With both my TR7's officially of
the road it is time to start on some typical winter jobs. First job I will be
tackling are the rubber carburettor mounts with which the SU's are mounted to
the manifold on the DHC. British Leyland decided it would be a good idea to use
rubber mounts, as they act as heat insulators and vibration dampers. When they are new they
probably do their job quite well, but after well over 30 years even the best
original mounts will be well past their prime. Not to mention the very poor
quality of the aftermarket items. When I restored the DHC I thought it a good
idea to extend the life of the original mounts as long as possible, by
supporting them with some heavy duty cable ties. Clearly visible in this
picture ...
To start the winter jobs, this weekend I dusted of the AutoCad file I created almost three years ago, to record the various dimensions of the original mounts.
To start the winter jobs, this weekend I dusted of the AutoCad file I created almost three years ago, to record the various dimensions of the original mounts.
The original plan was to
find a local workshop to fabricate this from alloy. But the biggest problem
here is that it sometimes takes ages before the items are ready. And that is
when I was reminded of the fact that Schaeffer
AG (the
switch panel company) can work aluminium up to 10 millimetres thick. After
a final dimension check against an original mount I redesigned the mount.
This way it can be fed into the
design software as provided by Schaeffer AG. I went for a 6 mm base plate with four
recessed holes to fit countersunk M8 Allen head bolts.
Against which a 10 mm spacer is
fitted. This part has four threaded holes (with M8 threads), enabling the two
parts to be screwed together and preventing the bolts from tuning when fitting
the carburettors. Giving a total thickness which is exactly the same as the
original mounts.
As there are probably cheaper options available I will first do some more checks before hitting the 'order" button. Also finding some countersunk M8 x 45 mm Allen head bolts with the correct (DIN) head dimensions has to be done before the order is placed, as the dimensions are crucial. Something to sort the coming week.
As there are probably cheaper options available I will first do some more checks before hitting the 'order" button. Also finding some countersunk M8 x 45 mm Allen head bolts with the correct (DIN) head dimensions has to be done before the order is placed, as the dimensions are crucial. Something to sort the coming week.
