Bugatti Quirks - Steering

vroom vroom right we're waiting for the number plate to come for the fact so we're just looking around the car and I said to John have a look at the steering John because obviously it's pretty important so this is a rubber a leather ra leather couling that goes in there and then what it does it has bolts that go through there with a little [Music] Spicer that goes in there and then it has a spacer like that and then you have a nut well the nut has a split pin yeah and anything to do with a steering on a Bugatti has got a split pin well of course this had spring washers which were the wrong size and no and no um split pins so anyway and and then leather coupling it wasn't exactly beautiful you know I mean it's got great bits missing and that so luckily TIY keeps these in stock so we just went have got a new one of them so that's the thing but you see the idea is that when you tighten up on a piece of leather you can't tighten it up solid it goes up and that is why you have to a slip pin but obviously All the Other Things are Slip pins as well so what we're doing now we're sorting out a decent set of bolts and obviously we will split pin that which is what it should be right so now we split pinned it but that is another thing again what it is these these tap of pins these tap of pins get split pinned but if you look at the other side but it's not it's in and then what happens is the holes in this the hole in that is smaller so when you tighten that up the t pin opens the end of the steering column that's easier it's got a slot in it so when you pull that taper pit up you're just putting a thing through there and relying on the bolt to drive it you're relying on the table pin opening that out and causing it to be solid almost and that is the thing that actually drives it obviously this if it was loose obviously the um taper pin would still drive it but that's not how it should be done so when you can't see the other end like that that's always a worry to think well someone's done it up and they a really done it up so then the next thing is years ago Jeffrey s John was at BR hatch and he had quite a big accident in his one of his cars not desperate bad enough and what happened was the Vault was split pinned but someh over again it's only very small 7 mil knot when you tighten it up obviously that's all got to be made very carefully and what happened was the head of the bolt fell off cuz it's got the split pin through there so that bit fell off and slowly this taper pin worked its way out and fell out and he had no steering so from there on the big tip for anybody who went racing or did anything you have that sticking out probably a/4 of an inch and you drill a hole in it and you don't put a slri pin in there you wire it so you wire that and then you come around and you go through the other side so if that was to fall off the wire would stop it coming out oh I see so this is on a type 51 yeah and same as a 35 same as all the cars that see now that's sticking through and it's got a wire going through it and then it goes around well timoth has done it slightly different he split pin that and he's just put a wire around that because at one stage somebody had that nut come off and that fall out so that has got a hole in it and a wire through it and when you can see a bit of stuff you know that hasn't been screwed up and come to the end of it's opening out there cuz that's important but what we very often do we put that and then we got a wire through there but I think temp is right when we do your car well put a split pin in there we'll just put a wire around the same as that I think he's right right so there there is your split and then you make up a taper pin with a nut on the other side of it and that goes in there like a looney and then that opens up and that is what actually drives it not that that don't drive it that just is the thing to open it up so that hole it was difficult to get it out so that will be room now and then the hole in the actual flange will be bigger so that's not stopping it and as you force that in it opens out slightly and then it drives on that surface there which is a lot of people don't seem to understand that it doesn't drive on the pin so that will go into about there and and then we'll have about that much sticking up and we'll throw a hole in it and then we'll wire it so if the nut was to fall off or whatever it wouldn't just fall out but that's going to need a bit of a John is it yeah I think there's a bit of De still in there yeah it's um it's um that's definitely going to need a bit of a room but it all looks good but this is you know this is the jobs that you have to do cuz from 1920 s all sorts of mechanics would work on it and they wouldn't necessarily know the ins and outs of a Bugatti and they are a bit of knowing the ins and outs cuz so had some you know ideas that in this day and age nobody would probably understand it's like the clutch the clutch is very clever but you have to understand it but that you know when that's done it will not only be safe but it'll look right I'm turnning the split P all in the bolt yeah basically put the V Block in holds it in the middle clamp it all up and then in theory just do that stops at the end there as well put it right through and that should be in the middle yeah [Music] and let's just see those ones that are Rusty the ones that came off it so that's the one that came off it yeah bit pitted well that obviously when that when that piece of leather gets damp it stays damp and obviously tends to rust the B okay but you know that's not seven it's been on there since then probably few years it yeah it's older than I yeah that's s something well they're bit some of them are a bit rough so but we got some good ones you know