Doing the Pop kingpins

[Jonny69]

Got the nod from a mate that there was a space in his garden to do the kingpins on the Pop so blatted over there this morning. There was a bit too much play in one side which makes the steering a bit vague and it wanders about on the road. For anyone that doesn't know kingpins are what the wheels steer on and you just replace them when they get worn.

Fitted a new condensor because the other one I bodged on was playing up a bit but I couldn't get the engine to fire at first because there was no spark. Then all of a sudden it kicked into life so the old one must have charred the points up a bit or something. Also noticed a loose stud in the head was spewing out a bit of water, did it back up real tight and the engine suddenly has a lot more power and is a bit quieter. Bonus.

Spent the afternoon stripping down the front end and I now have two very diddy very grubby Pop spindles in my small toolbox, yes they are that small, ready to clean up for some new bushes. They were a sod to get off, the securing pin was jammed in and wouldn't have come out if it wasn't for my mate's comedy oversize splitter and the kingpins themselves needed some serious beating with my big hammer to shift them.

I was expecting the bushes to be knackered but actually there is heavy pitting and a step on the actual kingpins. Ironically the new pins are a good fit and I could probably get away with not changing the bushes, doing the reaming etc but for the sake of doing things properly and doing things once I'll go the whole hog. It was surprising how much movement there was so I've got my fingers crossed that this is really going to tighten up the steering. Someone tell me it will be so...

Spose you'll be wanting some substandard overexposed phone pics...

Pop spindle complete with wheel bearings:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/2007-05-06/kingpin1.jpg

Top of the kingpin, you can see the pitting:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/2007-05-06/kingpin2.jpg

Old kingpin next to a new one, you can see the step and the wear:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/2007-05-06/kingpin3.jpg

Hopefully will drop them over to another mate on Tuesday who's good at this sort of stuff who can press in the new bushes and line ream them for me, then it's back on the road again.

[Garp]

Cool :) Wish I had those kind of practical skills.. :)

[Zirax]

I swear I replied to this... the mind must be going.

Its impressive that you know what you are doing with the old motors :) If you do have any questions, you could email my grandad. He was a mechanic back in the day when those were running around. Must be really rewarding to get it running properly by your own hand

[Jonny69]

Yeah I cleaned them up a bit and spent the evening down Burnham Autos (my local hotrod shop) pressing the new bushes into the spindles. I have a new best mate, 4-thou Bob who is going to ream them to fit the kingpins which is handy as that saves me ****ing them up myself. Some jobs practice makes perfect and a pro can get this right first time :D

[Jonny69]

I got a chance to put them back in last night. Had 4-thou Bob ream the bushes for me and he's done a top job. It's transformed the car, the steering is tight as it should be, doesn't wander about and the brakes now pull the car up in a straight line as it should do :D

Some pics, cleaned up spindle with the brake back plate bolted up. Decided to clean out and re-pack the wheel bearings while I was at it:

http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/2007-05-17/17-05-07_1847.jpg

Round the back of that is where the kingpin goes. Drops through the top of the spindle, through the axle and through the bottom bush in the spindle. It's held in place by a big cotter pin and there's a bronze bush under the axle to steer on:

http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/2007-05-17/17-05-07_1849.jpg

Then I drove it from deepest darkest Kent up to the Frankie and Bennies on the A21 as there were a few hotrods and chops meeting up. Great drive getting it all out of shape on the roundabouts and generally being irresponsible but meh you only live once and it's not as if I was going very fast. There were a couple of really tidy rodded Pilots and a fresh out grey Pop running a modern 4 cylinder and sitting real low over a narrow axle. Quite a few Harleys down there.

Needed some money so jumped back in the car to find a cash point. Got about 50 yards up the road and it conked out completely and wouldn't start. Right on cue a drunk bloke with a kebab turned up "aaaaaah thaaaas a well niiiiice motor...." staggering about in the middle of the road. Thought it was sparks again but when I checked the filter it was blocked up solid and no petrol was being pumped through. Cleaned it out, fired it up and drove on and it's been fine since. I need to post a picture of how much crap I cleaned out the tank already. It's about a third of an ice cream tub of silty sandy rusty stuff, but obviously didn't get enough out. Better leave that tarp in the back... ;)