Roadster back on the road

[jon_cox]

Re: Roadster back on the road

Steve,
As you now have the pics and know how to reduce them in size for the forum, could you please post them up for all of us to see.

[stevejgreen]

Re: Roadster back on the road

Certainly. With no permission from Chris B.

The most important of the pics he sent...

I hope this works or my credibility is shot.

[austinm]

Re: Roadster back on the road

Photo's worked Steve but at 2k and 2.5k they were bound to.

Interesting concept, I have seen this before.
If the torsion bar has been cut then the rear support point has been lost or is there a modification that is not shown in these photo's?
More force will be applied to the tie rod if the lower arm is only attached at one point by the eye bolt and bush.

Reading through Chris's post it would seem that the car has been through an MOT since the mods were done so I guess it was deemed ok.

I think I would rather see the reaction lever removed from the back end of the torsion bar and a bearing or bushing fabricated and attached at the rear to retain the integrity of the suspension geometry thus changing the torsion bar into an axle.

Interesting to see other peoples projects though.

[stevejgreen]

Re: Roadster back on the road

I have to agree with Austin in that I would prefer some extra support.
In one of the pictures it looks as though the eye bush is a bit distorted but it’s difficult to tell at that camera angle.
Easy way would be to do as he described, a similar bearing mounted on the chassis closer to the eye would do the same but that would mean cutting the torsion bar, no way back.

It was getting late when I posted the photos, the sizes you quote are the thumbnail sizes, the actual pictures they link to are larger.
And larger still, here are the originals

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6086/6130114309_72b78b0485_o.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6194/6130661870_9735752a32_o.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6201/6130106945_c6d036a0e2_o.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6081/6130103843_b4e2bdb30b_o.jpg

[lil_red_roadster]

Re: Roadster back on the road

Having considered this one for some time I was originally of similar thoughts to Austin. That said I've now come across a number of people who've done this without any significant problems.

The torsion bar is simply a spring...in actual fact there is potential slack in the fore/aft location of the bar (when they're not rusted solid) insofar as the bar does not seat fully home into the lower arm while the rear is only secured by a circlip. Removing it does mean the lower arm "might" have some room to pivot around on the eye-bolt, but only if the eye-bolt is loose enough or the suspension movement so extreme.

So on balance I'm of the opinion that removing the torsion and substituting coil-overs, without any additional modification, is probably OK. Personally I'd fit beefier rose-jointed tie-bars at the same time and possibly blob some weld on the eye-bolt-chassis interface just for added security.

As they say, go compare...check out the exposed front ends in your local scrappy. Especially Rovers...beefy tie bar and a lower arm mounted on a fixed bracket rather than eye-bolt.

[christopher.bogue2011]

Re: Roadster back on the road

Hi Guys,
Jez is correct when he says that there shouldn't be any problems with removing the torsion bars. I did this mod over twelve years ago because the new engine mounts for the Fiat engine were fouling the said torsion bars which is why I cut them off. The car has been through three MOT's and several thousand miles with no issues. For additional strength and piece of mind I have replaced the tie bars with rose jointed ones and the whole front end feels very positive.
Chris

[danny_nelson]

Re: Roadster back on the road

Many years ago Jim Jackson done away with the torsion bars when he put in a Fiat twin cam. Jim Welded another piece of box section to each side of the chassis. (Doubled up the chassis) The length was long enough to fit Triumph bottom wishbones and sit lower than the original chassis would allow.
Danny.

[austinm]

Re: Roadster back on the road

Hi Chris
Passed through three MOT's.
Well I guess that gives the mod the seal of approval.
Looks like a nice setup with the coilovers.
I was a little unsure as most wishbones have two fixing points on the inboard side but I suppose the beefed up tie bar does compensate for this.

Austin