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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Rear Shackles - advice needed!

Hi all,
Mk III midget
doing my pre MOT checks, found my nsr spring shackle bushes are a bit knackered ,so have ordered both sides as kits from Greg at SCS, as I might as well do both whilst I'm down there!
I plan to replace both both shackle pins & the bushes...it LOOKS straightforward- which is scaring me!! so is there anything horrid I haven't considered & does anyone have any advice ?

Cheers all,
Colin
colin frowen

You should be ok with just the bushes, did you go for the poly or rubber.
Peter Ottewell

On some cars you may find that one of the shackles was inserted from the side adjacent to the fuel tank which was then fitted afterwards during assembly. It makes it harder to remove the shackle.

Either you have to drop the fuel tank, or, easier, you need to undo the 3 bolts that hold the rear leaf suspension bracket to the boot floor. Then jack the rear of the car up (not on the axle) until the rear of the leaf spring drops below the level of the fuel tank so the shackle can be pulled out. Re-insert it from the other side of the spring to make it easier for the next time!
GuyW

Straightforward job but....

Don't tighten anything until the car is on the ground with the weight on the wheels.
Graeme Williams

What Guy and Graeme say and make sure the shackles are pointing the "right" way (forward)!
Matt1275

Thanks all.
Much more confident now!
Cheers colin
colin frowen

Axle stands under the body and a trolley jack under the axle.

Hope I'm not stating the obvious.
Dave O'Neill 2

I guess it depends which way you look at them, but I always think the shackles have to point rearwards, not forwards!

If they point forwards as the weight is lowered back onto the springs, then the spring end has a tendency to tuck up in front of the shackle and the spring won't flatten so the back end stays up too high.
GuyW

I thought the same as you, Guy. It depends which end is doing the pointing!
Dave O'Neill 2

If you think you might need to remove the two brackets from the boot floor, it might be a good idea to get a set of nuts/bolts/washers to replace the existing ones that are probably very rusty. If these have not been off for a very long time, you may also need a nut splitter or other means of removing the nuts. I seem to recall that long are required for removing those brackets, as you need one under the car and one inside the boot (but it was about 20 years ago that I last did that job).
Jonathan Severn

Forwards/backwards you know what I meant, but you're right backwards is more logical! Against the direction of the spring might be better
Matt1275

This thread was discussed between 16/03/2016 and 17/03/2016

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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