Leaf sprung A arm bolt washer and nut question

[CompClassics]

As Jeff & DAN stated above it was very similar to the leaf spring to upright fastener except that the leaf spring bolt was hollow to allow for a grease fitting and lubrication. There was a flat machined onto the bolt head and a corresponding tab was on the suspension pick up point to trap the bolt from rotating in the bore of the pick up point. If the bolt was allowed to rotate a groove would start to wear into the shank of the bolt causing a weak area that could fail.

Jeff,
The race part was fabricated from military grade hardware with similar modifications to fit into the suspension pick up points.

[CompClassics]

I'll see if I have some time tomorrow to measure the hardware.

[MAStuart]

John That would be great. I would like to thank everyone for posting. There is some good and interesting things to be learned here.

Mark

[MAStuart]

Dan the thick disk (flat washer) was what I originally thought. I was told by someone that had some of the original pins. They thought the washers were something special. They also said that they did not have any or know what they looked like.

So I assume the washer tightens tight to the shoulder of the pin. The length of the shoulder controls how much the metalastik bush is compressed. This is where the numbers did not add up. This is why I also thought the washer had a special shape.

Mark

[Dan Case]

Originally Posted by MAStuart

Dan the thick disk (flat washer) was what I originally thought. I was told by someone that had some of the original pins. They thought the washers were something special. They also said that they did not have any or know what they looked like.

So I assume the washer tightens tight to the shoulder of the pin. The length of the shoulder controls how much the metalastik bush is compressed. This is where the numbers did not add up. This is why I also thought the washer had a special shape.

Mark

It was a purpose made retainer and not a standard flat washer. Yes, when you tighten the nut this part captures the steel sleeves inside the bushings.

[rsk289]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

With that leaf spring wrapped in the nastiest stuff known to man! I had the last N.O.S. leaf spring from AC when Autokraft took over all of the spares and the stuff that the spring is wrapped in gets all over everything! I have never seen such insidious, creeping black gunk in my life!

That is one thing we did NOT replicate with the Superformance MK II cars!

Well, it keeps water out and lubricant in. Leafsprings can wear quite quickly with grit and water between the leaves.
I wrapped mine with the original materials. First the spring is coated with a thick covering of OGL (Outside Gear Lubricant) grease, same stuff they use on truck fifth wheels. Then it is tightly wrapped with Denso tape, a cloth-based sticky tape, still available exactly as AC used it. Several other more upmarket manufacturers used it, too - Bentley, Rolls Royce etc. It is wrapped so that it can be held in place by just one metal strap fastener. Yes, it's not nice, but...

Roger

[LMH]

There's a particular way it's wrapped as AC did it back in the day. I remember reading about it but have no idea now where I saw that.
Larry

[1985 CCX]

I know this is a modified car, however Vintage raced....

[CompClassics]

Interesting, the sway bar pick up points are out board of the frame rails. It looks as though they are running AN bolts although they are not the close tolerance sheer bolts that the SAI
Team Cobras used. I can not see an additional plate added that would put the bolt in a double sheer mounting which would be the preferred / safer arrangement vs the stock single sheer mount.

[1985 CCX]

John agreed....

As Dan said, mods are made and originality falls away as cars age.

[Mark IV]

Sorta like this...

[MAStuart]

Originally Posted by CompClassics

Interesting, the sway bar pick up points are out board of the frame rails.

I asked about this at one time. My drawings show them on the inside and thought it was wrong. The reason I thought it was wrong was I had seen more pictures with them on the outside. When they are on the outside it supports the sway bar more where it bends back to the lower wishbone. I was told that leaf sprung cars did not all come with sway bars or the brackets welded on . I don't know if this is true or not.

If you get the time to measure the bolt it would be interesting to see how it compares to the drawings I have.

Thanks Mark

[Dan Case]

Originally Posted by MAStuart

I was told that leaf sprung cars did not all come with sway bars or the brackets welded on . I don't know if this is true or not.
Thanks Mark

The very earliest chassis sent to the USA did not have stabilizer bar mounting features. That didn't last very long as it was cheaper to get AC Cars in include them on all chassis than pay SAI employees to make up something and weld them on and all that means when ordered.

Street and most race (CSX2431 doesn’t count because it had many non stock systems tested on it) including the first Daytona Coupe before 427 Cobras were developed the rubber bushings for the bar was a 1950s Ford part and the clamps to fix them to the chassis were hand fabricated from hot rolled steel flat bar. I don’t know if SAI fabricated the clamps or had them made but today that are pretty rare. It literally took more than three decades for me to get unmolested samples of original clamps in my hands to reverse engineer into drawings. Drawings done, I still haven’t found steel stock to match what originals were made out of. I have a steel sample on order from another place to check out right now.


By sometime in 1965 the clamps and bushings were quite different. At least some Cobras finished in 1965 and some 427 Cobras finished in 1966 used the same parts for a front stabilizer system, example CSX2497 and CSX3265 front stabilizer bar systems were the same.

I can't recall who anymore but decades ago at a SAAC convention one of the ex-SAI race team told us he was hired in as a general worker and his first job was put brackets on new chassis that didn’t already have them.

[MAStuart]

Good stuff Dan. What makes the steel hard to find? Is it Thickness or finish
or the metal comp itself? Do you have a ruff idea of about the chassis number that they started welding the bracket on at ac? Did ac weld them all on the inside? I have a picture of one of the original coupes . They are on the outside on this car. It is not the first one built other than that I am not sure what one it is.

Mark

[Dan Case]

Originally Posted by MAStuart

Good stuff Dan. What makes the steel hard to find? Is it Thickness or finish
or the metal comp itself?
Mark

The original steel was as rolled to thickness and width in a hot band steel roll mill. The process left rounded side edges and appearance wise are tough to recreate from sheared stock. It can be done but it would be tedious.

It was probably just a cheap easy to get structural steel stock at the time.

I started a thread with pictures.