Welcome to the Austin Seven Friends web site and forum

As announced earlier, this forum with it's respective web address will go offline within the next days!
Please follow the link to our new forum

http://www.austinsevenfriends.co.uk/forum

and make sure, you readjust your link button to the new address!

Welcome Austin seven Friends
This Forum is Locked
Author
Comment
dampers

May I ask how dampers should be kept please? Either dry or greased? I mean those with friction disks in wood or other material.

Location: Sunny Brittany

Re: dampers

This is not really going to help you but I know that some people keep them dry and others grease them in (just about) equal numbers Renaud.

I have run cars with both methods and they work quite satisfactorily either way.

Which would you choose?

Re: dampers

Thanks Ruairidh. The question is on a french forum and I asked here to help that friend. I'm not surprised by what you say.I would grease thew myself very lightly... But what do I know?

Location: Sunny Brittany

Re: dampers

In my experience if you drive a Seven saloon at terminal velocity and strike a rough patch you need every bit of damping to stay upright. I drove a Ruby for a while which seemed much the same as my RP. The latter would leap and turn through about 10 degrees; at 50 mph and more only the reactions of youth and firm damping enabled order to be regained. And that with the larger export? front damper. Strong dampers also reduce the mayhem on corrugations (although these now not common, even here) .

Greasing would reduce the stiction and so improve the ride, but there is a limit to how tight can be adjusted. I can remember my father explaining how he once diligently greased, and the shattering effect at the first large pothole!
With greased or no sas the cars roll noticeably more.

I get the impression road surfaces are generally much better today.

(Original condition was not a consideration when my car was in extensive use. Hydraulic sas at the front greatly reduced the pitching and at the rear transformed general handling, especially on metal roads. However on an RP and earlier it is very difficult to devise a workmanlike and robust mounting with good clearance).

Bob Cheavy ulver

Location: Auckland

Re: dampers

When I bought the fabric saloon I now have it was a real handful to drive.
The steering box was adjusted so there was no play at all, the shock absorbers were done up as tight as they would go and the tyres were at 35psi.
The car jumped about all over the place and was very difficult to control.
With the tyres down to 20/22psi, the steering box adjusted back a bit to give a little play at the wheel and the shock absorbers slackened back it was much better. It should be possible to press down on the car and get spring movement but it shouldn't bounce.
It still had the characteristic wandering of a normal Seven, ie It swoops from side to side but (almost) always corrects itself if the steering is allowed to kick. This is caused by the lack of sideways location of the front axle.

I have now made the modification suggested my Rob Beck in the thread entitled "ulster front axle location".
This is to insert a rubber pad between the end of the spring and the vertical section of the front axle at both sides.

His description:
"Cut sections from the tread of an old tyre (canvas construction) or block of rubber to insert through the spring shackles and down the gap between the axle and the end of the spring. This gives fantastic location and is by far the quickest way of locating the front axle. It is also barely noticable."

It transformed the handling. I can now drive at 50mph over the uneven Borders roads with complete control. In fact it is even possible at times to drive 'hands off' and it still goes straight. After many many thousands of miles in Austin Sevens I was amazed at the transformation.

Location: Melrose, Scottish Borders

Re: dampers

Hi Jim

Any stiffness in the steering box, new kingpins etc induces marked wander. An experienced and unusually observant mechanic noted that with very neat bushes, the distortion when the cotter is tightened often causes stiffness.
Some very familiar with old cars advocate some backlash in the steering. As does Nicholson, not that he is a recommendation!.
Seven geometry is very flawed. When the car is rocked the wheel moves extensively. Hence best to hold the wheel lightly, as if constrained the car will steer off course on winding surfaces. I prefer minimum lost motion; my car had/has almost none; I usually drove using just one hand to allow the feedback. It would be interesting to rock a car with and without shackle restriction pads.

I suppose metal road corrugations are occasionally encountered in the UK. Those encountering in a stock Seven do not forget! Perhaps a new subject for a new series!

Bob Culver

Location: Auckland

Re: dampers

Renaud,

It's also important to make sure the rotational movement is between the brass shims and the friction discs, NOT between the brass shims and the steel housing. The brass should be prevented from rotating WITH the friction discs, either by glueing them to the steel housing or drilling a hole in the steel and "dimpling the brass into the hole.

Personally I keep mine free from grease as this gives the greatest static friction.

Peter.

Location: Inverness

Re: dampers

I have never heard of putting grease on the friction dampers and don't believe any of the many Austin Seven books suggests this (I stand to be corrected). Pitman recommends no grease on the friction plates.
I would think that the whole idea of a 'friction' damper is just that !!

Tony.

Location: Malvern, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Re: dampers

I believe that the early cars had disc's made from oiled beach wood and this is probably where the idea of greasing the discs comes from. later cars seem to mostly have discs from tufnol or similar and modern remanufactured ones out of similar material to that used for lining clutches. I have seen some chassis where the damper brackets have broken presumably from over tight or seized dampers. That said on my cars I have found the best handling is obtained from increasing the damper effectiveness by adding fixed and moving discs, you want a firm smooth damping action with out sticking. For speed events I tighten them up hard (bear in mind circuits are generally quite smooth) but slacken them off a bit for road use, other wise the rear of the car has a tendency to skip over bumps. The front has less of a tendency for this but I positively locate the front end with one of the damper arms.

Location: New Zealand

Re: dampers

For normal road use, with pre 1930 cars, I use beech wood discs lightly greased.
For the jewel cars I used a Ferodo type material ungreased.

If you don't lightly grease the beechwood discs they tend to dry out and split - which does nothing beneficial for your dampening.

Ian Mc.

Location: Shropshire