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MG MGA - Nylon steering bushes.. Todd C?

Anyone know if Todd C is still around?..tried emailing, but is an old address.
Gary Lock

Gary
Try "clarkespares@att.net"
André
André M Kunz

Andre, it's not Todd Clarke, but another with the same initials. In past threads, several people bought the nylon bushes off him, but he seems to have dropped off the radar.
Gary Lock

I seem to remember we could not track him down when this subject was last raised. I also recall that John Francis then made a few lookalike sets that worked well.

May be an opportunity for John to open up a production run.

Steve

Steve Gyles

The name was Todd Conrad, but no longer available as a supplier (actually never really was a volume supplier).

A couple years ago John Francis in Oxfordshire, UK made up a couple of sets in plastic. Very expensive in small quantity, would be considerably cheaper in larger quantity (but still not "cheap" cheap). See here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/steering/sr206.htm

As long as they are machined and not molded they will never be competitive with the felt parts. There is probably not enough possible market volume to justify making a molding die. That leaves anyone who doesn't mind the cost can makeup a set or two any time they like. For those wishing for a cheap set off the shelf, don't hold your breath while waiting.

Which always gets me back to asking, why bother? The felt pieces seem to do the job quite well. I drive my MGA a lot, and it goes a very long time between changes of the felt bushings. I installed new felt bushings with my first restoration in 1986, and I suspect the old ones were factory issue with 150,000 miles in 20 years prior to 1978. Another 18 years and 188,000 miles later I did it again. The old ones weren't terribly bad at the time, but the topic was under discussion so I did it for the documentation. I've done another 60,000 miles since then and I don't plan on changing them again any time soon (maybe not again in my life time).

Sometimes those old Brits were pretty sharp about doing things cheap and functional, along with light weight. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
Barney Gaylord

Hi

I still have the designs for the bushes. I didn't go into production with them but if there was some demand I'd be happy to give the design to you. From memory I think the cost would be about £18 per set if I made about 50 off.

I wonder if Steve who had the sub stacks made could get a good price for them? I am rather too busy in my new job to organise anything but willing to share the drawings.

John
John Francis

I have a set of 3 I bought from Bob Carleen
Art Pearse

I'm about to install the bushes I bought some time ago (=years) from R.L. (Bob) Carleen. There are 3 of them, made from I think delrin. There is one small one that is split and fits in the small end of the tube, one large that fits in the other end, but there is a 3rd bush which is sized to fit somewhere in the main tube, but I don't know where. Has anyone else used these bushes? Or have a contact email for Bob? I think he was located around Pensacola.
Art Pearse

Sorry, correction. It was Todd Conrad I got them from.
Art Pearse

I have always been concerned by the concentricity of the column itself, this bit of pipe is not solid enough to allow for "solid" bushes either end and any slight deformation will spell trouble for the alignment of the bore, which could result in a misaligned bore and a tight steering.
The correct way to do this of course is to fit the bushes and then line bore the bushes concentric to each other.
My two bits worth
Rgds Trevor Burnett
t burnett

I installed a set of the original batch from Todd, and can say they have been wonderful in comparison to the felt ones. No tight steering, and no slop at all.
dominic clancy

So, Dominic, where did the third bush go ?
I'm leaning towards the bottom.
Art Pearse

Art I don't know why you have three bushes. I do recall the thread suggesting a third but no idea why. It really only needs one at the top top and one at the bottom.

Trevor, the tolerances are not that tight on the column. The bushes Todd and I designed (I used his concept) have O rings around the outside so the bearing is not a tight fit in the tube bore. The O rings take out any slight misalignment and as Dominic says they work very nicely.

John
John Francis

John

I am thinking of making a pair on my lathe as a winter project. Any chance you could let me have the measurements?

Steve
Steve Gyles

John, -- If you send me the design info I can post it on my web site.
Barney Gaylord

John, there were 3 in the set from Todd. I lost the correspondence (2004!) . Maybe the two smaller ones were both mean for the bottom, but depending on the user's preference? The non-split smaller one has to be pushed into position all the way from the top.
Barney's page also shows 3 bushes.
I have the split one inserted, although I had to carve open the split a few thou to get it in the end.
Art Pearse

I have some of the earlier bushes, there are only two bushes(top and bottom) and they don't have the o-rings like the later ones did.

They fit fine and with the front wheels off the ground, I can spin the steering wheel from lock to lock easily.

Regards...John
J Bray

My set also had only two bushings and works just as well as John's
dominic clancy

Barney, Steve

I have sent you the drawings. I felt that the O rings would help take out any significant variations in the tube bore. I expect the shafts were pretty consistent in size but I think the tubes had some variation. Todd did a survey and I used those variations to design the parts. Ideally the bush should be fixed in the tube and the shaft rotate inside the bush. The complex one is the bottom one as the lip on the end of the tube means it has to be split. John
John Francis

Thanks John.

Steve
Steve Gyles

The drawings are on line. See here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/steering/sr206b.htm
Barney Gaylord

Steve, I have an order for two pair as soon as you have them!
Gary Lock

Gary

I hope you are not confusing me with Steve Ash. It was he that arranged the mass production of my stub stack design with a local engineering firm. I am only a very amateur machinist and would not wish to produce safety relevant items for third party use.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve, not confused, as saw your thread about making some during the winter...it may be worth your while to make several!
Gary Lock

I obtained a set of bushes from Todd (2 pieces) and they work very well. I recall that he used a plastic other than nylon - something that holds its dimensions better when machined. Perhaps the details would be in the archives.
Tom Heath

Todd and I both used Delrin which is an acetal. I wanted to use a glass filled version for stability but ended up using plain unfilled version. Delrin is used a lot for plain bearings. Steve I do have a bar of the material left over from my batch somewhere. I'll see if I can find it and let you know.

John

John Francis

This thread was discussed between 28/08/2012 and 07/09/2012

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