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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Scissors Jack Jacking Points

I am carrying a scissors jack around with me – it fits in really neatly and straps down well in the boot under the fuel tank pipe using the bumper mounting bolt to secure the straps I have made up.

A quick search of the archive does not however tell me where to use as jacking points? My best guess at the moment is front and rear of the sills adjacent to the wheel arches , perhaps with some thin rubber sheet or even some wood on top of the jack? There is a slot in the top of the jack so all being well it should work with just some rubber

An alternative may be, for the rear the spring mounting plate and the crossmember for the front – both again with a wood block?


Mike
Mike Dixon

I also carry a scissor jack, rear - either the spring mounting plate or axle tube (RWA).
Front usually onto the spring pan.

Be careful of adding wood etc with only a scissor jack as it can slip and when extended they can be less stable.
Jack on its own is only for changing a wheel !

with a trolley jack I use a piece of 18mm ply on the crossmember when jacking both fronts off the ground + stands.
richard b

slot in my scissors jack sits in the sill nicely. I jack it under the front of the sill if I need a front wheel, and under the back if a rear one is needed. IF I need both (track/sprint/road tyre change) then the scissor goes under the jacking point (a bit further forwards cos the K is lighter) and the whole lot comes off the ground on one side. But don't put anything important under it...
Rob Armstrong

Thanks, I agree it is for roadside wheel changes only and will not add any wood!


Mike
Mike Dixon

When I use a scissor jack I use it under the forward leaf spring mount and for the front end I put it directly under the lower king pin pivot. The advantage with the forward one is that you only need to jack it up an inch or so as there is no suspension movement.

I never go anywhere near the sills even though I know they are good!
John Payne

I carry a foot pump instead (and no brace or spare wheel!!).
Nigel Atkins

"I carry a foot pump instead (and no brace or spare wheel!!)."

and a kettle for a cuppa while you wait for the recovery people after a blow out??
Chris at Octarine Services

How many times do you have a blow out, unless you don't look after the tyres or overload the vehicle?

I've been driving for 42 years over hundreds of thousands of miles and passengered for even more hundreds of thousands of miles and I've never experienced a blow out and I don't know any one who's told me they have.

I've had the cars have breakdowns for a wide range of reasons, only once would a spare wheel have helped, I'd need a trailer to cover all the possible items I'd had needed to cover all those.

I have however used the manual footpump twice in 25+ years to safely and easily get me home - and to help others including to inflate a completely flat get-me-home spare wheel in my mate's boot, he had an electric pump but it was so slow and raining at the time I decided to speed things up.

You'd probably need a footpump to get the car to a suitable place to be able to use the scissor jack safely to use the spare wheel. :)

Nigel Atkins

I had a blow out (delamination) at a track day but that was under extreme provocation
G Lazarus

I’ve had several rapid deflations, due to debris on the road. I’ve also had numerous other punctures.

Am I just unlucky?

My current daily driver has no spare wheel, which is a bit disconcerting.
Dave O'Neill 2

the only thing I carry in my boot is the fuel pump, and that's only because I wouldn't get very far with out it - what do other people carry in their boots?



S G Macfarlane

Nigel those roads on your country estate are obviously in excellent condition, no wonder you dont have punctures.

I have had two on my daily driver in the last 5 years that required a spare wheel change.

I take the risk and dont carry a spare tyre and jack in the midget.
C MADGE

Stuart,
don't open that subject again, you'd be amazed at some carry, some even have a second fuel pump plumbed and wired in ready to switch over to if the other pump should falter or fail - I'm not joking, good luck to them but where does it end, tow a second car(!?).
Nigel Atkins

I have had a blowout and several punctures over the years mainly from debris. I have a spare in both my cars and wouldn't want to be without them. If you do get a failure which you cant inflate to get home and call out your breakdown service it will cost you dear as they just get a tyre company to come out to you which is very expensive (I know because my son in law used to be a tyre fitter).

Trev
T Mason

I have travelled well over 150,000 miles in my last 3 spridgets, and never carry a spare. I have had slow punctures but not sufficient to prevent me continuing, and never had a blow out. I used to carry a tyre liquid sealer but gave up on that as I never used it, and they have a limited shelf life.
I have a pump, tyre gauge and a very neat little scissor jack strapped next to the hydraulic reservoirs but that is as much for other repairs as the possibility of a puncture.
GuyW

Chris,
our private road has no potholes but the county's roads have many deep potholes despite our local MP claiming a few years back to have got extra funding from the PM. Now he's the (current) Minister of State (Department for Transport) is it a coincidence that some holes have been filled(?).

I've only ever had one rapid deflation, must have been from a good sized lump of sharp metal as it sounded like something had dropped off the car.

Had three punctures on my cars, and my wife's had one in her car, that I can remember, we got home easily each time, twice by using the footpump and others by being near enough to home. One whilst a passenger on the beer-bus so more time in that pub and my mate's puncture but I was in the Midget behind him so was able to use my footpump to speed matters up.

Many spare wheels and tyres, particularly on classics, could be unsuitable or marginal to use or even potentially dangerous or illegal at least. 1.61mm of tread on a 20-year old used tyre kept in the boot as a spare doesn't inspire confidence.

I keep my tyres with good tread, check the pressures, don't overload or abuse them and try to avoid low and very low profile where I can but I'm not religious or too regulated about any of it.
Nigel Atkins

Trev,
it may depend on your breakdown cover and the cause of the failure.

