Armstrong shocks: original?

[ceejay]

Mbell. Thanks for raising that point... I did over look the fact that many owners may still have original springs and fixed platforms. However, I think if split collars were used, you may get around it OK.
You may or may not be able to expand the width of your press... but in all honesty, a narrow press bed width is not very versatile, and will limit what can be done in the workshop.

Re press bed width, the press in the videos is one that I built probably twenty or thirty years ago from a design I found in a book called "The Racers Workshop" but unfortunately, I very quickly discovered the same problem as you did....The press bed was far to narrow for many press jobs.

So, I got to and modified it to what would suit my needs better. It was upgraded from a twelve ton, to 20 ton press... I have included some photos for anyone out there looking to build/modify an existing press.

But to modify, you will need to be an excellent steel fabricator and welder... not necessary to be certified, but you have to be good, your personal safety depends on it. The welder I used was a 220Amp arc (Stick) welder.

The main frame of the press is square section tube 2" x 2" x 3mm wall. Heavey angle for the head rail. the press bed is constructed from 4" (100mm) C section heavy channel iron. The press bed pins are 1" dia.

The press has been a great asset to the workshop, you don't realize just how much you need a garage press until you have one in your workshop, and it sure beats having to find someone who has one that you can use.

[mbell]

That's a beast of a press! Would love something like that but just have my attached garage and not enough space for a press, let alone

At the weekend I was in commercial workshop which works with race and sports cars which had two different 20T presses. Nether of them had a big enough opening for the spring mount to go down through or the wheel carriers to come up through.

[ceejay]

Thanks... the press has truly proved its worth over the years... it is basically my own design, but as I said the basic design came from someone else... and the wide press table was built to allow the cast strut housing to be placed correctly for any press work.

It did take a bit of building, but was certainly worth the effort.

I did initially take a look at the Chinese built press products, but I did not like the way they were built, too many vague bits... also, many things about them are NQR. Same goes for their engine stands IMHO.

[jono]

I replaced a hub unit once and the interference fit was lost after the press out (despite using a generous amount of heat). It also took a huge amount of pressure in a very large press to remove it.

I had to weld a collar to the tube above the hub unit to provide extra support and stop it sliding on the tube.

So I would approach it with due consideration.

When I went to narrow springs and adjustable perches I just cut off the spring pans and thought if it ever needs to go back to standard at any point new std tubes would be needed.

[mbell]

I managed to successfully remove my tube last night, using the combination of bearing separator/puller tool and propane torch for heat.

Will post details on more relevant topic i started a while back:
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=49217

[ceejay]

With the correct heating and press removal of the strut tube, the shrink fit tolerance should not have been affected, but if the press removal was done on the cold side then a cut of metal will definitely occur.
As far as we could determine;
The ID of the aluminium housing is: 50.15mm
The OD of the steel strut tube is: 50.28mm (This is the machined to size lower tube portion)
From the dimensions above you can calculate what the shrink fit difference is. If you have watched the videos that we made of the entire process, the tube removal is not that difficult, the re-install is also pretty easy to achieve, but the use of the proper tools ensures the job can be done safely and with out losing the critical shrink fit dimensions of the housing bore ID, because that is where the problems will arise.

There is one other issue; if the lower part of tube inside of the Al housing is badly corroded to the point of being scaly, then the rust scale is going to pretty much destroy the bore of the aluminium housing as the tube is pushed out, so the rust needs to be cleaned away before hand.
Learn More Here:
http://elantrikbits.com/lotus-elan-blog/lotus-elan-rear-strut-hub-and-tube/
This is how we approached the strut tube removal-FWIW.