MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - Electric Power Steering

Hi folks,

due to Corona lockdown I have plenty of time and want to prefabricate some EPS.

Are there people interested in purchasing the EPS ?

If there are more than 10, the price could be reduced due to "multiple stock" of material.

Please let me know.

Thanks

Gio
Giovanni Delicio

Giovanni,

I may have missed some of this correspondence. Do you produce the whole kit or do we have to go out and find the Yaris parts? What sort of price are we talking about? I have duff shoulders from Rugby and other sporting/military injuries, so might benefit but need a steer (sorry!) on rough costs.

Thanks, Shane
Shanerj

Gio makes the whole kit, including the Yaris parts. I will provide the 3d-printed differential collars to him at cost if he needs them, the other bits needed for the dynamic version are dirt cheap or dead easy to fabricate

Dominic Clancy

Shane,
have a look at these recent MGA threads,
in this order-

1st. Stop light Switch.
2nd Electronic Power Steering.
3rd Electric Power Steering.

These will fill you in on the details you have missed.

Colyn
Colyn Firth

How easy would it be to do an MGB version?
Dave O'Neill 2

I think an MGB version would be more complicated, as the B has column stalks and a horn push on the wheel. There is an MGB option from this guy already:-

http://simonebirchall.co.uk/shop.html

He has photos of the unit installed on his page too.
Dominic Clancy

Are you not sleeping Dominic? I just noticed the time that you posted your last comment, 4.57 AM!

I must admit that sometimes if I can't sleep, I open the MGA WSM at any random page and try and read it for as long as possible.
Which usually isn't very long :^)

Colyn
Colyn Firth

They are an hour ahead of us so that would be nearly 6 am swiss time - half the day gone by then ....
Chris at Octarine Services

I've already registered my interest.
P Draycott

Since my operation last year I am really happy when I wake up later than 5am..... I had already been awake for more than 1 hour when I wrote that, but I am getting sleepy now, so may get 6 hours sleep tonight if I am lucky.
Dominic Clancy

Colyn.

Thanks for pulling together the threads. I'll keep a close watch on you observations. I have made contact with Gio, too.

Shane
Shanerj

and there is the write up on Barney.

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/steering/sr302.htm
Dominic Clancy

I have spent an hour updating the installation instructions and have added material from Colyn (wiring diagram) and more info on the dynamic version. Hopefully Barney can update the page soon with this info. If you want a copy of the email to Barney, please email me at First Name@family name dot ch
Dominic Clancy

Hi Dominic, I want to send you an email but don't understand your email aaddress?
F Watson

Sorry Dominic, forgot to give you my email address: fjmj.watson@bigpond.com.au. I would like a copy of the notes you sent to Bernie. Thanks
Go Well
Frank
F Watson

first name AT family name DOT ch
Dominic Clancy

Gio, how much steering feel do you lose with the power assist?

There is no need for power steering on a car with close to stock rubber and a driver that isn't physically compromised, but this sort of kit can be a God send to people with physical limitations.
Bill Spohn

Hope Gio won't mind me answering Bills question.
Gio's EPS seems to give virtually the same steering feedback through the steering wheel as you get through the standard MGAs steering wheel.
I can still feel all the twitches and tugs from the road that I got before.

The lightness was odd at first but I am getting more used to it, it is becoming the "new normal" for me because the steering feels heavy now when I switch the EPS off.
I decided to give the EPS a try because I severely damaged my right bicep a few years ago and have lost a lot of strength from it. Hopefully,it will alliw me to drive the car for nany more years.

I love how the MGA drives and I wouldn't want to lose any of the character of the car just for the sake of making the steering lighter. But so far,so good.

I am experimenting by increasing the numbers of magnets on the speed sensor to see if it will make the steering feel a little bit heavier, but if not, I already like it as it is.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

The answer , Bill, is that all feeling is gone at low speed, it can be steered with one finger on the steering wheel spokes. As Steve says it firms up quite rapidly, so that at 30 MPH the steering assistance is heavily reduced and the feeling firms up considerably. The car requires much less effort to pilot on sections with a lot of curves, and you would get used to it very quickly!

