Where shall we start?
On my last ‘ To- do list’ I included ‘ Take alternator off’. This was because at certain driving speeds the red light on the Allard’s dashboard came on suggesting the unit wasn’t charging. We tested the alternator and it was working, but I had my doubts and thanks to Colin Anton the unit was sent to electrical engineers Curd Brothers of Tunbridge Wells who tested it. They thought that one of the diodes was faulty, so repaired it accordingly. It came back very quickly but with all that’s going on with my winter projects I’ve not got it back on the car yet to see if it’s any different.
Over the Christmas period I’d allotted time to the cars, as it was ‘king pin strip down time’ on the grey Allard P1. After removing the brake drum and hub, which came off relatively easily after winding the shoes back, I concluded I would need some new brake shoes or just a set of linings. That would be a job for the future and after removing the back plate secured by a multitude of lock nuts and bolts, the next job was to remove the shock absorber.
After removing the track rod from the steering arm, it was down to tackling the cotter pin securing the kingpin. Much to my surprise the pin just popped out with the aid of a three-ton jack but that’s when all the fun started.
These pins on the Allard are the same as for the British-built Ford Pilot but are different to Ford Detroit ones. To add to this problem the welded mounting tubes are Allard specific and mine were clearly not quite in the right position.
This led me up a blind alley, partly through my impetuousness and the Festive break opening hours. However, Belcher Engineering supply a kit for £180 with the correct king pins they make themselves. The £51 American kit I’d obtained earlier is correct apart for the king pins and they cannot be reversed due to the cotter slots not lining up!
I visited two engineering companies and obtained a quote for grinding back the original pin and hard chroming it, for which I would be charged £250 and for a new pin case hardened, £350. Another company in Cheshire only wanted £150 all- in to do the grinding and chroming but by the time I drove there and back I would be better off buying the Belcher kit, which I did in the end!
As for the shock absorbers, I went to Minshaw’s (Demon Tweeks) and ended up with two adjustable EVO units. I then took the kingpin assembly down to my friends at AC Blasting at
Ticehurst who cleaned it up while I waited and the assembly ended up with a number of coats of paint after I’d knocked the king pin bushes out.
While reporting on a 1937 Aveling Barford AC606 Prince of Wales steam roller restoration at Croft’s haulage premises in East Sussex for Kelsey Media’s ‘Old Glory’ magazine, I took the liberty of asking if I could use their air controlled press. The new king pin bushes are not quite the same as the old ones and gave me the run-around while trying to fit them. However, with the use of a file I was able to create a better lead on each bush and using a spark plug socket as a dolly between the bush and the press they finally went in.
Back home I was confident there was the right sized reamer (23/ 32 - 27/ 32) in the workshop but it was just my luck that there was only the size below and the one above. I’ve a habit of loaning things to people who just don’t bring them back when they should.
The next step was to talk with the Allard Owners’ Club to borrow a reamer. It took a bit of tracking down and thanks to Field Marshall single- cylinder tractor professional restorer David Aylward who went 60 miles to pick the tool up for me. I then came across another problem with my American king pin kit, which came with extra shims, and found the horrible king pin to axle cotter pins were much shorter that the old ones.
On a dummy run with the new American pin, they went in past the axle hole when tight. I then spoke to the great Allard restorer John Peskett from Leicestershire who had restored the ex-1947 Alpine Rally Allard K1. John had a search through his boxes and came up with a reasonably good cotter pin that was the right length – thanks John.
By now I’d stripped the other king pin assembly down, which was perhaps a mistake, as the kingpins and bushes were in good condition, but I needed to replace the shock absorber mounting on the king pin for the new EVO units. While under the Allard’s nearside front wing I noticed yet again that the ducting pipe from the dash to the front of the wings was broken. Demon Tweeks had the correct three-inch size listed (76mm) and in no time at my flexible pipe had arrived.
It didn’t go on very easily and needed lots of Vaseline at either end and the use of a small screwdriver to feed the wire over the fixed ends. Hopefully the next time I write there will be some good news on the king pin saga. As my wife Jayne keeps saying – stay positive!
Undoing the shock absorber mounting bolts (two different sizes) was not difficult, but removing the unit was a little bit of a struggle