Steering box hemespheres

[daveandfru]

Does anyone know where I can purchase 4 replacement hemespheres for the Marles steering box,
or does anyone have any or any information as to who might stock them. Any help would be welcomed.

regards Dave

[Castellated nut]

I seem to remember reading way back (probably in an early Freewheel) that it is possible to get ball-bearings of the appropriate size ground down (are bearing balls hard all the way through?).

[daveandfru]

I think the size of the hemespheres are 7mm etc.
Do any of the more mature members remember the article ref Hemespheres as I would like to obtain a copy.
What has everyone else done about this situation, Im sure it must have cropped up before??????
The drop arm has been built up with metal (brazing) then smoothed off to give a perfect fit in the drop arm sleeve, hence
to conclude replacing the hemespheres.

regards Dave

[Castellated nut]

Quite a few of the better cars of the period used the Marles-Weller box so parts specialists for other makes would be worth a try. Certainly Alvis used Marles-Weller, and Red Triangle do a pretty comprehensive spares service; also MG (see http://www.barrywalker.com/cat.asp?cat=12 ).

By the way, if you Google "Marles-Weller" and decide to investigate the reports of steering arm failures DON'T click the trackandtrail.net link. I did and ended up re-directed to something completely different, and have just spent 3 hours scanning my computer for malware!