For a direct comparison it is easy to switch off (I have both a dash switch and a trip fuse), at which point the steering is unassisted and direct between the steering wheel and the rack and so equivalent to a standard car. It is a collapsible column too!
Dominic Clancy

I helped a friend fit the system to his car a few weeks ago, and he has just completed the Alpenbrevet rally, which is 8 mountain passes overnight.

We were out for a beer and curry on Friday, and he commented that he and his co-driver were much less tired at the end compared to previous years, and both attributed this to the power steering.

Now he is contemplating a five speed and a 1800 engine, as his 1622 is leaking oil badly at the backplate
Dominic Clancy

Gio

Any feedback on numbers interested?
P Draycott

@ P.Draycott

Sorry for answering so late but I'm not often on the BBS Forum.

What do you mean by "feedback on numbers" ?

Thanks

Gio
Giovanni Delicio

Hi Gio

er meint "wie viele Interessierte hast du dafür gefunden"

Gruss
Dominic
Dominic Clancy

Hello Colyn
Interested how you went with the increased number of magnets on you sensor? How many did you end up with?
Stay safe and Go Well
I have to say Dominic has been fantastic with his advice.
F Watson

Hi Frank,
you are a week or so too early for me to answer your question.
My brother, who is a mechanical engineer, is turning a new clamp-on collar to fit on to the diff flange. It has been turned out of tufnel which is an old time material made out of multiple layers of linen and shellac, it is a very strong material and was used to make gear wheels in lathes etc.

It will have 5 magnets installed, instead of the original collars 4 magnets.
This will effectively increase the input from the speed sensor to the CPU by 25%.

The plan is that the CPU will think the car is moving faster and will reduce the amount of assistance so the steering feels a bit heavier a little earlier.

Co-incidentally, I have just found that I need to replace a leaking rear hub seal (which has ruined my expensive Mintex brake shoes)and a leaking pinion seal at the front of the diff which is messing up the garage floor. So I will fit the new collar at the same time that I fix those two things.

Once everything is installed, I will let you know what difference the 5-magnet collar makes to the steering feel.

I have attached a picture of the 5-magnet collar in its almost completed state.

Colyn





Colyn Firth

Sorry Colyn for the non-appearance of the promised collar. My friend with the 3d printer has been too busy to get to the revision requested - I too will be interested in the outcome.

I was quoted £84 for a set of minted 1144 shoes by minted directly, same for the pads.
Dominic Clancy

No problem with the 5-magnet collar Dominic, I wasn't in any great hurry to try it out, I was just interested to see if it made any difference. It was going to be another winter project.

My brother is a retired mechanical engineer who loves lathe work (he makes clocks and working model steam engines etc) and once I mentioned what I was doing on the car, he took a few measurements and he was away!

Yes, Mintex M1144 pads and shoes make for fantastic brakes, but they are really expensive and I was more than a little disappointed to have one side ruined after only a few thousand miles usage.

The really annoying thing was that I probably worsened the oil leak situation by topping up the hypoid in the back axle. I think the oil level was quite low before I topped it up and so, whilst there was a leak, it was almost undetectable. Ah well.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

@P Draycott, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

Hi Pete,

up to now I have sold/installed 16 sets.
99% of the customers are quite happy with the function and reliability.
Only 1 was sent back by a customer.

Gio
Giovanni Delicio

Hi,

any more interested people for EPS ?

Thanks

Gio
Giovanni Delicio

Gio
In June you posted that 10 or more people interested would reduce the price. From the posts I can see only me and possibly Shane showing interest. So I assume the price is as quoted in May this year.

Regards Pete
P Draycott

Just an update on my experiments with the magnetic collar for the speed sensor.

The 5-magnet collar that my brother made for me was turned to fit the new diff flange that Moss and Brown and Gammons supply.
Unfortunately, I hadn't realised that to fit a hub new flange, you have to reset the pinion pre-load.

