Hi

Iv been looking at polybushes as specified in the book, but cant bring my self to spend soo much money on them.

Also as I intend to use my car on the road i dont want an extremely hard ride.

I've been told that there may be a rubber alternative.......

Can anyone confirm this for me.

I think spitfire bushes were suggested in the original Ron Champion book. There are lots of triumph suppliers around or I might have some in the back of my shed if you are interested.

yea that would be great if you could!

Failing that, they're cheap enough here

JB

That is assuming they are the same as in Ron's book

[Edited on 19/8/10 by Daddylonglegs]

I've found 13 spitfire bushes (exactly the same as in Daddlonglegs' post).
I also have 15 suspension bolts that fit them (3/8" ) with Nylok nuts. They are "S" grade (equivalent to 8.8).

Are you going to be making your own wishbones and trailing arms? The reason I ask is that I'm not sure that you can buy ready made ones that fit these bushes. If you are really keen to go with rubber bushes it might be worth contacting http://www.antivibrationmethodsrubber.co.uk/index.html who could find a better match for a larger wishbone end tube.

Let me know if you want to buy the bushes, nuts and bolts - I would want £12 + postage.
Cheers
Dave

[Edited on 19/8/10 by panichat]

Just before i buy...... has anyone used these on a Haynes Roadster?

The pipe on the wishbones are 35mm long and these bushes are 37mm long. But the poly bushes had an extra 9mm on each side of the pipe. this means that the brackets are 44mm internally.

What do i do with the spare 7mm?

If you are using these on a Haynes Roadster you will need to use the correct size tubes on the end of the wishbone as these are smaller in diameter, you can compensate for the length by using machined spacers or remaking the brackets to suit. If you go the spacer route you will also have to sleeve the bracket, as the standard Haynes ones are 12.5mm holes & these are for 10mm bolts.

Not really a problem if you are making everything yourself, but if you are buying parts then everything "off the shelf" is to the book so will require adapting to suit.

Kind regards

John

Ok sounds like it will just be easier to go for the standards poly bushes.

Where is the cheapest place to buy the poly bushes from?

Hi

Do some research on the Triumph bushes as used by Westfield. These use a 7 1/6" bolt fit in side a 1 1/2" internally wide bracket ( commercially available ). And also press into Std size outer tubing. These offer far better results than the So called polyurethane bushes that are used in the kitcar market these days as they are simply not suitable for that application. Hence they are the cause of so many issues on kitcars with handling problems and stiction within the suspension.

Cheers Matt

Ps. There's also proper polyurethane bushes available as replacements for the triumph bushes as used by westfield if funds allow.

Matt,
I'm familiar with Westfield suspension bushes and have used them on wishbones I have made.
If I understood you correctly, you said that thay will fit into standard size tubing.
Knowing which tube would be of interest to me in the future, because I have had to also buy the tubes from Westfield to fit their bushes.

Cheers,

Mal

Sorry might just be me looking in the wrong places..... but i cant find the rubber bush your talking about?

Any clues?

Hi

The tubing to use is 1 1/8" OD x 14G. The bushes would ideally want 13G but that's not a common size. However with just about all tubing being supplied at minimum tolerance 14G will be very very close to 13G so running a reamer through it should give the correct size. the metalastic bushes do require fitting with a 1 tonne press as usual. They are not a push fit by hand.

The bushes are from the Triumph spitfire and GT6. From memory they are found in various applications on the cars but am thinking they where used in the eyes of the dampers also on the Triumph.

Sylva also used these bushes in a very similar size but had a 1/2" bore / bolt.

Ceers Matt

if you go to your local factors and ask for QH Y419's they should be about £1.50 each or less, and the crush bore is 3/8" not 7/16" - sorry Matt!

Hi

Westfield bushes are 7/16" that's guaranteed. There are various bushes used on the Triumph range not all are 3/8".

Cheers Matt