Chaps,
can anyone out there give me any advice on fitting a steering column to my 120 OTS. The engine is in place but the carbs are removed. Does the collar and/or the drop arm have to come off ? Does one have to remove the cross tube going to the other wheel? What’s the technique ?
Tim de la Fosse
is this a RHD car? …
Phil, Yes it is original RHD. I’ve just been down to look at it again before going to bed. Perhaps it’s necessary to remove the windscreen wiper motor ? Perhaps the front right suspension? It has me baffled.
Tim
I have removed/installed the steering column on my LHD FHC and it is an awful job to do alone. You really need 3 people, which of course the factory crew had. I think the guy that wrote the procedure in the manual never actually tried it, or did it on an OTS. I believe the OTS is easier, if perhaps only slightly.
One holds the weight, one guides it through the dashboard, and I recall having to pull and bend the front fender forwards a bit.
Leave the drop arm on. The inner lower valence is of course off. The tie rod maybe you can leave on, but I don’t recall specifically.
RHD has a spacer under the RF engine mount so the front carb will clear over the column.
Thanks Rob,
Cracked it !! It took 2 of us a couple of hours to fail to do it yesterday and today I did the job on my own in less than 5 minutes. As Rob said, leave the tie bar and the track rod in place but be prepared to just pull the front wing forward by about 5mm to let the drop arm clear the front (the wing is quite flexible here).
The key was the removal of the wiper motor and its mount. Once that was out of the way you could direct the column directly through the hole in the bulkhead at an angle of about 30 degrees then after having just eased the steering box under the flexed front wing lift the whole lot over the suspension and into place. That little victory will keep me smiling all day.
Tim