Series 3 Shims on bottom of swivel ball housing??

Am rebuilding my 1975 S3 Lightweight -- currently working on front axle.
When I took it apart, there was a shim on the *bottom* of the swivel ball housings (between the housing and the steering arms) as well as the top. It turns out that these are shown in the parts manual ("as required"), but the workshop manual says to fit shims only on the *top* of the housing. I have not kept a record of what shims were on the bottom. Can I just put shims on the top or is this going to mess up the steering? Thanks!

I can’t recall fitting shims to bottom, they’re only added to ensure correct friction on the ball .
I did manage to get the bearings on the wrong end and had to bash them out again and refit properly.
I cant see it affecting steering and there should be enough movement in seal not to matter

I think it is more about centralising the seal in relation to the chrome ball?

Yes that’s the only issue, so worth a dry fit and measure it’s central with feeler gauges around circumfernce

The S2 manual says reassemble with the existing lower shims, what it does not seem to mention is how to set it up from scratch?

lynall said:

I think it is more about centralising the seal in relation to the chrome ball?

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That is right.

tottot said:

That is right.

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Yay I got something right, though to be fair that is most likely the law of averages!

It might be as machining and QC improved the S3 models did not need centralising and that’s why no bottom shims reqd, later models also have the O ring and I also used some sealant on bottom pin to stop the oil leaking

This is brilliant -- thanks, folks!! I'm fitting replacement swivel balls & bearings, so I've assumed the old shims are largely irrelevant. FWIW I've got an o-ring round the bottom pin. Depending on what the feeler gauges tell me about the symmetry of the fit of the ball, I guess I'll decide whether to bother taking the lower arm off and refitting everything. Thanks again!