As my last post showed the sidecar frame virtually fell apart once the aluminium panels were removed. Only two pieces of timber were reusable, the door closure stile and the shaped timber over the windscreen. Using the skin panels as a template I used new timber, only softwood I'm afraid, gluing all the joints and assembling with hex drive furniture screws which came from some old flat-pack furniture; they seem to hold well in end grain as they are designed for chipboard. Curved pieces and the base were cut from a sheet of 25mm ply which happened to be painted blue.
Sidecar frame finished. |
The seat cushion on this sidecar sits in a steel tray let into the floor but both cushion and tray had fallen apart. I bent up a new tray using steel sheet about 16 gauge which came from the front of an old storage heater. Everything comes in handy if you keep it long enough, you will need it the day after you take it to the dump!
With the frame for the body complete I turned to the chassis. All the Panther chassis are now at
least sixty years old and have most likely stood around in damp conditions for
many years. The metal is subject to surface rust which is easily cleaned
off for repainting, I used a wire brush and then applied a paint which is supposed to kill the rust. At least the rust changed colour!
A lot of welding needed doing and I am indebted to Rex Norton of Solent Section POC who not only came round with his TIG set but also supplied some beer to keep us going. Needless to say he did a fantastic job. The plated areas around the main fixing to the bike and the swinging arm are not fully sealed so internal corrosion had occurred. This would be undetected until failure occurs in the main tubes or more often by penetration of the plate-work. (See last post). This can be repaired by welding on plates and stiffeners. If the main tubes have failed these can be refurbished by welding in new sections of tube with internal strengthening sleeves but in this case the tubes seem to be sound.
Seat tray, old one left, new one right. |
A lot of welding needed doing and I am indebted to Rex Norton of Solent Section POC who not only came round with his TIG set but also supplied some beer to keep us going. Needless to say he did a fantastic job. The plated areas around the main fixing to the bike and the swinging arm are not fully sealed so internal corrosion had occurred. This would be undetected until failure occurs in the main tubes or more often by penetration of the plate-work. (See last post). This can be repaired by welding on plates and stiffeners. If the main tubes have failed these can be refurbished by welding in new sections of tube with internal strengthening sleeves but in this case the tubes seem to be sound.
Stiffening to swing arm location. |
The swing arm is pivoted at the front on two rubber torsion bushes and movement is controlled by a shock absorber which is exactly the same as those fitted to the motorcycle. The pivot spindle is a half inch diameter bar which is a tight fit in the bushes. The torsion bushes are separated by a tubular sleeve which is held centrally in the housing by a steel ring. The nuts on the spindle were rusted solid so I cut through the spindle each side between the swing arm and the bush; a thin disc in an angle grinder just fitted. The spindle was then driven out.
Welding adjacent to the bushes burned out the rubber and destroyed the bushes, allowing the inner tubes and rubbers to slide out. The outer steel tubes of the bushes are a tight fit in the housing and were corroded in place. They were removed by brute force using heat and driving them out with a piece of inch diameter bar and a large hammer. The central spacer with its locating ring came out with the bushes.
Swing arm spindle assembly, 1. Spindle, 2. Self locking nut, 3. Washer, 4. torsion bush, 5. spacer tube, 6. spacer tube location ring. |
New torsion bushes can be obtained from Anti-Vibration
Methods (Rubber) Ltd of Warminster, Wiltshire, (Reference B636/7). They need to
be adjusted in length slightly in a lathe and finished with the inner tube
flush at one end and slightly proud of the outer at the other. I measured the distance between the ears of the swing arm and adjusted the overall
length of the inner tubes of the two bushes and the spacer to be a snug fit
between the ears of the swing arm. This enable me to remove damage caused when they were beaten out of the housing.
New bush, ref B636/7. 2 off required. |
The housing for the bearings is made up of two
tubes one inside the other welded together at the ends. The inner tube is around
27mm internal diameter where the bushes fit. To install the bushes I made sure there
were no burrs or damage to the housing giving it a gentle hone. One bush was lightly greased and pressed into place with the outer ring flush
with the face of the housing and the inner protruding slightly. I put the
locating ring back on the tube spacer and pressed that into the housing using the
spindle as a guide to ensure it remained central. A little grease and the second
bush eased into position, again with the spindle in place to ensure concentricity. I then removed the
spindle, offered up the swing arm, inserted the spindle and fitted the washers and
nuts. these were tightened against the inner tubes of the bushes with the shock absorber in
place and the swing arm in the unloaded position.
Chassis fittings. |