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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - NEW lever shocks from Moss UK

Hello members,


has someone tried and tested those? I am talking about the new ones, not the reconditioned shocks.

IŽd be interested in your opinion/experiences, as I might have to change them this winter.

Best,
Wolf
WB Bankowski

Assume you are talking front lever arms, not rear.

These seem to be notorious for quality issues in general, whether new or "rebuilt" ("rebuilt" seems to mean top up oil ad paint over the rust and grease)
.
I bought two from Moss a few years ago. One was so loose the arm almost fell down under its own weight. The other was so tight it took a 1m scaffold pole on the end to "exercise" it (as Moss suggests) before fitting. Returned both and was provided with another two. These were better matched and seemed ok in service.

I have heard of problems with the arms and cross shaft pulling out.

There will be people here who will suggest other suppliers who may well do a better service.
The one who produces most positive comments is Caudwell in the States. However as his units are exchange, and the freight cost of returning them is high, you will finish up paying a surcharge, which makes them top-end price wise.
Graeme Williams

And sometimes you can get bad ones from Peter Caldwell.
Alan
Alan Anstead

The "low cost" international approach with Peter Caldwell is to either pay his core charge or buy a used set on fleaBay and ship to him as core units.

I did the latter with my MGA shocks and he was GREAT to deal with, did his best on the shipping too. But all-in-all not cheap - but quality work seldom is. And you get a lifetime warranty with Peter's units AFAIK.

I bought a number of UK "recon" units last year and had a failure rate of almost 50%, which bearing in mind shipping of the things ain't cheap must make the profitability of the cheap ones more than suspect!
Dominic Clancy

Peter used to buy 'cores' and probably still does, not just Sprite/midget either so if you sent a large amount sea-slow-surface -it might safe you some money.
Daniel Stapleton

Yes but is there anyone on here who has actually bought and tried the new ones (*not* recon) from Moss?
David Smith

The new dampers have been discussed here on the BBS before and another problem noted was the bolts wouldn't go through the mounting holes. Apparently the new dampers are made in the UK so it's a shame they can't get the quality control right.
David Billington

Err..yes David.
Graeme Williams

Graeme your post didn't make it clear if you'd bought the recon or new ones......
David Smith

Thanks to everyone, that does indeed help me in my decision!
WB Bankowski

I bought new from Moss two or three years ago and had to open up one hole in both of them. I believe Moss bought the moulds from Armstrong so that new could be made, but they are getting worn and the amount they sell doesnt warrant having new moulds made so dont expect them to improve.

Trev
T Mason


Is Peter Caldwell affiliated with World Wide Auto Parts in Wisconsin?

http://www.nosimport.com/Lever-shocks-remanufactured/sprite-lever-shocks

Tim
T BURSTON

Tim
Yes, that's Peter Caldwell's company
Dominic Clancy

David Smith: I was answering the question as posed which clearly refers to new ones. THe reality is that the new ones as supplied were of poor quality and I don't think either was right.
The replacements supplied in their place went on and performed ok, but I think we have an issue here in common with a number of other spridget components. These units are used across the range of our cars and are a key component. It's critical that they work correctly because they are a critical safety item and yet they seem to suffer from wear at relatively low mileage making them a component which is in demand for regular replacements. However at the moment the quality of replacements has been poor.
THe casting making up the body can't deteriorate excessively so surely an engineering company who specialises in hydraulic units could carry out a successful refurb. At the moment the low price of refurbed units is low, indicating the little amount of work carried out. I am sure we would all be happy to pay a comparable price for a properly engineered refurb unit as we would pay new unit. After all, this is what World Wide Auto Parts do, but the geographic location doesn't really suit Europe.
Graeme Williams

Graeme - I know you knew what you meant, but you had introduced 'rebuilt' into your post, indeed it's the last word not in brackets before you say you bought two, hence the potential confusion. Especially for someone for whom English is a second language, however beautifully fluent they appear.
Trevor has explained about the quality of castings on the new ones, and Alan has explained that even WWAP's rebuilds are not 100%.
The uprated rebuilt ones I buy from Peter May for my race car seem to stand up very well given the much increased performance envelope they are subjected to. I hesitate to recommend them but will say they've served me well. I think this may be due to them being more pernickety about the exchange units that they take in for refurb.
David Smith

do stevson motors in Birmingham still recondition them or have they stopped trading,I cant believe that some of the usual suppliers don't deal with Peter Caldwell's company to import them .
mark heyworth

Obviously, the rebuilt units can fail even if the the rebuild process is done meticulously. These are old components and there is only so much that can be determined through measurement and visual inspection.

For those of us in the States it makes sense to use Peter's shocks. He stands behind them 100% and shipping exchange here is nominal charge and quick. His rebuilds are not a patented trade secret.

It is fairly obvious what he does to rebuild them. He has set up some tooling to make the process a viable business, but there is no reason someone on your side of the pond couldn't do the same.
Trevor Jessie

I would guess the actual market for good quality units to sell at a retail price to make them viable or attractive for the supply chain and end seller would be far too small.

Most classic car owners rarely drive their vehicles so don't need or want to pay for reliable fully functioning parts, components or vehicles.
Nigel Atkins

This thread was discussed between 16/01/2017 and 18/01/2017

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