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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Spring has sprung. Loudly. :-(

I was pulling out of the parking lot here at work this morning, with our school district's Director of Technology in the passenger seat, when something under the car said "POP". We made it to our destination and back, and the car felt fine, but I noticed after a bit that the steering wheel was cocked to the right slightly.

And soooo.... when I had a chance later, I noticed that it was sitting low at the right rear, took a look beneath, and found that the spring had broken. The noise I'd heard was the shackle snapping up against the boot floor panel. I ran the midget home, garaged it, and came back to work in the MINI.

Sigh. After all the bad things I've read about aftermarket leaf springs, now I have to deal with the things.

All polite advice gratefully received,

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

My advice would be that your district Director of Technology needs to loose some weight before you allow him back in the car.
Guy

the wild west for carthorse springs ?
Nigel Atkins

Maybe watch ebay for a set of used from a low mileage desert car?
Trevor Jessie

Gryf:

I had a local (specialty) spring shop do excellent work on my old Corolla, if you have one in your area wouldn't hurt to give 'em a ring. Repair might be preferable to new/poor.

Richard
Richard Reeves

Gryf- how many leafs broke? I have some spares. Check the last club newsletter- I wrote an article on fixing without removing the springs. Let me know... call me, I haven't been on here much lately.

Don
don g

Omg gryf,

Im glad your okay... that could have been an end game ride on the I-70

Great news tho.... I found a company about a year ago that are making mg midget leaf springs...(correctly) they have been around for about 30 years and seem to know there stuff, and make leafs for alot of cars... and there not all that expensive.

Bad news ... i cant remeber there name... it will take me a bit to find them.

Prop
Prop

That was easy and fast....seriously, id at least give these guys a shout....there is even a spring forum with a guy talking with one of the eaton engineers about having a set made for his 1979 1500 midget.

Eatonsprings.com

If there is any thing i can do.... let me know, im here for you. Im hoping to be in town next week weather permitting.

Btw.... do you have photos ?... hey i had to ask.... tough crowd here ya know....lol

Prop
Prop

Hi, chaps.

Don, thanks for the offer! And thanks to Prop for the info on Eaton! If I end up going with new springs, I'll certainly check them out first.

I haven't investigated the break yet, but maybe I can get to it this evening. Once I see what failed, I'll post a pic and more info.

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

See below for a photo of the carnage. If you want to see more, just click here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/safety_fast/sets/72157626759775790/with/5738224320/

As you can see, the break was in the main leaf just forward of the axle fitting.

:-(

-:G:-


Gryf Ketcherside

Just got a note from Don Gatheman offering a used top leaf from an earlier Midge.

Does anyone know if said leaf will be compatible with a 1500 spring? Maybe I should see about buying both of his top leafs (leaves?) and replacing that leaf on both sides.

I also want to replace all the pads and hardware while I'm down there. As the pic above shows, my spring pads are utterly squashed.

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

I broke the top spring on my 74 as I left the parking lot for a club gimmick rally once. Made for an interesting ride.

Gryf,
If I were in your shoes, I would either look for a 1500 parts car with intact springs or else take Don up on his offer and take both of your springs as well as his to a spring shop and have them make one good one out of Don's and your broken one and then re-arch both springs to match. This is also the time to contemplate spring liners, if so inclined.

Get poly pads and shackle bushings for the re-installation as well. Start now with some aerokroil (or your favorite penetrant) on the existing shackles to loosen them up so you can remove them without breakage, but don't be surprised if you break one or both of them. Sometimes it is easier to go through the boot and remove the brackets so as to work on the shackles in a bit more comfort. You will want to get new u-bolts and nuts as well, but I would be inclined to source them locally rather than counting on the quality of MM or VB. The spring shop can probably sell them to you or tell you where to get them.

I would not replace the bushing in the front eye of the spring. They never seem to wear and the poly ones I have seen are not really an improvement.
David "Poly wanta cracked spring?" Lieb
David Lieb

My understanding is the 1500 where alot stronger (sorry... I know thats the wrong term) because of the extra heavey wieght.... so id fear replacing just the 2 leafs without modification to 1500 spec... as it would probably sag in the rear

I agree with david on the re-arching ... but im not sure your saving any money to do so over new (done correctly)... and thats if you can find a shop that actually knows how to do that kind of work...its not actually a sciance but a forgotten art... sorta like brake pad and clutch re-linning

If any thing.. might be a good monday night tech session.... dont think of it as a ginnie pig... but an educational oppertunity....lol.


Might give ( sportscarwarehouse.com) a shout ask for john... he has lots of used midget parts ....there out of texas...i have had good success

In my oppinion i think your correct by making sure each side is a match....then agian if the PO was named bubba and wighed in at 400 pounds... that kind of thinking may not matter.

Prop
Prop

Hi again -

I did indeed take Don up on his offer, and ran over to his place last night. I now have two "new" springs out in the garage... actually, rather weathered-looking ones from a parts car, but the critical upper leaves are intact and look good. I want to use those leaves and rebuild both of my springs, replacing just the main leaves, and reusing the remainder.

In the process I want to clean up and repaint the lot, add spring liners and replace the axle pads with poly, as suggested above. I already have poly bushes in the shackles, and the shackles themselves are relatively recent additions having broken one when I did the bushes a few years ago. David, you're right about breaking shackle pins... New U-bolts and related hardware are also in the cards.

What kind of paint do you suggest for springs?

By the way, it was interesting to note that Don's old springs have liners, whereas my current ones don't.

Thanks again,

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

I had one break like that, 72 MGM, middle of winter, only car, no money. Pulled it back into position and welded the broken leaf to the next one along the edges, about 2" long with SS rod. Half hour repair. Worked fine, so much that I left it like that for about a year until I redid the whole car.

FRM
FR Millmore

Thanks for the note, Fletcher.

Just did some digging, and I see that Moss and Victoria British each list different springs for the 1500 vs. the earlier models. Now I'm not sure about using 1275 main leaves in my 1500 springs.

Are any of you familiar enough with these springs to know if the top leaves are interchangeable?

Thanks much,

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

Gryf -
Understand I'm not saying it was an "approved repair scheme"!
Not certain but I think the only difference would be in the arch, or "free camber", might lower your car a little. Check lengths from eyes to center bolt, and whatever you do make it the same both sides.

FRM
FR Millmore

Hey gryf,

That rebecca harvey in calif thats building a midget race car i think as a spare set of leaf springs...i want to think she was trying several differant sets
Prop

This thread was discussed between 18/05/2011 and 24/05/2011

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