Board logo

Will any donor do ?
pdm - 30/1/10 at 10:21 PM

Evening all,

This is another one of my seemingly odd questions - sorry !!

Interested to know whether the following items would age/fatigue with mileage/age:

Halfshafts
Propshafts
Front hubs/callipers
Rear flanges
Steering column
Lower steering shaft

Or is it a case of once cleaned and painted they would be as good as new regardless ?

In other words if I got them from a very cheap donor or from a scrappy can I just get them from the first cheap car I see without needing to worry too much about the history of the car ?

thanks
Paul

prawnabie - 30/1/10 at 10:30 PM

Im assuming sierra here BTW

Halfshafts - CV joints either end can wear

Propshaft - UJ will wear but tbh you always replace them or use the shaft as exhange against a shortened one

Front hubs - bearings will wear and caliper seals will leak.

Rear flanges - I asume you mean hubs? same as fronts in that case.

Steering column - there are bushes in then so just check for play.

Lower steering shaft - Uj's wear but you will more than likely make your own to suit the car.

As you can see most of the parts you can rebuild with repair kits, so as long nothing is physically borke you should be alright.

HTH
Shaun

[Edited on 30/1/10 by prawnabie]

maartenromijn - 30/1/10 at 10:44 PM

If you have the space, get a donor, strip it, and sell the bits you don't need. You'll have the parts you need for almost nothing.

If you don't have the space, buy the parts you need separate. After all, plans can change and in the end you maybe don't need so much parts from the same donor at all...

ReMan - 30/1/10 at 11:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by pdm
Evening all,

This is another one of my seemingly odd questions - sorry !!

Interested to know whether the following items would age/fatigue with mileage/age:

Halfshafts
Propshafts
Front hubs/callipers
Rear flanges
Steering column
Lower steering shaft

Or is it a case of once cleaned and painted they would be as good as new regardless ?

In other words if I got them from a very cheap donor or from a scrappy can I just get them from the first cheap car I see without needing to worry too much about the history of the car ?

thanks
Paul


Sierra stuff is pretty strong so provided it was a running car, in most casae it will be good enough for a lightweight. And if wiorn is easy enough to replace if needed

snapper - 31/1/10 at 06:18 AM

The solid metal bits are generally perfectly OK, you should check bearings and seals.
If you get a donor drive it around for a while, you will soon get a feel for what is OK and what needs refurbishing.

Don't get to anal about new everything unless you have a bottomless wallet.

The diff for instance, you would not buy a new one or get the donor one refurbished as the Sierra diff is a tough old sod and relatively cheap to replace, you would however give it a good clean, put in new oil and seals, gearbox generally just new oil, front hubs, bearings and seals, driveshafts check boots, paint and fit, propshaft is normally aftermarket so new with guarantee etc.

pdm - 31/1/10 at 09:12 AM

Excellent responses as always !!!

Thanks everyone.

Steve Hignett - 31/1/10 at 09:26 AM

As above, but also to consider:

The donor parts in a kit car will be doing a much reduced number of miles in comparison to how Ford designed them, and in a car that weighs 1/3, 1/4 of what they were designed for too.

So, parts that may look a little worn, might last a lot longer on a KC...