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MG MGA - suspension woes

Hi all,
Yesterday I picked up a 1962 1600MKII roadster.
After many checks and lots of reading and surfing I was certain this car was a good buy and a fair risk.
I was looking forward to learning to maintain the car myself after a 20 odd year break from working on my own cars.
However, it seems I may have fallen off the deep end as the leaf suspension broke on the nearside (lefthand drive car and I live in Switzerland) and the wheel has shifted back to the rear of the wheel arch.

SO, apart from contacting the guy I bought it from first, IF I decide to try this myself..

Is it a hard fix?
Can I do it without removing the bodywork?
Apart from the unit itself, what else should I replace at the same time?
Should I replace both sides at the same time?

thanks in advance for your time

Allan
A M Wakefield

If the leaves have shifted it is likely that the center bolt that holds them together broke, not uncommon. If the ride height was acceptable just take off the U-bolts on the damaged side and replace the center bolt. If the car was sitting low you may want to replace both springs. No dissassembly of any of the rest of the car is needed.
John H

Allan,

I've replaced the springs on mine recently. Nothing that a bit of brute force, ignorance and swearing can't solve.

Good luck,

Grant :-)

PS if you do go for changing the springs, change both sides
G Hudson

Alan in Aarau

It should be under guarantee if you got it from a dealer. Otherwise you are just unlucky I hope.

Not hard at all to fix. No bodywork removal needed. Best supplier here is Fritz Koller in Zuzwil Tel. 071 - 944 32 32 as most of the others have to order in rather than having stock. Take a photo underneath and mail it to me and I can give you an idea of what you need to do. I'm in Zürich near Albisgütli.

Can I also recommend the local MGA club - www.mga-club.ch
dominic clancy

Thanks guys,

Alan, I am in Egg on the other side of the lake from you :)
Good to hear from you.

Can you drop me an email so I can get your email address?
allan@wakefield-jones.net

I spoke to a Company in Meggen but they wanted 900CHF for the springs !. Kischka in Köln only want 70EURO each :)
But I will try Fritz Koller now, thank you!

BTW one of the leafs has broken the the whole unit shifted rear wards. Just one of those things I guess.

I bought the car in Jura privately, but took my time to study MGA on the internet and spent hours with the car and a fien tooth comb, so I am pretty happy the rest is ok (says he with a gulp :) )
A M Wakefield

Using Moss USA as a reference.
These parts Should be replaced.
2 springs #454-840 @ $79.95
2 front bushings #267-510 @ $8.70
1 pad set (4 pieces) #281-598 @ $8.75
1 rear bushing set (8 pieces) @ $8.75
2 eye bolts with nut and spacer. Listing is not real clear but appears to be #320-468 @ $12.95
These parts should be checked.
Front bolt #321-738 These may be to rusty to reuse. You may need to cut them out if too rusty to unbolt.
Check condition of U-bolts #267-550. May be rusty also.
The check straps may be too deteriorated to reuse also. #267-610 @ $8.95.
The rear shackles are usually reusable #267-520 @ $13.95.
Support the frame with jack stands as high as you can, Just in front of the front spring mount. then support the rear end with small jack stands. With the frame and the rear end supported separately you can remove the springs and associated parts. This can be done without removing the drive shaft or rear end and without touching touching the brakes.
This is quite a simple repair. The most difficult part will be dealing with rusty fasteners. Any fasteners that give trouble can be cut away and replaced.
A you can see the whole job can be done for about $200.00 to $300.00 US.
Good luck
Randy
R J Brown

You may have to replace both rear springs. Old springs may have settled some. New springs may not set at the same ride height. Some new springs are also notorious for being far too high, screwing up the road handling of the car.
Barney Gaylord

On the subject of new rear springs, I'm about to install a set on my restored chassis, made by British Springs Limited in the U.K. The label states that they are a BSI Registered firm. I think I bought them from Scarbourough Faire, not sure. Does anyone have experience with this spring fabricator? Does the "BSI Registered" hint at perhaps very good quality? Just curious.
George
G Goeppner

I have no knowledge of the company. BSI stands for British Standards Institute and is awarded to companies that achieve the required quality standard, similar to the ISO 9000 standards. If it has the BSI kite mark its products should be to a good engineering standard.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Well they still exist.

http://www.british-springs.co.uk/

Malcolm
Malcolm Asquith

Thanks so much to you all and your helpful responses!

Thanks especially to Dominic Clancy for the contact with Fritz Koller. He is a great guy and sorted me out very quickly for a very reasonable price. Dominic I could not send you an email as I can not find your address but if you ever fancy a drink let me know, I sure owe you at least one.

Thanks also to RJ Brown for the list.

After a mere 4 hours and relatively little swearing the car is back on the road - slowly until everything settles in and I can make sure nothing needs adjusting ;)

A M Wakefield

Congrats
pat yourself on the back and enjoy a cold one.
R J Brown

This thread was discussed between 03/05/2007 and 08/05/2007

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