Front swing arm bushes – what is the best practice and state of the art?

mrtask

Well-Known Member
I fitted purple poly bushes to my suspension when I rebuilt my car eight years ago. They squeak, and the inner ones have deformed. ISTR the accepted wisdom is to stick with the original type of bushes. Metalastic? With voids that have to be positioned correctly?
Does anybody have a pair of spare front swing arms with these bushes fitted, in good re-useable condition, that they'd like to sell me?
Alternatively, is anybody going to turn up some replacement bushes out of impregnated nylon (as suggested by @cobraboy) or PTFE filled Acetal (as suggested by @sdibbers) ?
I'd take a set of anything that won't deteriorate as fast as the purple poly ones did. The inner flange of the inner bushes has sagged on mine.
So, what's the best practice, or what might be a brilliant new solution?
 
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May I ask when they squeak. I can go down an undulating road with no sound at all, I can bounce the car with no sound at all, If the front end drops in a rut and the suspension receives a shock, then there is a chirp.
Can you make yours squeak by bouncing the car ?
I don't think fitting the nylon has sharpened up the front much, it has made road imperfections more apparent, it is not the key to go kart like handling though.
 
Indeed you may sir. Alas, I don't have my car at the moment. When normal transmission resumes, I'll drive it and do a better diagnosis of what noises it makes under what conditions! All I know is my car makes all sorts of noises and I just have a suspicion that the top link bushes are one of them! Frankly it all makes a symphony, no, a cacophony of squeaks, rattles, knocks, bangs, everything except whistling! Does handle like a go kart, or at least I imagine it does. Certainly much livelier and more chuckable, with the uprated front anti roll bar having been the biggest improvement, I reckon.
 
How is the trans looking, fixable ?
If I do have to make some oil impregnated bushes I will make you a set, but it is likely to be a winter project.
 
Waiting to hear back from the chap who'll be wielding the spanners. Let's hope it is repairable, because stouter options like a Mazda box or a BW Tremec T5 look prohibitively expensive, and frankly not really justifiable behind an old and tired engine.
 
You did well to break it with an old and tired engine. I wont be racing you for pinks, I think you are feeding me BS so's you can wipe my eye.
 
If the front end drops in a rut and the suspension receives a shock, then there is a chirp.
Sorry to hijack the thread for a minute. But @cobraboy have you checked the bolts that hold the anti roll bar clamps in place? I noticed when I made my uprated one I used grade 8 bolts and torqued them down. But without Loctite they can back out slightly and make a noise.
 
Gladly forgiven, sdibbers. Good point. Probably one, no, four of the various noises I hear when my car works.
Cobraboy, I haven't done well, I've gone and broken something I only fitted eighteen months ago. That isn't what I regard as a reasonable lifespan. Pending a proper post mortem, I suspect it stopped lubricating and opted to friction weld itself solid instead. If that is indeed the case, I am very disappointed to discover 'spirited' driving causes these gearboxes to self dismantle and fail. Frankly, I'm gutted whatever has caused it to retire so soon.
 
Aaah. The lights are coming on here. If I put an @ sign before a user name they get an alert ? Doh! Bright spark, me.
And there was I thinking you two guys were psychic.
Back to swing arm bushings! Anybody else got any input?
 
Classesparts do a secret upgraded poly version. If you can get a price do let me know !

If I can input that ?
 
Gladly forgiven, sdibbers. Good point. Probably one, no, four of the various noises I hear when my car works.
Cobraboy, I haven't done well, I've gone and broken something I only fitted eighteen months ago. That isn't what I regard as a reasonable lifespan. Pending a proper post mortem, I suspect it stopped lubricating and opted to friction weld itself solid instead. If that is indeed the case, I am very disappointed to discover 'spirited' driving causes these gearboxes to self dismantle and fail. Frankly, I'm gutted whatever has caused it to retire so soon.
I've had one in my Cobra replica for years and abused it terribly, bad luck on your part I guess. If you are committed to the LT77 I suggest you collect spare ones.
 
Has Alan improved on the bushes I got off him then? I'll try and get in touch with him.
If this box really is lunched after so few miles I won't feel committed to repeating the procedure so frequently.
I want a gated manual. I've never driven one, but I want that metal plate with the slotted 'H' shape (you know what I mean) visible. I want never to select the wrong gear. I know nothing about these things, but I wonder if it is possible to add that feature to a gearbox? Apologising to myself for veering off topic.
 
Has Alan improved on the bushes I got off him then? I'll try and get in touch with him.
If this box really is lunched after so few miles I won't feel committed to repeating the procedure so frequently.
I want a gated manual. I've never driven one, but I want that metal plate with the slotted 'H' shape (you know what I mean) visible. I want never to select the wrong gear. I know nothing about these things, but I wonder if it is possible to add that feature to a gearbox? Apologising to myself for veering off topic.
In theory you can add a gate to regular gear lever on an LT77. It would take making measurements of each position at gate level and making up the plate. But for a standard 4 speed P6 box you have to allow room for the lift sleeve to move and that might not work. I've driven one car with the metal gate (Ferrari 365 GTB) and to be honest its just a bit of flash, I did note that it had a very precise shifter action.

I think you need the shifter remote to be in very good condition along with any mounts for the gearbox and remote. Otherwise you just lose travel in the lever that will cause problems.
 
At work we make a slotted gate for the BW T5, It is laser cut from 5mm stainless steel and polished, It is raised on 8mm studding about 100mm above the box using the holes that already hold the lever assy. It is trimmed with leather round the sides.
With a bit of thought you could make one for an LT77.

Back to the thread !

Alan told me he made bespoke poly bellcrank bushes, but no one wanted to buy them as they were too expensive. Thats it, as far as I got. Go figure ?

If you bought the 'special' poly ones from him and they have gone squashy then I guess they are not that special ?
 
Alan told me he made bespoke poly bellcrank bushes, but no one wanted to buy them as they were too expensive. Thats it, as far as I got. Go figure ?
Sounds familiar as a parts maker. Always reminded of the adage ‘You can have Fast, Good, Inexpensive. Choose two’.
 
Cobraboy, how long ago was your conversation with Alan? Last couple of years, or more like a decade back?
Sdibbers, my Rover affair seems to alway be the inverse of that adage, but not of my choosing. :rolleyes::hmm:
 
I had thought my shifter remote was in very good order, the gearbox had been sold to me as a warrantied reconditioned item and I refurbished the remote with new bushings, etc. etc. I haven't driven a Fezza, but I would like my old banger to shift the way I imagine that 365 GTB felt!
Slotted gate BW T5 sounds good. Outta my league good, but it is nice to dream.
 
It’s actually not as precise as a 2000TC manual shift. The 365 GTB has a transaxle so the linkage goes to the rear axle. If it’s set correctly it’s great, if the mounts are tired you get vibration transmitted to the lever causing an annoying rattle.
 
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