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MG MGA - Uprated Front Springs

Well, its "Winter Project" time again and I have this year decided to tackle the suspension on my MGA.

It has always had lowered and stiffened front springs on the front and lowering blocks on the rear springs which lower the car by approx 2".
It also has uprated front lever arm shock-absorbers and a telescopic shock-absorber conversion on the rear.

I have always loved the the look of the lowered car and it is fantastic to drive on smooth roads but the downside is an extremely hard ride which, to be honest, is very unpleasant to drive at any speed on rough roads. Then there is the constant bottoming out over speed bumps etc.

So I am going to fit some new front springs which need to be nearer to normal length.
(The rear lowering blocks are coming off too and so are the telescopic rear shocks which are being replaced by the lever arm type.)

My preference would still be stiffer than standard front springs if such things are available.

Can anyone recommend a suitable length and spring rate for me?

Cheers

Colyn

Colyn Firth

How about 'before' and 'after' photos Colyn. Most of us have never seen your car in its present form.

Also offer the used bits for sale -- I'm sure there are people wishing to do what you are un-doing!
Barry
Barry Gannon

Will do Barry,
my car is so low that you can't get your hand in between the wheel arch and the top of the tyres. Also I have to use a scissor jack to lift the car as there is just not enough height to fit the standard jack anywhere beneath.

I have even had to buy an extra low trolley jack to be able to jack the car using the front crossmember!

So will take some pictures for you over the next few days.

I am not certain what type of front springs I have on the car at the moment and so I need to start dismantling to see what they are, I recall seeing some Moss part numbers on them the last time I looked.

The whole front suspension and also the front extension is going to be re-painted whilst the car is stripped down.
Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

I'd stick with the low profile, surely there aren't that many rough roads in the UK!
Mike


Mike Ellsmore

Colyn,

I like the look of your MGA as is...

Mike, your MGA looks better with a Scottish backdrop!

Doug


Doug Wallace

Colyn,

Same goes for your MGA - looks better in Scotland, especially at John o'Groats!

Doug


Doug Wallace

Thanks Mike and Doug,
great pictures Doug, the Lands End John-o-Groats trip was an amazing experience wasnt it, just one great day of fantastic driving after another and the best group of people that you could wish to meet.

I have to admit that I love the look of the lowered car, it is one of the reasons that I bought it.
But as it is now, it works better as a track day car than a road car and we are spending a lot more time in the car now that we are "almost" retired.

But I think it still needs to have uprated suspension to make the most of its 140 bhp engine and the close ratio 5-speed box.

So for me,the handling is still more important than comfort and I dont want to take any of the fun out of driving it.
Another problem I have encountered with the lowered springs is when driving at speed on extreme downhill hairpins, the 6" wide wheels I have on my car can catch on the wheel arches and have caused damage to them a couple of time.

So I at least need to raise the ride height a little to sort this out.

I should be able to take out the front springs next week to try to identify which type they are.

Cheers

Colyn
Colyn Firth

One of these Colyn will fix that problem right up ;)
http://www.eastwood.com/ew-fender-roller-w-instruction.html
gary starr

Interesting table on ride heights with various springs in the latest Moss MGB/MGC catalogue (see attached).

Would be good to have a table of ride heights with various spring combinations for an MGA to go with MGAguru spring table - Barney?
http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/suspensn/fs113.htm

Mike


Mike Ellsmore

Colin,
My coupe has had the guard flanges rolled over for a 90 degree arc above the axle centre lines - this allows me to run 6" rims with 205/50/15 tyres and lowered suspension without any contact. (under mud guard is in concours condition as you will note, you also you need a bit of visual gymnastics to interpret image!).
Mike


Mike Ellsmore

You are right about the visual gymnastics Mike, I can't quite make out your picture or understand what you mean by the term "90 degree arc".
But it is 1.15am here in the UK and I have just come in from the Pub and so maybe in the morning I will have a little more in the way of cognitive powers available.
Hopefully, all will become clear😁.
Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Hi Colyn,
A sketch attached to explain - vertical 90 deg arc.
Photo is looking forward at driver's right, rear guard about 3/4 the way up the wheel - aluminium is the splash panel - if you zoom in you will see the guard flange for about 9 inches then it is folded up giving a rounded edge. (It is almost beer o'clock here!)
Mike


Mike Ellsmore

Thanks Mike,
your sketch combined with a clearer head has done the trick and I have got it now.

My wide tyres only just touched the top of the wheel arch on full steering lock and when the when being driven really fast down Alpine hairpin bends.
The suspension would have been on the bumps tops.

I fitted a 3/4" ARB to see if it would help but I forgot that although the body roll is reduced, the suspension still drops the same on the bends, just more equally on each side.
The tyre caught enough at full lock to very slightly crease the metal at the very top of the wheelarch.
So I think I will have to at least increase the ride height a little to fully prevent this.
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Moss makes 'competition' style springs just by removing coils from their stock springs rather than providing stock ride height springs with different rates, which would require a change in wire gauge.

If you buy a pair for MGB race, they may work for you.

Bear in mind that lowering the car for looks is counter indicated if you are really after performance as it increases bump steer.
Bill Spohn

Bill
you are absolutely "spot-on" about the bump-steer issue.

We have probably discussed this before but to re-cap, my car had what I call "Terminal bump-steer" when I first got the car.
It was lowered 2" and also had negative camber wishbones.
This caused the car to steer violently to one side whenever the car hit a bump at speed in mid corner. It could move a couple of feet over the white line or even the other way, it was was most unpleasant and each corner taken at any sort of speed was really just a "Leap in the dark" and I just didnt know where the car would end up.

So I replaced the negative camber arms with standard MGA arms and the bump-steer instantly just went away.

The car is now a delight in the corners and it has lost all that "white knuckle ride" that it used to have.

The lesson is :-
Either fit lower springs OR negative camber wishbone arms.
BUT never fit both!

So now I just have to fix the ground clearance and the extra hard ride issues.

Thanks also for the modified springs information Bill.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

This thread was discussed between 09/12/2016 and 17/12/2016

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