Autopendium :: stuff about old cars

Since an MOT failure at the end of last year, I have been stripping and overhauling pretty much all of the front end. (I had already done the brakes)
On a trip to the states, I bought most of the bits that I needed from Don Roberts, an old friend and Model A restorer in Mohawk, NY. I got a rebuild kit for the king pins with new bushes etc. New pitman arm, drag link, tie rod and control arms. The parts are so cheap that you cannot possibly repair the existing ones for anything near the price. For example, the tie rod is a 3ft length of 3/4 steel rod, threaded at each end (one reverse). The existing one was bent, worn and rusty. The new one was $13.50, about seven quid in blighty money.Now I have got it all apart, the front spring is a bit sad. The top two leaves have broken ends and all the leaves are worn, so I shall have to get a new one. $94, but excess baggage costs may mean that I buy it here. Meanwhile the front spindles have gone to Belcher Engineering to have the bushes fitted and reamed for the new king pins.

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