So we had to re-use the original flange and the new 5-magnet collar won't fit.
(I haven't told my brother yet!)

A friend of mine is in the process of designing a couple of 3-D printed collars based on those supplied by Dominic Clancy.
I have asked him if he can make one with 5 magnets and one with 6 magnets so that I can experiment with them.

I will let you all know how it works out, but the winter will probably get in the way of doing very much testing.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

I am still waiting for the modified 3D file with provision for 5 and 6 magnets
Dominic Clancy

If you could supply me with another 4-magnet collar Dominic, my friend is confident that he could use it to design the 5 and 6 magnet versions. (I am more than happy to pay you for it)

I will then ask him to make a couple of each so that I can send you one of each to experiment with.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Hello,

What would the cost for a EPS be?

//Anders
Anders T Dahlberg

Hello Colyn
I turned down some aluminium which is sandwiched between the prop shaft and diff flange overlying the flange and inserted five round magnets around the circumference. This has made a great deal of difference over my four magnet setup. Very happy with the result.
Go Well


F Watson

When placing a thick disc between the prop shaft and the disc flange you must ensure that there is sufficient travel in the spline at the front of the prop shaft.
This travel is critical as the rear axle housing moves through it’s full up and down movement.

Mick
M F Anderson

Yes there is at least 2.5cm travel. The piece between the prop and flange is only 6mm.
All good, thanks.
F Watson

Thanks "F" (apologies, don't have your first name)

Your collar looks like a nice bit of work, a couple of questions about your alloy collar.
How does it fix onto the flange of the diff? and how did you fix the magnets into it?

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Colyn -My 3D printer friend will send me the stl file tomorrow
Dominic Clancy

Mr F, so you have a piece of 6mm aluminium bolted between the steel propshaft and the steel diff flange?

I just have a feeling about that........!

I hope the propshaft doesn't come off. They do make a big mess.

Colin
Colin Parkinson

Thanks for clearing that up Colin, I obviously missed the fact that the alloy plate was sandwiched between the flanges of the hub and the propshaft.

I have been thinking about this and, if the plate is fitted between those flanges, wouldn't that mean that the front of the propshaft is actually pushed 6mm further into the back of the gearbox?

So, in theory, wouldn't it be less likely to come adrift, but maybe more likely to bottom-out in the back of the gearbox on full suspension deflection?

Dominic,
thanks for that, I am looking forward to seeing what my friend can do with the collars.

Colyn



Colyn Firth

Hi Colyn
I machined it cup like to fit over the diff flange and drilled and inserted round magnets secured with loctite 401 around the circumference.
There is plenty of movement for the prop shaft to move in and out of the gearbox.
I used 100mm round aluminium which was plenty to allow
for inserting the magnets.
Go Well
Frank
F Watson

I now have the STL files for the 3D printing of the collar. If anyone would like these (4 magnet and 8 magnet versions) then please email me

Dominic
Dominic Clancy

Just a progress update on the magnetic collars.

Thanks Dominic for sending me the STL files for the
3-D printed collar.
My friend has now re-jigged them into both 5-magnet and 6-magnet forms.
He has just completed his first "print" of the 5-magnet collar to assemble and to test on the car.

I received it a couple of days ago and have assembled it and installed the magnets. Apart from having to trim off some very small moulding flashes, it fits together perfectly.
Both halves now align really well and the 5 mm cube magnets are a perfect push-fit into the holes in the collar. See picture attached.
I hope to receive the other 6-magnet collar in a few days time and I will post pictures of it.

I was testing the new shorter Hall effect sensor that I am going to fit (my original one is too long and comes close to rubbing onto the battery tray).

To test it you have to simply connect the two power wires to a 12v supply, then you pass a magnet across the end of the sensor and this causes the led light in the top of it to flash.

At first I only got an occasional flash from the led when I passed a magnet vey close to the end of the sensor.
But when I repeated the experiment later, I got a very strong response on the led, even if the magnet was over a cm away from the sensor.

I realised then that the polarity of the magnet was critical, with one end of the magnet causing a very strong response whilst the other end almost none.

