Bump stops

[David Cochrane]

The intermittent saga of Hilda the RP saloon continues...

The car had been fitted with a new floorpan when it was restored back in about 2005 but they hadn't fitted any bump stops, partly I suspect because the hydraulic brake pipes were in the way. I would now like to fit some, after first moving the brake pipes a bit and also relocating the handbrake mechanism which is mounted on top of the back axle centre case and is hitting the bottom of the car when going over large bumps.

One of the problems is that I don't know where the bump stops should be fitted – it's quite difficult to be sure of the correct fore & aft position by measuring up from the axle side tube. I would be grateful if people with an RP could tell me the distance from the vertical piece shown in the photo to the front fixing hole of the bump stop.

   

[Dave Mann]

Here's one on the rear of an RN      , I'll have crawl underneath it to measure it's fore/aft position.

[Chris KC]

Your floor (or perhaps inner wheel arch) is different from mine David. 

I only have one bump stop, and that's hanging on by a thread... but its front edge (where it fixes to the floor) is perhaps an inch aft of the rear edge of the floor support bracket which mounts on the chassis extensions. Or 1/2" aft of the triangular fillet which I think your floor lacks. The centre seems aimed at the position of the axle beam on full sweep, and I suggest that's the main consideration here.

I don't know whose photo this was (apologies) but it shows them fairly clearly.
   

Here's another view:
   

[David Cochrane]

Thank you for the helpful replies. The 2 photos of the underneath of the RP are particularly good - I think that the replacement floor wasn't fitted with the back support brackets either. The foot-wells were missing as well, so they also had to be fitted:

   

[Chris KC]

David, the 'business end' of the bump stop begins approx 2" aft of the chassis extension rear end, if that helps.
Could be plus or minus 1/4" or so - as I said, mine's not in its prime.

I'm sure you don't need me to suggest that some sort of rear floor support would be worth thinking about! 
Even if it's just a bolt-on.

[David Cochrane]

Thanks Chris - we're working on it!