Like I mentioned, it might help prevent grease from squirting out from around the cover plate which is just held by a circlip…maybe. Norman seem pretty sure the tophat goes on the ball shaft inside the gaiter brim down. May be worth an email to William or Jeremy assuming it’s from SNG.
Those parts don’t look like the parts I just got and installed from SNG. No O ring or plastic parts of any kind. Gaiter was black rubber with wire retaining ring. Parts were ball, upper socket, spring, shims, rubber gaiter, Gaiter retaining wire, nyloc nut & washer, cover plate, snap ring and grease fitting.
And what is the SQUARE hole in the photo?
Rod
It goes between the Gaiter and the wishbone to seal the Gaiter to the pin. I don’t see 2 rubber O rings in your photo, only plastic. The large plastic ring should be a U shaped section that goes on the wishbone to which the Gaiter is attached.
There is no O ring fitted to the top of the wishbone as you have fitted in your photo.
John, forget previous replies. There are 2 different kits available, the original factory one used a rubber gaiter and that’s what I have been referring to. The later as fitted to the S3 E is what you’ve got.
The large plastic O ring is used to hold the Gaiter on, it has to placed in boiling water to allow you to stretch it over the Gaiter. Originally a steel clip was used which is the one I prefer because it is reusable. The plastic top hat plastic goes on the ball pin prior to fitting the Gaiter, it provides a grease seal on the Gaiter that allows excess grease to escape.
Hope this a clear enough for you.
OK, that’s clear. Is it ok to use the S3 kit on an S1 or should I send this back? It is SNG…
John
1967 S1 Roadster111
John,
Out of curiosity, what is the SNG number for the kit you have?
Rod
Plus don’t have confirmation for the small ring… do I have it in the right place?
John
The S3 kit is the better one, OK to use.
Rod, PN is RTC2203*, fits all models, has no picture or list of parts. There is also a RTC2203X which is special order. This shows a picture of the parts, which do not include the top hat one. I tried to fit the top hat over the taper on the ball joint shaft and could get it on only about half way. With that there the gaiter would not fit over it. Not supposed to be this difficult…
John
Isn’t “difficult” part of the definition of E-Type ownership? According to the diagram, that is the correct orientation of that part. Maybe if you boil it for a minute it will slip on? I’d think a couple of these parts would be extraneous when using it on the earlier arm though. Mine have a channel cut in the steel to retain the top of the gaiter. It looks like the S3 doesn’t have that?
XKs kit looks the same but does not include the top hat…
but does have the small o-ring.
I wil boil it some tomorrow and see if that works, otherwise just leave it out. Thanks for sticking with me Erica, do appreciate your attention and your helpful research
John
John, your kit looks much like the kit I recently received from SNG, except it did not contain the top hat piece of yours. The parts did not make sense to me so I called SNG. They confirmed that most of the parts were incorrect, and sent me the correct parts. BTW, none of the correct parts are plastic, and the photo of the “X” part on the SNG web site is incorrect. I suggest you call SNG.
Rod
Don’t leave it out, it seals the Gaiter to keep the grease in (and water out).
there’s a mantra I frequently hear myself saying
this is the replacement bj I could not make fit:
Is this the same? Cause I couldn’t get the top fitted, even with no shims IIRC.
I did fit the top hat on the tapered shaft with a little help from hot water, however the rubber piece fouls inside the wishbone and won’t allow the ball to seat properly. Here’s a picture
If I force the ball joint in, then the wishbone pulls the top hat thingy further up and onto the neck of the ball joint. Not a good thing. Right now I don’t see any way to make this work
John
S1 Roadster
Didn’t Norman say above that the hat brim points down to help seal the gaiter opening? Back in the water!
Yes Bill. that’s the same except for the top hat. You weren’t able to compress the spring? I have not even got that far yet! I did call SNG but their phones were busy.
John
Yes, Erica, looking back, he did say “top hat up” so maybe I have it in upside down, I will try that!
John
Hello Bill,
Many of these After Market kits have top, hemispherical cups that are machined way out of correct tolerance and require the top surface, surface ground to allow successful assembly. Others I’ve handled have oversized ball components (compared to a NOS) that also inhibit assembly; this fault is harder to rectify. So variable are many of these kits, that I’ve given up buying them, manufacture our own Ball Pins and Cups, sourcing all the other parts. I just don’t get it why these After Market manufacturers don’t stay in their comfort zone and just copy the original parts.
Regards,
Bill