Rear link

[canuck]

This weekend allowed me a bit of Riley time. 

I am under the car sorting the handbrake, leaky dampers etc. and notice it may be time to renew my links.  The upper bush is showing signs of distress. 






Any idea where to procure new ones?

Thanks
Bruce

[canuck]

Me again,
Two more queries for the link,  history of my car suggests  these to be original factory bits 

is the bend in my links  'normal' ? 



there is a number on the side,

 

Thanks for you thoughts

Salut
Bruce

[kiwimc]

Hi Bruce,

1.  Mine have no obvious bend.

2.  Definitely different to MM (which incidentally are bent in the parts book illustration!).

John

[kiwimc]

A thought...

Isn't Penguin45 (Chris) on the Wolseley Forum doing stuff with castable black urethane (?) rubber?

Can you rebuild them/refill the rubber yourself???

J

[tonyhosk]

I think that might be the way forward as they are unobtainable - only coming up occasionally (sometimes still attached to the damper) on eBay and likely to be as worn out.

Tony

[cygnet61]

Bruce, they appear to be available “down south”!

britishclassicspareparts.com/product/link-arm-rear-shock-austin-lancer-morris-major-wolseley-1500-riley-1-5-mk-1-2/

[canuck]

Thanks chaps,

So all your cars have good links? 
You are scaring me with the word, unobtainable.    Yikes!   

Fortunately the vulcanizing of the top bush is intact, it is only the 'oil soaked' bit you see in my photo that is compromised.  

Plan 'B'?
I wonder if the ends of a MGB link are compatible? and one can simply cut the vertical rod to length and weld is an option? 
Next I am at my cars I will investigate, I have a spare MGB link and do have my dampers off of the car. 

If this Plan 'B' fails me I may have to shop down under. That reads like an adventure in the making. 

B

[tonyhosk]

"Bruce, they appear to be available “down south”!

britishclassicspareparts.com/product/link-arm-rear-shock-austin-lancer-morris-major-wolseley-1500-riley-1-5-mk-1-2/"


That's good news. Interestingly, on the website it mentions Riley 1.5 1957-62, but I'm unaware that the fitting changed with the Mk3 - nothing in the official spares list about a later alternative.

[canuck]

A way forward maybe?

I am pretty sure I can save this link, and as I mentioned previously the vulcanizing appears intact on this bush. The only perished bit, oil soak damage? is the outer bit that looks ugly. 

Being the untrained surgeon I am, I trimmed off the 'ugly'  rubber using an Olfa™ knife.
The photo shows integral, solid, and  healthy looking rubber below.  

 

I will apply a bead of Permatex™ Black gasket maker at this joint. This sealant type remains flexible and is all things resistant. My thinking is this should seal and mitigate water ingress.  

I will post the result.

Salut

Bruce

[cygnet61]

“Make do and mend” as they used to say!

Will you try to straighten it as well?

Cheers
Gordon

[canuck]

Feb 7, 2024 17:50:50 GMT cygnet61 said:

“Make do and mend” as they used to say!

Will you try to straighten it as well?

Gordon,
Yes that idiom is my credo.  

Good question, oddly enough both my link are bent similar.  I don't imagine it makes much difference to the damper action. The 'bolt to pin' length of the link is affected very little by the bend. 

Segue if I may?  my car evidently had a hard working life. The bottom of the car is all battered/bent by, I assume, a rough and loose rocks/gravel road surface through its 95K miles of 60's to mid 70's life span.  I suspect this caused the bent links.

Below I show an example of the  'battering'  this little car endured. Example the leading face of fuel tank and guard that was installed to help protect it! Yikes.   The engine oil pan doesn't look much differnt. 

      

When I am successful to undo the fuel line nut on the tank I will replace the tank. I have a nice one on the shelf.

I will straighten these links to put things right, thanks for the push Gordon. 

Bruce

[canuck]

I will close this thread on a positive note. 

I did apply the Permatex™ Black gasket maker on the links as I mentioned previously, not pretty but worked out pretty well. Remains flexible and seals the shaft wonderfully.
I also straightened them as Gordon suggested.  



My thinking of possible using/modifying a MGB rear link proved to be nonsense. The MGB link is a monster size rcompared to the Riley requirement.



Now I will move on to other jobs under the car

Salut

Bruce

[canuck]

My rear dampers have been leaking for a few years. I removed and filled them each spring and last season barely survived the season as the bouncing about, and unsolicited lane changes came back.
I removed them and sent them off to a specialist shop, stateside for rebuild. 

The photo below shows the attention to detail.



These rebuilt dampers  will now restore my Riley ride to factory intend.  No more removal and filling for me anymore.  

Salut

Bruce



 

[ozieagle]

Hi Bruce,
I know I've read, somewhere, that one must remove the shockers to fill them. However, my Wolseley 1500, which is basically the same car, has access holes under the back seat, for the shockers. Maybe us down under have a bit more smarts, and the builders added those holes.

Herb

[tonyhosk]

Certainly the Mk3 1.5s have these access holes to top up the dampers. I assume the others and all the Wolseley's do as well.

Tony