• Welcome to the new SAOCA website. Already a member? Simply click Log In/Sign Up up and to the right and use your same username and password from the old site. If you've forgotten your password, please send an email to membership@sunbeamalpine.org for assistance.

    If you're new here, click Log In/Sign Up and enter your information. We'll approve your account as quickly as possible, typically in about 24 hours. If it takes longer, you were probably caught in our spam/scam filter.

    Enjoy.

Now I'm in for it.

Barry

Diamond Level Sponsor
Doug Jennings told me that the "sagging" problem with front suspension crossmembers was only an issue with Tigers (and Algers). According to Doug, the combination of the notches to accommodate the steering rack (loss of beam strength) and the increased engine weight of the Tigers resulted in the center of the crossmember slowly bending to the point that camber could not be properly adjusted. His approach to preventing the problem was to add reinforcement plates in key locations and to fully weld the seams in the crossmember (rather than stitch welds). He did not reveal how he repaired a crossmember that had already sagged.

I am pretty sure that Joels comment "Start with the fwd. Spring mounts" referred to the front mounts for the rear suspension leaf springs which take all of the forward thrust loads during acceleration, at least half of the lateral loads during cornering and carry about half of the rear vertical loads. IMO, they are marginal for a "stock" Alpine, much less for a V8 Alpine.
 

PROCRAFT

Donation Time
Will do, thanks for the info.
Leaf spring mounts Is what I referred to and re welding the cross member is a given they crack everyware fulcrum pin pads,shock towers, upper shock mounts and sometimes where they bolt to the chassis, it doesn't take much to find the cracks. And as far as the leaf spring mts go it's a s...t job from the factory ad to how it's done there relying on spot welds and not much more to hold.it all together I put a horizontal doubler on mine on addition to welding up all the layers of sheet metal.
 
Last edited:

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
Great discussion and I will put my mig welder to good use to make sure these areas are beefed up.

I will continue to look to the collective wisdom of the forum to help me along with this project.
 
Last edited:

PROCRAFT

Donation Time
Doug Jennings told me that the "sagging" problem with front suspension crossmembers was only an issue with Tigers (and Algers). According to Doug, the combination of the notches to accommodate the steering rack (loss of beam strength) and the increased engine weight of the Tigers resulted in the center of the crossmember slowly bending to the point that camber could not be properly adjusted. His approach to preventing the problem was to add reinforcement plates in key locations and to fully weld the seams in the crossmember (rather than stitch welds). He did not reveal how he repaired a crossmember that had already sagged.

I am pretty sure that Joels comment "Start with the fwd. Spring mounts" referred to the front mounts for the rear suspension leaf springs which take all of the forward thrust loads during acceleration, at least half of the lateral loads during cornering and carry about half of the rear vertical loads. IMO, they are marginal for a "stock" Alpine, much less for a V8 Alpine.
Barry. Exactly and if you had the floors off in that area you'd see what a really bad job is!
 

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
What are the groups thoughts on roll bars? I will want to add three point seat belts and being way to tall for this car to begin with at 6' 8", I think I would like the higher mounting position that a roll bar would give, plus, I may want to take it to a track day from time to time. Doing a little googling, it looks like Autopower is the most readily available option. What else have people done?
 

PROCRAFT

Donation Time
What are the groups thoughts on roll bars? I will want to add three point seat belts and being way to tall for this car to begin with at 6' 8", I think I would like the higher mounting position that a roll bar would give, plus, I may want to take it to a track day from time to time. Doing a little googling, it looks like Autopower is the most readily available option. What else have people done?
Build your own.
 

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
My welding skills can make a weld pretty enough for reinforcing spring mounting plates under the car, the highest most visible part of the car, maybe not.
 

PROCRAFT

Donation Time
My welding skills can make a weld pretty enough for reinforcing spring mounting plates under the car, the highest most visible part of the car, maybe not.
Probably what I should have said was I don't think much of the bars on the market most of if not all lean back. Not sure how that helps if you on your head, the one we built for the Tiger was verticle and followed the contour or the top bows and braced forward in addition to the rear gives a place for the passenger to hang on
I'm taking the rear axle out of this car now to change the gear, I'll post a pic of the spring mounts to view
 
Last edited:

PROCRAFT

Donation Time
These are a little grainy but you get the idea this is all layered sheet metal that is
spot welded together there is a small doubler that I'd also an afterthought that's welded to the chassis x frame trying to make up for the mistake that you can't see! There is a mod that some one sells to beef this up my opinion it's just a bandaid on a heart attack so to speak I just put a horizontal gusset on the one side and weld the whole deal up.
 
Last edited:

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
Since the wind brake fom a convertible mini fits the Alpine, I have always wanted to messure the rear seat chromed roll bar, and see if it fit. I solves 3 things that I wanted: Hoop role bar, bult in 3 point seat belts and head rests. I never got a chance to do check size, but here is one I was watching. https://www.ebay.com/itm/02-08-MINI-COOPER-ROLLOVER-BAR-ROLL-BAR-HEAD-REST-R52/182432826561?fits=Model:Cooper|Make:Mini&epid=1858317292&hash=item2a79d804c1:g:wmgAAOSwarlcAGfh
That is a good looking bar, but how does it mount? I doubt it would meet tech inspection for track day.
 

Alpine 1789

SAOCA President
Diamond Level Sponsor
The Mini roll bar looks like a really good option, if an effective way to mount it can be worked out!

As a long time owner of a roll bar, I would like to weigh in on a couple of aspects of them. The first and most important it to remember that it will probably do nothing to protect you (at best) in a rollover. The windshield frame wouldn't provide any protection, so the damage line would be between the front of the car and the top of the roll bar, which almost certainly includes your head. I installed my roll bar because I wanted head restraints and that seemed like the best way to get them. (The other option, which I will probably go with on my V6, is aftermarket seats with head rests built in.). The other thing I like about a roll bar is that I think it would provide some protection in a T-bone crash, although I certainly could be wrong about that.

One more thing for consideration: I had planned on buying an Autopower bar, since that seemed to be about the only option at the time. Their local representative was near my office and I paid them a visit. The guy did race prep on cars and told me he could make a custom bar for about the same price as the Autopower. I went that route and we sized it to just barely fit under the convertible top. We then installed a cross bar that is far sturdier than the one Autopower uses and I made head restraints that attached to the bar with muffler clamps. I looked to see if I could find a good photo of mine; this is the best I can do at the moment:

IMG_1079.JPG IMG_1080.JPG
 
Last edited:

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
I am thinking it would be a good idea to get a service manual for this car. Since the car is in pieces, I may want a guide for putting it back together. I see several after market ones as well as the factory workshop manual. Which one would any of you recomend?
 
Top