So I had to find which polarity caused the strong response and then identify and mark the polarity of each of the magnets.
I assembled a dozen or so of the 5 mm magnets in a line (they naturally align in North/South polarity), then I suspended them on some thin thread and let them act like a compass to find which was the N end. (see 2nd pic)

Once I had done this, I marked the polarity of each magnet and repeated the sensor test. It turned that the the South pole of the magnet gave the very strong response and so it is important to make sure the South pole of each magnet is aligned to the outer edge of the collar.

I will report back once I have the 6-magnet collar assembled and I hope to soon have them on the car to try them out







Colyn Firth

Well, I have at last got the MGA back on the road and with the Five-Magnet collar installed.

The process has been delayed by a couple of things, first was the prolonged spell of freezing weather, which meant that my garage was just too cold.

The second was that I decided that whilst I was swapping the 4-magnet collar for the new 5-magnet one, I would at the same time, fit a shorter speed sensor instead of the original longer one, which had been a little bit close to the battery tray for comfort.

The new sensor does clear the battery tray much better, but when I spun the prop shaft, the LED light on the sensor did not flash each time a magnet past by it and so I thought that I had somehow messed up the wiring.

I tested all of the connections and the wires for continuity, but all seemed to be in order. I even swapped the speed sensor again in case the original one was faulty, but this didn't help.

So, in the end I made up a new complete loom for the sensor which runs from the ECU beneath the dashboard, into the engine compartment, down beneath the car alongside the wiring loom, up over the diff and finally down to the front of the diff where the sensor in mounted.

This took me a few weeks because I was working on the rear brakes at the same time.

But, after all the above, I still couldn't get a response from the LED light on the sensor. I was beginning to wonder if I had somehow damaged the ECU when I had snipped the wire to replace the sensor.

Then, I finally recalled that when I first installed the EPS, it didn't actually work until the front wheels were down on the ground and the torque sensor in the ECU detected that steering assistance was needed.

So, I took the car off the axle stands, switched on the EPS, and it worked perfectly, including the LEDs!

I wish I had worked this out before I had gone to all the trouble of remaking the loom, but you live and learn!

Anyway, to report back about the effect of fitting a 5-magnet collar instead of the 4-magnet one.

To be honest, it doesn't appear to have made any difference.

The idea was to see if the extra magnet would fool the ECU into thinking that the car was travelling a little faster than it was. I had hoped that this would make it more quickly reduce the amount of steering assistance, so that the steering felt a little heavier at a slower road speed.

So, I think Dominic Clancy's design of the 4-magnet collar was pretty much spot on, it simulates the Toyotas signal from the speedometer and so fitting a 5-magnet collar doesn't appear to affect the EPS by any noticeable amount.

I do have a 6-magnet collar to try out in the near future and I will report back on how it works out.

But I am still delighted with the Toyota EPS on the MGA and it is great to have been able to get out in the car again during the last few days sunny weather.

I did a write up about the process for Safety Fast magazine which they have published this months edition.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Interesting, I have had the four magnet and now the five magnet system on my car for some time now and I cannot feel a disenable difference between them.
I could not quite follow the requirement to have torque on the front wheels to make the sensor work. My sensor works fine with wheels off the ground?
Thank you for your continued research, its informative.
Go Well
F Watson

For Colyn Firth and/or Gio re power steering.
Could either/both contact me on
brucemayo@talk21.com
please. I would like to get fully up to date on your latest version of the Yaris system for MGA. Trawling back in the BBS archives shows lots of “development” type of chat going on and I am keen to see if there nowa definitive, complete, and finalised system, and price, that a moderately handy diy person might tackle at home.
Thanks in anticipation.
Bruce
Bruce Mayo

The only development required ( I spent a lot of time with Gio on this) was the top mount for the steering column, which is tricky if the access to the back if the instruments is retained. Gio came up with a design pre-Covid that Covid prevented supply and testing, but emulated the standard setup and looked as if it would work better than the prior designs.

