Early Steering Column Rubber Bush

[geoberni]

Hi All
A question for those with MM/SII experience.

The Steering is quite stiff and squeaky when turned, but the cause is the bush in the support bracket.
I was out for a drive last weekend and the steering suddenly felt lighter, that was because in the space of about 10 miles, the bush had completely worked it's way out. It's done it once before back in 2019, when I took this photo.
.

20191229_173059.jpg (431.19 KiB) Viewed 1466 times

It's actually marked MMOG on the end, so it's original.
ESM sell a Rubber Bush, but the one in Basil, is rather like soft rubber foam than solid rubber, although I guess that could be a result of old age on 67 yr old rubber.
I have taken to lubricating it with a little light oil, but you have to be careful not to overdo it as I imagine it might easily drip on trousers if excessive application.
Does anyone else have trouble with the bush coming out??
It is supposed to be a tight fit on the column or in the holder?
Mine seems to mover against both inner and outer surfaces

[martin418]

does the bronze bush move freely on the column

[geoberni]

does the bronze bush move freely on the column

If I say ... That's supposed to move???? ...does it answer the question.
I take it you mean the bronze section that's under the Rubber doughnut. That's pretty firm on the column

That'll be the problem them.
So that should really be held by the rubber and the column rotates inside it?
I thought it was a very strange design, but could see no explanation of it in the workshop manual.

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[martin418]

free off the bush and glue it in the rubber and the rubber into the bracket then the odd drop of oil sorted

[geoberni]

Many thanks. I hadn't realised the Bronze sleeve was meant to be a bearing surface against the column.

[MinorEngineer]

Many thanks. I hadn't realised the Bronze sleeve was meant to be a bearing surface against the column.

I realise that this is a relatively old thread, but wondering if geoberni could confirm that this solved the original issue – freeing the bronze bush from the column and fixing it to the inner of the rubber?

I have a very similar issue on a 1954 SII – original rubber bush perished/disintegrated, so has been replaced with a new one from ESM. I originally glued the new rubber into the support bracket, but find that the steering is very stiff. In my case, the bronze bush was so firmly fixed to the column that I assumed this was how it was supposed to be, but am now rethinking after finding this thread.

I’m concerned about damaging the column in trying to free the bronze bush, particularly if this isn’t the correct course of action

Any help appreciated – thanks.

[geoberni]

Many thanks. I hadn't realised the Bronze sleeve was meant to be a bearing surface against the column.

I realise that this is a relatively old thread, but wondering if geoberni could confirm that this solved the original issue – freeing the bronze bush from the column and fixing it to the inner of the rubber?

I have a very similar issue on a 1954 SII – original rubber bush perished/disintegrated, so has been replaced with a new one from ESM. I originally glued the new rubber into the support bracket, but find that the steering is very stiff. In my case, the bronze bush was so firmly fixed to the column that I assumed this was how it was supposed to be, but am now rethinking after finding this thread.

I’m concerned about damaging the column in trying to free the bronze bush, particularly if this isn’t the correct course of action

Any help appreciated – thanks.

Hi
Yes, my bronze sleeve was stuck to the column with paint/grime. Like you I thought it was supposed to be like that and slide in the rubber; my rubber is the original, quite soft, still with MOWG readable.
I gently pushed the rubber out (having insulated the horn contact) from the back so that it didn't foul on the horn slip-ring; I oiled the edge of the bronze sleeve and tapped it free with a small screwdriver as a drift. Once knocked free it became easy to move.
Then I gently cleaned up the steering column with some fine emery paper and reassembled it with just a little smear of grease under it.
The bronze sleeve is now gripped by the rubber ring and the column rotates smoothly within it.
The rubber actually stays in place now, without having to be pushed back in regularly. .

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[MinorEngineer]

Good news! Thanks for the confirmation - much appreciated. I know what my next job is...

[MinorEngineer]

An update on this, in case it helps anyone in the future.

So, in my case corrosion beneath the bronze bush meant that it was firmly fixed to the steering column. It had clearly been like this for some time. I had to remove the column from the car in order to carefully cut the existing bush free – as shown in the photo.

A new oil-filled bronze bush was ordered from Simply Bearings : 1 x 1-1/4 x 1 (Ref AI1620-16).
https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/p1201 ... _info.html

In the absence of any other information, this was the closest replacement that I could find to match measurements taken from the original and seems to be a good fit.

I was then able to dress and polish this area of the column so that it (thankfully) now runs freely again.

Bush and column corrosion.

20230513_155041_2.jpg (869.06 KiB) Viewed 1138 times

SII Refurbished column and bush.

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