secondhand ones obviously you see that oh wow then we can mark it cut it yeah leave a lump on they always going bit over well I fought that last time I broke it so yeah try to do the n snatching off and that's a bit of wire get out now you see they all they're all split pin properly yeah so they're all split pin and clean it all up nice see nice new leather nice new leather cup well that's good now he's going to bash it out so now you want to take a f fil with him bhing it [Music] out look there you can see the marks that where it's really pushing on it yeah to make it go like that yeah so now that will get cut off there yeah this will then have a thread put on it with a nut that would then have a hole drilled in there for putting the wire around that'll get beaten in and then the nut just holds it in position okay cuz the nut that goes on there is not strong enough to do that you got to beat it in to do that the nut just stops IT falling out okay but if the nut was to come off cuz it's it actually is not 7 mil John it's six is it so I made a mistake there it's not a 7 mil nut it's a six mil nut so the nut is only capable of holding it in position but you see you get people screw that nut up thinking that they could do that well you can't do that with a little six mil nut you got to do that with a big hammer yeah and you can see look you can see where it's really hit that taper and made that go like that so it's it's a typical quirky bit of Bugatti yesterday we were talking about the flexible joint on su's steering column and now you have to knock the um Co taper pin it to open it out and blah blah blah blah blah this I took out of a tipe 44 likees and you can see I said most people don't understand it well look you can see they've chopped that off there cuz that should be about that long and it's undoubtly cuz look it's plated and that's plated so this is a restoration job by somebody so they chopped that off they put the thing on there and then they put a bloody great bolt in there to hold it instead of relying on the side so that is the sort of thing that happens over the course of God knows how many years you know people not understanding the batti method basically so that that reind does what I said really that's that right on the gearbox one of the flages on the type 35 gear box goes on and it goes on a slow taper and it don't have a pin in it you just push it on and they never come off but you know how many people would think that you could put a flange on and just push it on a slow taper but you can and and they don't come off but they got to be like perfect so obviously when they get old you can drill them and put a pin in them just to be safe because you know the the shar's a little bit iffy it's all a bit iffy when it's don't years old but when it's all made new originally it didn't have anything in it it just pushed on that is lo a Racing Tip is the same as on the chain that goes around the breake the the spring links when you went to Brooklyn the spring links had to have a wire around them through the chain to stop them ever falling out and if they did fall out the spring link that is it couldn't open up and the and the brakes fail so that's another sort of thing that they found out you know racing them at Brooklyns and what have you and I had a long chat with um gu griffi I went and spent a whole day with G griffi I've become very friendly with him actually and his old age he was the man who produced a picture of my dad what what do you have to do with all this and I well my dad had of garage and all right he said what was his name and I said well he was involved with George Newman and he walked over to a filing cabinet went like that and he pulled out a picture of my dad with George Newman in the sson you know it was quite good really but anyway the thing is of old um guy was he was there and he said to me he went through a few of the things that when you went on the um when you went to the scrutineering the real radio arms on a Bugatti you had to be a to turn them with your fingers cuz they obviously had them again they're like a ball joint that gets cut the bolts in it and somebody don't know what they're doing you know the thing gets put on the other way around the ball's a bit bigger the thing's a bit smaller you squeeze it up and the back axle going up and down would break the ball off so he said the scrutiny is always us to go up and turn the radius rods on a tip 35 he said you know and if it didn't turn it it failed and the other thing they did they used to walk up and the track Rod they used to actually put their feet on the track and stand on it you know like said the track put it and stand on it like that because what happened then was on a batti You' got like a spring thing that's inside the ball joint and it it's there to just keep it under tension it shouldn't have a load of slack and the other thing they used to do the bo wear like an egg and you couldn't have it tight so you know people you know people in them days they probably didn't know anything really they just drove the car so they obviously had a dragling fall off so that's why the old scrutineer used to put his foot on it and stand on it inside there there's a Big Spring goes in there inside that ball joint bit but the ball joint thing has got to be the right length so when you screw that up it's still good and the spring just takes up the tension so so if you do that it won't move and that's how it should be well when I say won't move it's got to have clearance but obviously the pole has got to be round cuz if it's like an egg it can't it you know it won't work so now we're going to talk about ball joints what happens this is a tight 35 B joint now that's a terrible old thing but the only reason I've got that here is because you can see