In the spirit of helping my fellow E-type owners I performed a simple experiment today.
A common complaint is the front bumper offers no protection in the event of even a minor parking lot type collision. I’m here to tell you that’s just not true.
My experiment. I put the Mazda 6 in the garage and on the lift to replace an inner tie rod end. When I was done, I slowly backed the car out of the garage, forgetting I’d cleverly placed the E-type in the drive to the garage, so behind the 6.
Slowly backing, maybe slow walking speed; what they called mosey speed in the old West. Bump, No rearward movement, car stopped without my touching the brakes. Look behind me. Mutter expletives several times. Get out to inspect the damage. No damage to either car.
I’m not planning on performing a similar experiment with the rear bumpers, so don’t ask.
Drilled from the inside ,….Will need to be filled and carefully blended in….fortunately the sheet metal change of direction will provide an edge and I have the paint from the job …… just bloody annoying to have got this far without a mishap agh:man_facepalming:
I did think of adding a press stud and putting one on the other side ……. But nah best to fix it properly ….after all it’s being done for someone else and it’s going to be shown by him…….you’ve got to do this stuff right
Nice bushings.
I like the “ball” form on the central tube, haven’t seen such a thing for many years. It will increase the radial rate while still gaining some isolation by the rubber. It will guide the arm to pivot (sort-of) around the ball centre so the motion is better defined than with a simple rubber cylinder. Overall it’s likely to add some precision and / or predictability to the wheel motion.
Thus inspired, I’m going to run off and see if I can find a similar one, but smaller. Any suggestions much appreciated.
I had heard about the ball form on the center bushing tube, but hadn’t seen one so when I came across this upon taking mine apart, I thought I’d share the pic with J-Ls. I can imagine it is stiffer in all directions due to less elastomeric filler as well as the “ball” will resist (less compliance) in any rotation crosswise (both up and down and front to back). All in all it is likely a stiffer design than a bushing filled with rubber.
I don’t have any idea though Clive if the new ones I got from SNGB have the center ball. Nor do I have a suggestion as to where to obtain a bushing with the same form factor but of smaller dimensions. Sorry. I should note that in my conversation with SNGB they said they have sold over 1000 of the “cheaper” version with nary a complaint.
I was alternating between grinding and shrinking yesterday and attacked a particularly shrink- resistant piece of metal (I’d swear it was high carbon spring steel if i didn’t know better) and was surprised by the amount of sparks coming from the (not) shrinking disc. Oops!! Fortunately i didn’t grind a hole through it!
