6th March 2023
We recently worked with Jowett Car Spares, a section of the Jowett Car Club, to produce coupling bushes for early post-war Jowett vehicles.
Background
Jowett Brothers William and Benjamin began making motor vehicles in Bradford in 1910, and during the 1920s and 1930s volumes increased and designs were updated to suit modern fashion. Jowett vehicles were powered by a horizontally opposed engine, with the vast majority having only two cylinders. During the Second World War, the Javelin and Bradford van were conceived, and they entered production in 1947, with production sadly ceasing in 1953. Today, the Jowett Car Club strives to support owners with a spare parts service.
Project requirements
After previously manufacturing and supplying bushes and mounts to Paul Beaumont at Jowett Car Spares, we were asked to supply a coupling bush used on early post-war vehicles. As is so often the case with vehicles no longer in production, spares can be difficult, if not impossible, to source.
Therefore, we consider refurbishment the first point of call for several reasons:
- Maintaining the original aesthetic and performance of the vehicle;
- Greener manufacture through reduced machining and material waste;
- Shorter lead times;
- Reduced costs.
After reviewing the samples provided by Jowett, it was determined that we could supply new coupling bushes, and Jowett would be able to assemble these into the original housings with minimum effort.
The process
Jowett Car Spares provided a sample of the original housing and a single bush from which dimensions of the original components were determined. A new coupling bush and moulding tool were then designed in-house using Autodesk Inventor, and approval of the product design was confirmed before manufacturing began.
As with other coupling bushes we provide, a combination of mild steel (inner) and nylon (outer) provided strength but also aided in final assembly. The nylon was force-fitted into the housing which provided pre-compression in the elastomer, increasing service life and reducing the need for tight tolerances in the housing, an issue often seen in refurbished components.
We fabricated the components of the bush, together with the mould tool, in our machine shop using a combination of CAM driven CNC turning and work centres before supplying to our moulding shop for prototype sampling. Although the rubber grade for sampling was determined through hardness testing of the sample supplied by Jowett Car Spares, the mechanical properties of the bush were determined using our in-house testing facilities, and the coupling stiffness was established.
Upon completion of the production run, final inspection (dimensional and visual) confirmed that parts were ready to be shipped to Jowett Car Spares.
Additional request
In addition to the supply of the coupling bushes, Jowett Car Spares requested that we manufacture and supply a second moulding tool to produce a smaller coupling bush in the future. No parts were required, but we were able to manufacture and supply a moulding tool, which was stored with Jowett Car Spares until required.
The result
As a result of our expertise and capability in producing bespoke bushes, we were able to successfully manufacture a new coupling bush for Jowett Car Spares.
We ensured that all requirements of the project were met, resulting in Paul Beaumont from Jowett Car Spares commenting: “Jowett Car Spares (a section of the Jowett Car Club) is grateful to Aegis Rubber Engineering for their support in the production of rubber-metal bonded parts, both bespoke and catalogue, without which it would not be possible to keep our small part of automotive history alive”.
