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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - kingpins installed - few little issues

Hi all,
Even thought I was advised that my rebuilt swivel axels will need the bushings reamed this has turned out not to be the case (the kingpins fit perfectly already).

There were two issues:

1) the spacers that are used to set the oilite bushing tension were a little too close to the size of the outside diameter of the kingpin shaft so you had to fiddle around with the fit to get the trunion to slide all the way down so that it rests appropriately against the brass bearing. After realizing what was happening this was not a big issue. I mention it here incase someone else runs into the same issue.

2) I have a problem with the cheap cork seals that go on either side of the lower end of the king pin (between the kingpin and the inside surfaces of the A frame). My new kingpins a a tiny bit wider than the old one. not a big deal. My new A frames (Heritage) appear to be powder coated. The paint may be slightly thicker than the original. The result is that there is not enough clearance between the A-frame surface and the kingpin surface for it to be possible to slide the kingpin in between the seals without destroying them. If they were slightly thinner corks or made out something stronger such as silicone gasket material then it would work fine.

Has anyone else run into this problem?
I had the idea that I could buy another set of these cork gaskets and then squish them in a vice to make them slightly narrower before trying to install.
Has anyone tried this? Does anyone know what else I could use instead?

It seems to me that the only purpose for this seal is to prevent dirt from getting on the pin.

I am stuck until I solve this problem.
thanks,
Rebecca
R Harvey

I found the cork things to be hopeless, the wrong size as you say, and they fell apart as i tried ot put them in :(

I found a bit of thick wall rubber tube (i think it was from a thermostat pipe from a bedford van...) and made new sealing rings out of it, it fits snugly on the bottom pin. So far, grease hasn't escaped from them..
Rob Armstrong

I use slices of dense foam pipe insulation - the sort of stuff sold in DIY stores.
It can also be fitted to an assembled kingpin/ wishbone unit snapping it around the fulcrum pin with a touch of glue on the split surfaces. Cut slices slightly thicker than the space and it will compress to seal out the dirt more effectively than the cork seals.
Guy

I dip the cork seals in thin oil then squish them a bit in the vice, exactly as you described.
David Smith

The cork seals have different sized centre holes. Are you fitting the correct seal on the correct side of the kingpin? In a set you should have two with large holes and two with slightly smaller holes.
Alan.
A Anstead

yes I had the correct sizes in the correct locations.
thanks for all of the suggestions.
Rebecca
R Harvey

Garden hose rubber washer. :)

Necessity is mother of ... and all that jazz.
Trevor Jessie

This thread was discussed on 21/03/2011

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