that the the ball right so anyway so now you imagine that's on there and that's and you're going along and all the dirt is dropping in there and this is doing this when you're steering it and everything so they don't last very long and what happens is the ball becomes like an egg now you can see that's like an egg that's really like an egg so is that these are the bigger ones these are for the touring CLS that is a type 35 size small one and that is one that has a which is perfectly round now if you look at this you'll see what I'm talking about right now you watch that slide down the numbers but we can maybe twak it you watch that go up as I turn it oh yeah so that goes to 24.9 look that's how that's how much that is an egg now yeah what happens [Music] is that goes in there and that is a spacer cuz on if your gy there's no way of adjusting the track the track rod on the drag link is the no the track Rod the track Rod is the right length as nearest that me and by putting different spaces in there you can also the track so then that goes in and then the B joint obviously and then that but there so there hang on a sec now those washers are washers and there's no way we would ever do this but I haven't got the spaces that go in there cuz we used to make them to fit the car but I'm doing this Pur as a demonstration right so that is a proper spacer and you might have several of them in there but you don't have little skinny ones you have ones like that that made of and that is made of um probably um silver steel or i36 and it's hardened but it doesn't necessarily have to rehold cuz that's just a Spicer right now that is the big that rubs on the ball yeah so that has to be hard so we don't see make those and we Harden them and or have them Harden probably right so that goes in there then that goes in there and then that goes in there now what happens is if it's all in perfect condition which if you're going to go fast in one of these cars it needs to be that is got just a few th clearance just there but if it's all worn out you can't have a few th cers cuz it's like an egg and if you watch that it goes in and out so n out of 10 times people got a car that it's like an egg that screws on there goes down solid right so then when you move the steering you press the spring like that and that is wrong that should have I don't know two or three or four F clear so we would make a new one of them and get it dead right but we'd also make a new one of them so that is so when you turn the steering and you see that going like that it ain't right that spring is just there to take up the few th clearance to stop it rattling basically so that is how that's how the P CH done now I have seen this there was a car done in America and it actually had on the pill written on the bill Mig World ball joints set up in life and rurn square now when I first started in this L I used to spend a lot of time talking to Mr Conway senior it was one of the most qualified engineers in Great Britain you know he was yeah he knew what he's talking about so I said you're right Mr Conway you know we're going to have to make steering arms and you know I want to get it right obviously cuz it's very important so okay my boy he said you got to what you have to do he said you have to get 36 which is the nearest type metal so I think the French I think it's ad3 but I wouldn't swear to that but anyway so you get A36 cuz it's very good at standing up to e up R and doing whatever he said you get A36 and you get a certificate with the piece of metal to prove that that's what it is you said and then you stamp a number on the part number 10 or whatever can't quite see that but okay and then you obviously machine it I've got a special cast IR fixture that drops in and you heat this up and you don't heat it up with I think you heat it up with um propane and you pull it around you see and then what you do you send it off to have it bought up to 55 tons I think it was and you get it core refined and crack tested and you get the certificate and you have number 10 on it so you got the certificate for it going to the Heat creaters and cified and blah blah blah number 10 and then you've got the piece of metal number 10 and you write it in a book so he said if you ever had to go to court and that come off you wouldn't be a to say well we did everything you could possibly do actually since 1980 we've never ever and David I went into the bank if you're seeing our video and and bent all that and it only bent it didn't break but so so then you decide you're going to make them well every bloody car's different so there no going to thinking oh I make 10 of them they'll all be the same cuz that bit there that paper fits in to the upright where you know the stub axle is and everything there's a slotted hole and you fit that in and then it mustn't come to the surface cuz you want to be able to tighten it up and it goes in solid I don't know we got there what it does it has a washer on there which is the sh of the thing and you tighten it up and it has to go in solid so you have to fit them you can't there's no other way you file them blue in F and blue and you get that fitted and then very often that's in a different place or that's in a different place so you do all of that and then you send it off for the Heat Treating and the blah blah blah blah blah and that is how we do it and that's how we've always done it and we've never had any aggravation but I seen them I told you about the one Meg world if we've actually seen a car where they've chopped that off and they've made a ball joint and they've silver solded it into there or welded it into there I can't remember now but obviously again I if that breaks off you're in real serious trouble so so that is why if youve got the Patti and you and