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MG MGA - New Rear Springs

Has anybody had recent experience of new rear springs from the usual UK suppliers?

There's been so much bad temper on all the boards recently about the poor quality of new springs - sagging within a year, for example - that I'm wondering if there's anything to choose between the current offerings. B+G are much cheaper than Moss right now, which surprised me, as I thought they'd probably be buying from the same cheap source.
Nick

I bought rear springs from Moss late last year but they were marked made in the UK on them.

They were the wrong size and I sent them back and reworked my original springs. I can only assume since they were made in the UK you'd end up with the same oversize spring if ordering from Moss.

HTH,
Christopher
Christopher Wilson

That was bad luck, Christopher - though perhaps you ended with a better result.

The one good thing so far is that the back axle is out, the springs are off, and every nut came without being persuaded.
Nick

Oh my goodness. I think my last post suffered from what they call hubris. When I said the springs were off, I meant all except for the front pins. Why has some previous owner pushed the pins in from outboard?

"Drive them out", says my Haynes manual. How? I've tried every combination of pullers, pushers, grips, cramps, crowbars, hammers, penetrating oil, even the hot spanner . . . . . but the bolt remains firmly rusted into the inner sleeve of the bush.

I've started drilling and cutting, but it's going to be a long and frustrating job in that confined space - and so if anyone has a brilliantly simple method, PLEASE let me know.
Nick

Nick, weld a handle or something on the end
Art Pearse

I had the same problem Nick. Tried every method you've tried. I ended up cutting thru the rounded eye of the spring, and then the bolt, with a 4" angle grinder. I was going to install new springs anyway. However, I did this with the frame upside down (the body was off obviously) so it wasn't too bad a job. Not sure how access will be from the bottom with an angle grinder (be careful).

Good luck, George
G Goeppner

Art - that's a great idea. But I'm not a welder.

George - I went down to the local tool shop yesterday with dimensions, and there was no grinder that would get in there. I hadn't thought of cutting right through spring eye and all, though. That's a good notion.

Today I drilled the threaded end two ways, to get some of the material out, and I've started sawing, with a 3" push-pull. If I can keep at it, I reckon about 3 hours.
Nick

A sawzall makes quick work of it. See here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/suspensn/rs101.htm
Barney Gaylord

I sawed thru mine with a Sawzall (DeWalt actually) and then just ordered the new bolt for $3.75 from Moss - worth the price to sacrifice the old bolt. One the spring was off, I just drove it out with a drift.

JIM in NH
AJ Mail

Thanks Barney - that's very reassuring. I didn't have a sawzall, but I've just picked one up, the battery's on charge, and I'll be down to the garage as soon as I finish this cup of tea (whichever's takes longer).

Isn't it dispiriting, when you get held up for a couple of days like this? And it provokes (in me at least) a strange stubbornness which supersedes efficiency. E.g. I know there's an awful lot of scraping, brushing and painting for me to do, with all that running gear out of the way, but I won't start it until those damned springs are off. Even though I could easily slide in there between them and begin, I just won't.

PS:- Got the bolts, Jim. New ones came with the new springs. When I get it off I'll post a picture of the broken leaf, which frankly baffles me.
Nick

Nick, stick with it, I certainly know the feeling! Let us know how it turns out, I am very interested to see the end result!

Neil
Neil McGurk

Three of the four cuts done before the light went - and you certainly need a lot of light to see what you're doing. That's an exercise in cutting within strict limits: I almost felt I needed to build a jig for the tool, to avoid breaking the blade by shunting too far and hitting the back of the mounting bracket (I've broken one).

Anyway, here's the pin - fitting very tight in the bush. I don't think this could have been drifted out, even with a big hammer and a big swing. The replacement bolt/bush is way looser than this - rattling around, in fact.


Nick

Once the sprimg is out of the car I have driven a chisel bewteen the flat and the churl of the spring eye to open it up a fraction, then the silent bloc bush comes out easily.
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Thanks Mike. Even though I'm putting new springs on, I shall keep the old ones in case they can be repaired and retempered, so I'll want to get the bush out.

Success with the final cut this morning, though I must say that was a mare of a job, using only the last inch and a half of the saw blade. The spring hanging there was actually a great tool rest.

Here's the break in the spring that failed the MOT test. Hard to see why it broke.


Nick

Nick, pretty easy to see why! The leaf had a groove worn into it by the one below. (Quite clear in the left side of the break in picture) That was enough to weaken it and generate the necessary stress raiser for it to break. You may well have heard and felt it go (probably on a hard turn). I know I did when the same happened in my midget. It looks like the leaf below is also worn. If you strip the springs down (necessary anyway to have them repaired) you will see clearly the extent of any damage to the rest of the leaves. If not too deep they can be ground smooth.
Neil McGurk

You can get the bush out by using a Dremel too with a 1/8" side-cutting drill (not sure of the name). Use it to cut out the rubber round the bush, from both sides. Then use a hacksaw to cut through the outer tube and lever it out of the spring. Or even use an ordinary drill and drill multiple holes through the rubber.
Art Pearse

Yes, good point Neil. But I found it hard to imagine the springs being really stressed at that point of almost minimum bending, with the way we've used the MGA in the last twelve years. It's been a tourer, more or less.

Three things, though:- (i) we did the Kimber trial some time ago, and there was a big rocky dip halfway up Hell's Ladder; (ii) the bump stop's missing on that side, and (iii) it's the side the fat bloke sits.

If it did happen as I surmise, then how it passed the MOT in 2005, 6, 7, and 8, I don't know.

Thanks Art. Drift and big hammer first - then I'll think about the options.
Nick

This thread was discussed between 29/07/2009 and 02/08/2009

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