A little update from this winter.

When I made the beam I got a bit stuck with the steering idler pin tube. A BD idler pin is longer than a later bus, but all I had was the tube from the later beam I had cut up. I didn't have time to get another tube or to make one. In the end the tube from the later beam was cut and lengthened... As a result the bushes were ever so slightly out of alignment, and the bushes wore out really quickly. I decided last winter to fix this problem.

First step was to get the beam out



Once that was done I took the steering idler pin out. As you can see a BD set up is quite different from a later bus



Upon closer inspection I found the original pin had a little wear



Here you can see how bad the alignment of the two parts of the tube ended up being after welding



I figured if I could get my hands on a new idler pin I would, that way everything is new and I shouldn't have any problems for a very long time. I managed to get one off german ebay



My dad kindly made me a new idler pin tube and bushes, so I cut the old tube out and welded the new one in







Safety first....



I thought I would be able to fit my shift rod spring whilst the beam was out, but the shift rod needs to be removed to allow the spring to fit into the hole in the chassis top hat. That will have to wait for another time then



After a lick of paint I started putting it back together. It was then that I realised that BD idler pins are handed. My bus is RHD and I had bought a LHD pin. that wouldn't work so I had to re-use my original pin



Back together



Beam back in



After fitting the steering components back on and checking side to side movement I realised one of the idler pin tube supports was fouling the lower arm. Now if the beam wasn't in my bus I could have used the grinder to clear the mount in about 5 minutes. As it was I had to use a file....



That evening after speaking to my dad he lent me his drill extension and a porting tool and the next day I had it clearanced in about 15 mintues



I then had to clearance the thread on the drag link ball joint as it was touching the bottom tube due to the arm being able to move further than before



Once that was done it was a simple case of re-fitting the brakes and shift rod etc.

I also fitted 5.5" sprints to the back. Previously I had 4.5" all round



View from above

Looking good Scotty
I haven't even noticed the 5.5s this year
This is what I really like about modifying BarNdoors or even keeping them stock everyone is done a little different not just items brought of the shelf and bolted together.
Ben

Good work on that beam, very impressive.

Cheers, Lee.