you turn the steering and you see that going in and out like that it's probably because the ball is um like an egg like that and the reason it's not absolutely you know with no clearance whatsoever is because you couldn't make it like that cuz eventually it just break the ball off if you locked it up solid so you know every bloing Bugatti that you ever deal with very often as have new ones in them there's no way around it I mean it's a lovely big job and there's a load of hard work but if you want to do I mean I just went upstairs cuz I've got a an official time thing for the colar Sprint and in a type 35 running on methodol in a standing kilometer it went over the line at 1362 or something like that so they don't hang about you know you're not in in a bloody old car that's bowling a long 40 mph they really go and the front suspension has to be spot on now very often years ago I used to see they had tire rods on them to stop them wrapping up and and they had all sorts of things and all they got wobbly steering and everything you don't have to modify them the original shock absorbers if they're set properly are perfect but again they must have any slack in them the front Springs have got to be perfect the wedges in the front Springs in the square hole have got to be perfect and above all the kingpin's got to be perfect perfect and it has a th interference fit as you push it into the axle so what we used to do we used to make the bottom size of the Bush us to make it a th smaller the first bit that goes in so that would slide into the axle and then the next bit was a th bigger and we used to clean off the sharp edge but you can push it into the axle and all you do is Broach and lump the metal out the axle so that ain't no good so you got to make sure your th nice bit of radius and then the full size and then you put it in the press and it's and it goes in you know and that is how you do it and obviously if there's no slack in the Kingpin there's no slacking anywhere a stand of 35 can be driven 130 or miles an hour you can jump on the brakes and they don't do anything but it's all got be right including that now when it's seem to be with B if he did Sonic to seem to work he never changed it I mean if you look at a a 1924 type 35 is like that and that's how he did it and that that was it and he and he and he carried on doing it I mean the 1934 or 30 whatever type 51 same thing so he didn't change it but obviously a modern car's got a proper Pall joint like that and if you want to adjust the track you just screwed the track rod in and you'd have a left hand thread one side and you'd have a right hand thread the other side and you could just make that like that to the track well you didn't do that you have to put little spaces in there to set the track so the the the width of the trtic no sorry the track Rod had to be near enough spot on cuz you're only just going to adjust it with little spaces like that and thinner so it's all a bit difficult we see it's not normal so somebody who's never worked on a they look at all that who how'd you do that what a load of old rubbish and if You' never done it before it is a load of old rubbish but if you know of what you're doing and you've worked on them and you've talked about them and that's it but that's a modern way of doing it so that would just have a hole in there that would have that would come down there and it would have big thing there and that would go in there in a table and you put a nut on it and then when that wore out you're just going to get another one and it's got a rubber boot look to stop the dirt getting in there well youti had nothing it was like that so going along all the old dirt and all the old muck in there constantly you know causing it cuz you could grease it there but you know what good that do it and go into there ain't going to go anywhere really I mean it works but it ain't as good as having nothing so so again it's a quirky old load of junk but it's in the best car in the world in my opinion I mean I just I was totally obsessed with Battis and you know I mean I've g off it a bit now but they are good and every bit you look at is lovely so there's a couple of little tips you know that's got to be done properly the spring links on the brake chain have got be done properly and all the joints on the steer in have got to be done properly cuz if you're relying on the spring obviously when you move the steering the spring just goes like that the spring is just there to take the tension up that the actual ball joint should have just a few th clearance and then the spring takes the tension up very often you go up to a tip 35 and you go like that and you can see the ball joint going in and out well that is wrong and uh it's a very common thing you know I mean I even have mechanics I have to stop and say no no we don't do that like that's that's wrong and argue with them sometimes and even actually say at one St listen I'm the governor the buck stops at me and we ain't doing it like that and that BL actually is quite a welln restora now so um you know you got to know about these things and you know spending a day with Al Griff was an absolute knockout but you see this look there's a joint here look now you watch when I move the steering it might move a couple of th so you see how it moves very fractionally well that is a spring just taking up the movement and if you steer aggressively oh no it won't move don't forget to subscribe [Music] h 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Channel: SHED RACING

Views: 11,535

Keywords: original cars, the _ivan_dutton, Bugatti, ferrari, shed_racing, motorsport, Car gatherings, old school mechanics, national legend, Ivans glorious shed

Id: IKhk_Nz7IIk

Length: 30min 1sec (1801 seconds)

Published: Fri May 17 2024