Nowadays many failures and breakdowns are because of the owner/keeper/driver - mistake, abuse, failing to maintain, not knowing, not caring, lack of teaching and guidance from parents and guardians.

I've put diesel in the Midget when I wasn't thinking or concentrating on what I was doing so I'm guilty too, luckily it was covered by my Midget insurance with PJI.
Nigel Atkins

I too used to carry a tyre liquid sealer but gave up on that them as I never used them and they have a limited shelf life plus some tyre places would make such a fuss about their use.

I also used to leave them in the car for the next owner.
Nigel Atkins

Interesting conversation... The spare do take a lot of space. In my (tiny) 11 years of driving, I never changed a tyre in UK or France. Only used the jack once as the winter chain got stucked in the caliper when my friend tried to remove it (of course I was doing the other side successfully in the mean time:) ).

I have a liquid sealer in my daily car, to give me peace of mind, except when the tyre is recent...
=> Does someone use "emergency size" spare wheel ?

More general, I am surprised that so many people carry fuel pump (SU is so unreliable ?) and not contact points :)
CH Hamon

Cedric,
I put a space-saver spare at the front of my MX-5 (can't for the life of me remember why, I had steel(!) wheels on) and when I braked at only normal 30mph round town driving I felt the difference to the standard wheel so I class them as for only very short term, get you home or to safety or replacement, use. I can't understand these people who leave them on the car for a while.

I guess those that carry a spare fuel pump do not have the Hardi type of electronic pump fitted and enjoy hitting pumps, roadside repairs (like you), paying extra for the SU label on a new (unreliable?) points pump.

For those that have very old SU points pumps that they have repaired, good on them, they should not need to carry a spare.

Thing is that it is human nature we concentrate on what we have experienced or fear. I lost a day's work once because a pump failed so now rather carry a spare I replace if I can not trust what is fitted - but of course now you have to hold on to the old part for a short while in case the new part proves to be faulty, but just for a reasonable while don't become a hoarder, recycle it somehow if possible.

Nigel Atkins

Nigel, certainly all the major breakdown companies use a tyre company for such things if you dont have a spare.

I would agree with you about many people these days not bothering to check the basics and not caring about such things. Only yesterday I was talking to a woman who had a nail in a tyre and despite having a new car for about eight months she had no idea if it even had a spare and if it did where it was. She admitted she wouldn't have a clue how to change it even if it had one.

Trev
T Mason

Don't know which pump I have, I think a recent SU if I remember well PO invoices... Does it mean I will post soon again in the technical thread ? :p Hopefully it will not happen during our next trip: took me weeks to convince my girlfriend this car is reliable ! :)

Trev, did you ask her how many cylinders she has in her car ?
I think (most of) the people use their car as they use their smartphone : switch on, use, switch off. Problem ? Garage or recovery service.
It is no more a pleasure to own a car, it is a constraint to be able to move. Mainly because of politics, from both side of the puddle (extrapolation in regard of what you call the pound)
CH Hamon

Cedric, she would have no idea. You are right that most people just use them these days, not helped by generally being more reliable, longer service intervals etc. I bet people like some of us here who check fluids, tyres etc weekly are a small minority now.

Trev
T Mason

Trev,
yes of course you are correct, if it's reported as just a wheel/tyre issue and no suitable wheel/tyre carried.

Perhaps the woman you was talking to was like me, a while back I had to look under the boot cover of my wife's car to see if it was a spare wheel or can & electric pump as I couldn't remember, I still haven't checked to see if the electric pump works, I keep forgetting.
Nigel Atkins

Cedric,
if it is a new SU pints style pump then you may be beside yourself with joy, you can carry a spares and tool kit a wooden stick just for hitting the pump to hopefully keep it going, kneeing or lying on the ground, in the rain or snow if you want to be a full roadside hero, hitting the pump whilst chanting.

After owning and using my Midget for six months I thought it was safe to take it to the continent, the mountains of Belgium, but the alternator decided otherwise. We would have made the weekend tour on battery power had I remembered to turn off the headlights after the morning mist.

I was very struck as we left France and into Belgium the difference in wealth, within a mile we went from very smooth road surface to quite rough and one of the villages we stopped at on the tour seemed to have a market where the locals did not seem to have too much, I think the Quack glasses and holders were fake.

Apparently the very small town where we were stopping was considered posh - still had a discotheque and actually called that, in full.

Nigel Atkins

You definitely missed the frituur, which is fitted in every Belgium village, or every 2 miles ;)

Belgium beers... Reminds me good old times !
(I am ready for the British Ale advertisement paragraphs(s) - which are hard to find down here in so called Lundun :p)

CH Hamon

We didn't go to such areas, we can not afford to eat out we have a Midget to maintain.

Plenty of real ale in Lundun but easy to confuse with the fizzy "craft beers". Different varieties of real ale outside Lundun and lots of quality UK cheeses. Just up the road from here we have a vineyard for those that like that sort of thing.

A classic British sportscar looks great parked outside a classic British village pub.
Nigel Atkins

One good thing about Belgium is the cost of decent race meetings. The cost of going to the Spa Classic or Spa six hours meetings is they cost peanuts compared to similar events here or Le Mans.

Trev
T Mason

This thread was discussed between 30/06/2019 and 03/07/2019

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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