The collar and sensor arrangement was finalised too, and the basic design of Gio's setup hasn't changed in the three or four units I have fitted.

As my car will be collected by the new owner this weekend there's no potential for further fettling on my side, although I still have a lot of the power connectors for the Yaris unit that I should send to Gio.....
Dominic Clancy

Thanks Dominic. That’s a useful update and presumably therefore only needing confirmation of the top mounting for the steering column being completed? Gio/Colyn - does that result in a final kit now available and price please? Any other comments?
Bruce.
Bruce Mayo

Colin
You out there seeing these posts? All quiet!
It’s just that you had a lot to say a while back on this Yaris system (all good stuff that is) and wrote a piece for the MG magazine about your involvement with the development and the driving experience subsequently. I would appreciate all three of you (Gio, Dominic and you) bringing it all up to date for me. Dominic has just commented (above) on where he sees it now, just leaving the top steering column mount as an issue needing finalising. Anything else?
Bruce.
Bruce Mayo

Sorry Bruce for the tardy response, I do have a good excuse though, I am in the middle of a 4 day MGA event up here in the North of the UK.
A group of 6 MGAs are doing our own version of the Coast to Coast in honour of our late friend Brooke Midgley who was always so passionate about MGAs. So I am mostly out of range of both wifi and mobile phone networks.

But back to EPS

Yes I still have my Toyota Yaris EPS and I still really like it.
My EPS has one of Gios very early top steering column mounts, which is not as rigid as the later ones So I would like to upgrade mine for something similar to those.

Also, I did try fitting a 5-magnet wheel to the sensor but it made no noticeable difference to the way the EPS worked.
So obviously, Dominics original 4-magnet design was spot on.
The car is just so nice to drive with EPS
installed and so my plan is to keep it as a permanent feature.

Cheers

Colyn


Colyn Firth

Bruce

I have a differential bracket for the sensor and a magnet collar that I can let you have - as well as the power connector for the Yaris ECU. Please contact me at dominic@clancy.ch if you would like these.

I am in the middle of packing up and moving, from mid October I will be living in Thailand, so don't wait too long. The workshop contents will be collected oil a week and the parts will then be unavailable.

Dominic Clancy

Thanks Dominic. I have emailed you re those parts. Good luck with your move.
Coryn. Thanks for your update. It’s useful to hear your driver experience over a reasonable period of time now. I’m still waiting to hear from Gio (don’t know him, only know of him from the BBS) so hopefully he will get in contact about the availability and cost.
Bruce.
Bruce Mayo

To what specifically does this refer "The only development required ( I spent a lot of time with Gio on this) was the top mount for the steering column" I have a Gio system installed. Is this on update/improvement?
P Draycott

P Draycott,
the top steering column bracket has been simplified and is now a better fit and easier to install than the older design that
I received was.
I hope to fit a similar one to my car eventually, but it is working well and it wil be a winter project.
I can also supply the magnetic collars if you need one, but Gio's manual control is an easier install.

Gio is a brilliant guy, totally honest and a pure MGA enthusiast.

Gio, did you see that NAMGAR reprinted my EPS writeup in their MGA magazine this month?

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

I started with one of Gio's first units, and it rapidly became apparent that although he had used an MGA body to develop the top mount for the column, this was done without a populated dash - the speedo and rev counter cables could only be attached with great swearing and physical gyrations in the footwell.

Subsequent fittings ( the units I procured and fitted for other owners) went through a number of iterations until Gio really really understood the issue and came up with a mount that was the same structural dimensions as the original, but even stiffer. Unfortunately COVID intervened and I never took delivery of what should have been my final installation - but I am certain that Gio now has a very workable solution.

I have today refitted the last unit I installed in a replacement car (long story) and the upper bracket went in in minutes - and the current version is a refinement on this.

