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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - MK111 Ride Height

Following my previous thread kindly answered by Dave and Nigel I have taken their advice and measured the current 'ride height' of my car taken from under the wheel arches (SWA) to the centre of the wheel retaining spinners. They are; FO/S 143/4ins, FN/S 141/2 ins, RO/S 87/8ins and RN/S 91/2ins. As previously stated the car seems low at the rear and a little high at the front. I would welcome any comments please. Regards Peter.
P J Wilgoss

off a computer (I hope I’ve read it all correctly)


Peter’s measurements -

Front O/S – 14Ύ” - (375 mm)

Front N/S – 14½” – (368 mm)

Rear O/S – 87/8” – (225 mm)

Rear N/S – 9½” – (241 mm)


ETA: do we assume your car's suspension is as factory standard and you want measurements from those with 1275s with factory standard suspension ?
Nigel Atkins

Thanks for the reply and you have read my measurements correctly. Yes as far as I know the car is completely standard. It was rebuilt about 15 (or more) years ago by an mg specialist using a BL body. This was a Lloyds Bank commission and it was a competition prize. I look forward to fellow enthusiasts opinions regarding the ride height measurements. Regards Peter
P J Wilgoss

well they've all gone shy !

we had a thread comparing sill heights from ground but that was for lowered cars

once I'm sure the front wings are the same on RWA I'll give you mine as my car sits just above factory height

if all else fails there the height from floor to bottom of door but being a measurement from the centre of the car it doesn't show front to rear dip or raise
Nigel Atkins

damn, just notice the formatting wont work on one of the imperial measures, so it should be -

Rear O/S – 8 and 7/8” – (225 mm)
Nigel Atkins

I would gladly offer my measurements, but mine is lowered and has non standard springs at the back, so it would be of no help.
Guy Weller

yes I checked the previous sill height thread for measurements but I only saw for lowered car which was fair enough as that was what the thread was about
Nigel Atkins

Don't know how 'right' mine is, but i Have ros 272 ish, rns 284 ish. can,t do front as I have non standard front end bodywork. Hth.

Mark
M Adams

From the sill to the floor I'd expect a standard car to sit higher at the rear by an inch.

A 1500 midget might be 8 and a quarter or 8 and three quarter front and 9 or 9 and three quarter rear. So figure on an inch less front and rear to get a ball park figure to see if your rear is too low or your front too high.
Daniel Stapleton

I hate to state the obvious, but why not take a 4 foot bubble level and check the ground untill you find a level piece of ground and park the car in that location... then use the 4 foot bubble level on the bottom of the sill

if you know the ground is level and the 4 foot bubble level is showing the bubble way off in one direction....

well guess what???

prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

I'm a bit surprised there not more measurements, perhaps most here have lowered cars or the standard cars are still locked away in hibernation

I'll check the front on mine tomorrow as mine sits about half and inch above standard so I can allow for that

to give you another idea the bottom of the door to the ground is about 13" on a standard set up car
Nigel Atkins

After a look on the net, found a nice looking illustartion of a 71 to 74 car which says it has 5" ground clearance.
On my 1978 car this would be to the lowest point on the exhaust and appart from the tired suspention effect looks about right.
Anyway, as we all like pics on here this is the address.

http://www.classiccarportraits.co.uk/pages/MidgetMk3ww_7174.htm
Dave Squire (1500)

Dave,
the 5" ground clearance is quoted in most contemporary road reports but (as far as I know) it's not clear where this is measured

I think I saw recently that the 1500 is 5½” but I can't remember if it stated which year of 1500

I think the jurnos even back in those days copied previous reports rather than rechecking, I've seen one contemporary report where the jurno misunderstands how the heater works (obviously he didn't consult the Handbook), plus they probably copied of BMC/BL specs that have variable updates

a bit latter I'll get the measurements off the front of my car
Nigel Atkins

for what its worth... with correct tire pressure on my 71 from the ground to the bottom of th floor pan is 5 1/2 inches...at the door.

stock hieth suspension
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

finally got outside, very sunny and very cold

I've measured the front ride height on mine and I take back what I put before

either my car has settled or I mis-measured before or I've remembered wrong

the car seems to sit a very little high

my car is about 12½” to bottom of door to ground and about 14” from centre of hub to bottom of wheel arch lip -

Front O/S - 14 and 3/16" - (360 mm)

Front N/S - 14" - (355 mm)

so Peter your car appears as if it might be higher at the front than mine at least

perhaps a photo of each side of the car on level ground with you squat down so that the camera lenses is about level with the top of the tyres
Nigel Atkins

Nigel and everybody else that has taken the time to respond to my thread, thank you all. I have measured the distance from my garage floor to the bottom of the door which is 12ins, centre of the sill. I have been under the car and the springs are seemingly straight between hangers. I am going to replace them with new ones because, now, I will never be happy with the stance of the car. Blow the cost and effort!! Again thanks to everyone. Regards Peter
P J Wilgoss

Peter,
I hope you saw where I put I was wrong about the 13" to bottom of door

I've just checked mine measuring from centre of door to ground and it's about 12½” (concrete is rippled for grip so I say about plus as you'll find measurements on the body can vary)

I know what you mean about being unsettled with something on the car

I recommend if you want to go for uprated front springs, as even when new the standard springs dip under braking, that the ones Kim Dear (Magic Midget) sells as very good and the 9.5" freelength 360lb rate, retains standard ride height are the ones to go for, I have them on my car - http://magicmidget.co.uk/

I previously had 1" lowered (340lbs) and to me they were a complete nuisance, scared the exhaust and put dents in the floor and I'd have to slow up on my favourite type of roads

I've got standard rear springs and they've been fine on 3 years now no trouble

do NOT buy any uprated springs from Moss as when I did they sent me the wrong ones and refused to believe it despite me exchanging loads of emails with them checking before I bought (the thread of my prior research to buying is in the archives - 400lb front road spring or some such title0

I have Super-Flex bushes and found them better than the yellow fast-road bushes I had before

there are photos of the stance of my car with different front springs on and different tyre size in the previous mentioned thread and/or other threads but if you want another thread on this subject I can post there too

cheers
Nigel Atkins

Thanks for all the info Nigel, I have saved the link to Magic Midget. Regards Peter
P J Wilgoss

This thread was discussed between 03/04/2013 and 06/04/2013

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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