a large hole in the flat area of the fire wall above the gear box hump.

I could go on for hours but the results were both good and bad. Sitting in the car you could see nothing other than 3 small knobs , There is no evidence of any change to the cabin, it all looks original and untouched. The heater built into the Vintage Air Unit works well. Under the bonnet the unit was boxed in and covered with the standard 411 material cover. All you can see is an air compressor and extra hoses.

The big problem is that having to remove the factory blower the Vintage Air unit wont move sufficient air to get a good flow of cold air through the 4 vents on the dash. This results in a car that, on a hot day, wont get sufficient cold air flow. I have tried a number of modifications to improve the problem but are thinking about reverting to the under dash system.

In a 409 I suspect you wont have room under the dash to fit it and you will still need some vent system. I would be looking for the smallest compact unit and fit it under the dash above the gear box hump then all you need is a couple of hoses running back to the engine.

Best of luck

[AndrewA]

Bit the bullet and finally took the car to Alder Automotive to get my gearbox looked at.
After an extensive test drive the proprietor informed me that in his opinion I'd misdiagnosed the issue - which was a slight grumbling when pulling away under load - and that attention to the inside of said gearbox was fruitless. He put it down to resonance and is checking mounts etc. This was a relief as you can imagine. I also asked him to sort out the gear selector and gear lever which has always been floppy and had inaccurate selection. Many have attempted to improve this over the years with limited success so a new one of each - that match the original - are winging there way to him from across the pond.
He did a gearbox service and adjusted the bands so now I'm just waiting for the bits to arrive and for him to fit them.
More later.

[AndrewA]

Bit of an update - correct gear selector mechanism and gear knob etc fitted - took months as parts supplier in USA kept sending wrong bits. Finally got car back in July and much better. After a week kickdown disappeared but once I understood how it worked, it was easily adjusted and now used at every opportunity.
Had a week away in it and lots of long runs - up to Essex to do Layer Marney Cup and then over to West Wales for a couple of nights with friends.
Car ran really well and found some great driving roads - the picture is the car on the Black Mountain Pass.
Car is being used for eldest daughters wedding in ten days time so have given the car a proper clean and sent hubcaps off for chroming as they were letting the whole thing down a bit.
All this talk of fuel injection is tempting but for now am just enjoying the car.