I would say that the early units needed some fettling to install, but the later ones dropped in without pain and although experience had a small effect, Gio's conversion is in the realm of a competent home mechanic. If you can (safely and confidently) change your brake linings, you can fit one of these units too.
Dominic Clancy

Colyn
Would welcome a quick chat after reading your Safety Fast write up on the EPS. Could you give me a phone number and I will call, if ok with you.
Hope your four day north country MGA outing went well.
Bruce.
Bruce Mayo

Again, apologies for the slow response to your question. The morning after we completed our Coast to Coast run, we drove to join the MGA Register Autumn Tour Weekend in the Yorkshire Wolds. So its been a little busy for us.
I will be back home in a couple of days so I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Cheers
Colyn.

PM me on colynfirth@msn.com
Colyn Firth

Colyn
Please give me your phone number and I will call you in a few days when you’re back. Alternatively I’m on 01983 761382.
Bruce.
Bruce Mayo


Good day guys, I am delieted to read that interest has picked-up on EPS's on our M G's. Its just so good, to have.
6 or 7 years ago when I commenced experimenting with our M G A Coupe's steering and made a hugesuccess of the Yaris conversion, I just cannot imagine the car with out this alteration.
8 friends subsequently drove the Coupe' and had me fit their cars up- immediately
These models included rubber nosed V/8's Chrome bumper V/8's also pre and post '71 model M G B's. I have mounting patern templates for all of the models accurately made. These vary between M G models.

Unfortunately bad health has caught up with me, and I am not able to tackle large jobs , now.
My 9 jobs---one car is a Racing V/8---are all working just fine--no maintainance has been required. The secret is the matching Yaris ECU and Steering motor, from the donor car.

Build properly-and installed carefully---this is a great safe innovation.
The conversion work needs to be carried out by a competent engineer and in Australia it must be ADR's Engineer Certified, to be road registered.
My engineers specify NO--WELDING, anywhere on the jobs---so everything is fabricated from solid materials.
I retain all of the M G 's switches--steering wheel--[ but a smaller wheel is better] My jobs are all hidden out of sight, behind the dash board.
The all important front wheels feel of the road remains---and the M G 's inbuilt Caster Angle, causes the steering wheel to return--self cetre.
[provided there is tread remaining on the front tyres]
Each car that I have worked on, presented with well under inflated front wheels! Perhaps check yours, now!
I.W. Cowen.

Hi I.W.
I'm interested in how you engineer the shaft between the Yaris steering motor shaft and the MGA steering wheel splines. On the example Gio sent me there was a cross pin holding a shaft extension for the steering wheel to the Yaris steering motor shaft. I did not like that feature. I note your comment about no welded parts which I have also seen mentioned by a US manufacturer of custom steering systems. John
John Francis



Hi J.F.


Roll pins fitted to the correct interference fit have a good place in engineering.
In one job I did, I found that the nylon safety pins in the collapsable safety column had been substuted by steel roll pins. Terrible.
One finds all sorts of things altered badly on our cars.

I machine sleeves of the max Dia [wall thickness ] to clear the insides of the outer tubes ,on the shafts.

My jobs all have the shafts a press fit into outer sleeves -- these are cross drilled--threaded right through--set with lock tite---and both ends of the threads are peaned over into counter sinks in the outers of the sleeves.
Never to come apart!
I would not like to attempt to dismantle one!


You will enjoy your car all the more, with the steering job.
Your wife will enjoy driving it, too.
I.W. Cowen.

I. W.
I was interested in your comment about under inflated front tyres as I've previously noted that some Spridget owners in Aus seem to run at much higher pressures than over here or the original Driver's Handbook pressures. I wondered if it was to to with the roads and weather over there compared to here.

What pressures for the tyres do you recommend for say the MGA and MGB in Aus?
Nigel Atkins

Hi John
I know the upper steering column connection was the reason that you were not happy with this Toyota EPS conversion.
But when you consider that the steering effort through the upper column will be much less than normal when the EPS is switched on because much less force is needed to turn the steering wheel, then I think Gios design is engineered enough to more than cope with the steering input.
I can easily drive the car one-handed, even when parking the car!

So pretty much all of the steering effort is supplied by the EPS motor and the output shaft from the motor, down to the steering rack, is just as strong as the standard setup.

