Late Series 2 Upper Wishbone Fitment Question

[dvillijg]

Hi Guys,

Need some guidance please relating to a late S2 Fulvia front suspension with the pressed upper wishbones.

I am rebuilding the subframe (took apart some years ago). New Silent Blocks installed. When fitting the upper wishbones I have noticed some play from side to side on the right-side wishbone. The left side wishbone is a good fit with no play. I cant find any late S2 / S3 suspension diagrams and would like to confirm the wishbone fitment.

I have the order of parts holding the wishbone in place as follows:
Bolt, washer, wishbone, washer silent block, 3x spacers, silent block, washer, wishbone, washer, nut.

The 3x spacers fit very tightly on either wishbones so I can’t see that the silent blocks can be pressed any further as 1x spacer will not fit then.

Right side wishbone play from side to side is +-4mm
Left side wishbone play from side to side is 0mm

I haven't tightened anything yet.

Can someone please confirm if more washers are needed on the right side wishbone or should I tighten it all and see if it pulls together?
I plan to grease the bolt and inside the spacers also.

I am unable to upload photos. Please see photos and video showing play (side to side) on right side wishbone - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

[Huib]

There are washers and shims. The washers are under the head. The shims are exactly 2mm thick. They are between wishbone and silent blocs.

The mounting face of the silent blocs should be exactly 12,5 mm from the aluminium tower.

[dvillijg]

Hi Huib,

thanks for your reply. Are the shims plastic? There were washers in between the wishbone and silent block when I took them apart and these are 2mm thick also. It sounds like this was wrong. The washer on the bolt head and nut side are also 2mm thick.

I have checked and the mounting side of the silent blocks are 12.5mm away from the alu tower.

Then there is the issue with the right side wishbone that can move +-4mm side to side on the outside of the alu tower. The wishbone doesn't look bent or damaged. Is it a matter of tightening it to compress or add extra shims? I assume there shouldn't be any difference between the fitment of the left and right side wishbones?

What would the torque generally be on the wishbone bolt?

Thanks and regards

[dvillijg]

I'm not familiar with shims hence asking if they were plastic - these are obviously steel. The shims / washers that was between the silent block and wishbone are 2mm thick so I assume these are correct.

[Huib]

Shims are usually pieces of steel with very exact sizes in particular thickness. In this case they are rings much like washers. In our shop we call them shim rings rather than washers to express the importance of exact dimensions. The shim rings have a thickness of 2.00 mm. The M14 washers are 2.5 mm with some tolerance.
Best buy a digital calliper or rather two. One with a range of 15 cm and one with a range of 30 cm.
I am now giving some dimensions from the top of my head. Let me know if you measure differently

Distance between the mounting surfaces on the alu tower: 240mm
Distance between inside of ears of the wishbone: 269 mm (see page DT Fulvia 07-0030)
Here you see that if the silent blocs protrude 12.5 mm on each side, the distance between mounting flanges of the silent blocs is 240 + 12.5 + 12.5 = 265 mm. This is 4 mm less than the space of 269 mm between ears of the wishbone. This play of 4.00 mm is solved by inserting a 2.00 mm shim ring on each of the two sides.

The 269 mm of the wish bone should also equal the sum of:
2x shim of 2mm = 4mm
2x silent bloc of 49 mm = 98 mm
3x spacer bush: oops I forgot but should be (269 – 4 – 98)/3 = 55,67 each

[dvillijg]

Hi Huib,

thanks so much for this detailed and invaluable information, it is much appreciated.

I have shims and washers in the correct sizes. Upon checking the inside ears of the wishbones, the left side wishbone measures 269mm but the right side measures 274mm. Not sure what happened to cause this. The one ear is bent out and not straight down when compared to the left wishbone ears.

Please see the link for more detail -https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Thanks again for your assistance.

[racing]

269 mm is the correct width of second series as Huib wrote.

regards Andreas

[Huib]

Check the Flavia 820 book. That one is wider at the top.

[dvillijg]

Thanks Huib,

final questions:

- in terms of washers and shims, both upper wishbones use the same number and sizes?
- for the right wide wishbone inner ear distance being wider in my case:
- should I bend the ear in a bit?
- tighten it more so it pulls in closer together?

Thanks and regards

[Huib]

It is important to have the dimensions A, B and C equal.left and righ and correct.

If the bad one you have corresponds with Flavia 820 I would assume someone put in.a Flavia one. It does happen that we get a car with different wishbones left and right.

If you don't have the measuring tool option nr 1 would be look for a guanteed to be good one.

I have the Flavia book in the cloud, but have to access it with my phone in a moving car on the way to Turin, Barolo and Mondovì to check if the local food and wines are still ok.