Steering mechanism stiff.

[Tajman]

Seasons greetings to everyone.
An update with the rebuild in Southern UK.
Still waiting for the drag link socket to attempt getting the fulcrum pins out . So no progress there. But have had the floorpan shot blasted and primed. See picture.
Also Trying to tackle the pedal and steering mechanism. I managed to get the cotter pins out of the pedals using heat, and totally dismantle the shafts and removed the pedals . All very dirty and the old plastic collars seem very tight.
The main problem is the steering shaft coming from the steering box, is very stiff in the ally casting that is the main support for everything. I eventually got the steering drop arm off the splines using heat again.
From the parts manual I see there are 2 bushes at each end of the shaft. I have broken out the oil seal on the end. there is a bush there, but the one that "creaks" every time I turn the steering is the one nearest the box. You can see the raised area/shoulder in the casting where it is.
So far I have tried to ease with Plusgas and lots of movement with a lever but no joy. Next will be some heat applied to that shoulder near the box, but being cast ally I,m slightly cautious.
Is there something I am missing that is preventing it sliding off the shaft? See picture.
Also been replacing the brake adjusters to the newer 12mm nut type as most of them were seized in the ally back plates. And finished de-rusting and painting wheels but still waiting for Father Christmas to fit some new tyres. Hand painted another coat of primer on the floor pan. Wondering what to go for on the under side with regard to underseal? Yes and lots of metal work repair before hand!
Cheers for now . Jeff

[mechanical horse]

Hey Jeff,
I had the same problem with mine. I never knew what was inside the housing in the way of bushes and mine turned out to be a nylon type of bush in the alloy of the housing so I was glad that I never really heated it up. After pulling the steering box apart as much as I could,I made up a decent support for the body of the box so that it sat nice and vertical and sat it in a hydraulic press and put a decent amount of pressure onto the end of the shaft. I then just left it and checked a couple of times a day and after a few days it finally popped free and came out.While it was under pressure I made sure that there was WD40 soaking down into the housing beside the shaft.If you load it up with a heap of pressure straight off you run the danger of cracking the housing. I couldn't believe just how tight it was and how long it took to break free.It just needs a fair amount of constant pressure over a period of time .After overhauling the box I fitted a couple of grease nipples, one to each bush, so now mine will never lock up again.
Regards Rick.

[Tajman]

Thanks Rick, that gave me a bit more of an idea of what I am dealing with. I don't have access to a hydraulic press so I rigged up the steering column and ally casting on the bench securely. I drilled a 5 mm hole where each bearing/bush was located. and lubricated with plus gas. these holes can be blocked up later or I could tap out and fit 6mmx1 grease nipples.
With the ally housing secured to the bench I used the steering column to move the shaft 180 degrees in both directions whilst tapping the splined/threaded end of the shaft down using a heavy small sledge hammer (with the nut fully wound on the thread). Gradually 1mm at a time the shaft dropped out of the housing. See pictures.
It became clear that the shaft was very rusty where the plastic bearing/bush was located. That being the cause of the stiffness.
Now I was told the vehicle had stood for at least 17 years and judging by the corrosion on the ally casting and the rotten foot well, I suspect the whole lot had been wet for some time.
Well its good to have some progress. Next I have to go back and tackle the fulcrum pins and the seized brake shoe adjusters. Jeff.

[heinkeljb]

New brake shoe adjusters are available, so you could just use an angle grinder or drill and take the tops off them. Then knock them out and put new ones in. Only issue I have with the new ones is there is no easy way of locking the nuts once fitted. You can weld them, but then lubricating them isn’t easy. If they had a holes and castellated nuts you could lock them with a split pin like all the others on a Haf.

Still welding the shaft and the nut with a couple of spot welds is probably the best way as you can put a spanner on the nuts easily and turn in both directions.

John

[Tajman]

Thanks John.
I have had to grind/cut off all the old adjusters- steel in ally again. I have a set of the new 12mm type. They are from Autoaquriat. with a spring washer and 12mm thin nut. I have cut a slot in the end so that I can loosen the nut and turn the adjuster with a hefty screw driver to the required position then tighten the nut up against the spring washer. If the threaded bit was longer I could have put a lock nut on afterwards.
Anyway other progress is limited. I found 2 cracks in the steering/pedal ally casting after I eventually got it apart, so that has gone off for welding.
The Drag link socket came from the States and looked perfect for undoing the fulcrum pins but broke the first time I used it. I was also applying heat to a level that worried me.
Anyway I am not confident about drilling them out so I have given the swinging arm and the steering weld job to an auto engineering shop that I have used before and trust.
It was suggested that welding a nut on top of the pin might help to shift them.
My first attempt at date related registering the Haflinger for the first time with DVLA, failed miserably. Amongst other things , they want a build cert in English and a NOVA cert ( Notification of Vehicle Arrival) which I should get from HMRC. I know that Ryders of Liverpool received the vehicle new in 1967. well I can't do much more to take this forward until I have finished the rebuild, they tell me.
On the lighter side, ( and I need some lighter stuff) My friend spotted the old restraint straps on my bench and decide to make his partner a new bracelet. see pics.
Apologies if this does not conform to forum rules.
Jeff

[heinkeljb]

Build sheet can be obtained via Haflingertechnik but whether it will be in English I don’t know. If it is not then you can get a certified translation copy which should be sufficient for them. It might also pay you to ask the club if they have had to do this registering for anyone else and if so, how did it go?
Your engineering shop should be able to put the swing arm on a milling machine and machine out the pins with out any damage.
Your friends bracelet looks quite nice, but I think they used too thick a wire, but that’s my opinion and each to their own!