Cheers
Colyn

Bruce, I will call you from home tomorrow.
Colyn Firth

Hi Colyn

I am surprised at the lack of concern about the design capability of any modification to the steering column with a pin through a connecting part. A through hole will reduce the strength of the standard shaft - no doubt about it pinned or not pinned. On some quick calculations from the web, on a 21mm shaft with a 4mm pin the stress concentration factor is over 4 and with a 20nM torque there will be a stress of 47mPa. The shear strength of steel is about 300 to 400mPa so about 8:1 safety factor. But note that stress concentration is increased by over 4 times so the safety factor of the original shaft is significantly reduced too. However, I think the cross pin is bigger than 4mm so the stresses will be higher and safety factor less and the likelihood of fatigue failure higher. The web calculator would not allow a bigger pin size.

I have from personal experience witnessed a fatigue failure of a steering shaft with a cross hole pinned to hold a steering wheel on, albeit on a small box cart which I made many years ago. Also I have spoken to an engineer at a UK custom steering manufacturer who said they would never put a cross pin in a system.

When I designed my upper seat belt bracket for my car which is documented on Barney's website I made sure that the design was stress analysed and was tested to failure so I had confidence in the design for myself. I would be interested to know whether any of these systems with cross holes have been tested to failure both for ultimate strength and fatigue.

I think I have made my point sufficiently and any purchaser of a system should make sure that they are comfortable with the engineering design. If there should be a failure and a third party is injured I can't imagine what the insurance liabilities might be unless you can prove rigorous design analysis and testing has been carried out.



John Francis

Bruce,
I don't seem to have your email address so I can't PM you, my email is colynfirth@msn.com

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

John
Gio is a highly certified welder, so he does know what he is doing with making these units
Dominic Clancy

Very good tech website on the design of custom steering columns in the US. https://www.borgeson.com/steering-system-design-and-tech
Note: Welding on steering components is illegal in some US states. Pinning reduces strength of a 3/4" shaft by 30% but is used with roll pins or hardened shear pins. They advise never to use bolts.
John Francis

Peter Draycott
Good morning Peter. Re EPS, could you give me your phone number or call me on 07802 170135 please. Then I can take any chat offline.
Best
Bruce.
Bruce Mayo

@ John Francis,

on attached sketch you may see that there are not only pins going trough both pipes. There is also a rod that gives much more strenght then the original tube !
Then all 3 components(both pipes+rod) are welded together. A "break-test" has been done and the break was far behind the rod-end !!!
Be assured that the steering rod is much less stress-loaded with the EPS then without (as original)!The other solution is to have a steering wheel from a Yaris to be usedon the MGA. Then you have no more complaints :-)

Cheers

Gio



Giovanni Delicio

Is there a realistic kit in the works?

Meaning, complete with straightforward installation?

Thanks

Ted
Maryland, USA bordering insanity, lol, or the Atlantic pond.
Ted Persons

Ted,
Gio will supply the EPS complete kit from his workshop in Germany and I think that the left hand drive kits are pretty well sorted out now.
I understand that his installation instructions are pretty good, but I have some up-dated RHD ones available that originally came from Dominic Clancy and which I am happy to supply to anyone who would like a copy.

Our MGAs are all a little bit different from each other after 60 years of use and so you should expect some minor adjustments to the kit during installation, but nothing that most of us can't easily deal with.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

An update on Gio’s latest eps kit for MGA, specifically the upper bracket. Dominic made the point previously about the earlier brackets compromising access behind the dashboard, particularly with respect to the rev counter, speedo and their cables. The one supplied with my recently supplied kit is the business! Gio has listened to all of our comments and has now produced a bracket utilising the original mga top bracket with the narrow end (lower) part cut off and a stout steel band attached to grip the Yaris upper column outer tube. Result - same good access as standard and a good firm fixing for the eps.
Sorry, no photo. It’s all installed now and too difficult to get a clear picture. But all good.
Bruce.
Bruce Mayo

This thread was discussed between 28/06/2020 and 15/11/2021

MG MGA index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.