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MG MGB Technical - Jack Dimension

My '67 GT came with two jacks. One looks original, with a wooden handgrip and sheet metal fabricated gear housing, but the gears are stripped or out of alignment, and it doesn't work. Otherwise, it seems in good shape.

The other jack looks more substantial with a cast gear housing and plastic handgrip. It has a round foot instead of the short square bar foot on the other jack. It is in good working order, but some twit hacked off the part that goes into the jack point on the car.

I'm thinking about cutting that part off the non-working jack and welding it onto the working jack, but I'm not sure how long the end result should be. Making it more difficult to decide is the fact that the more complete jack would rub against the door if it could be used. I wonder if this is always true of MGB jacks, and they must be positioned with care? Or maybe I have a midget jack?

In any case, the main question is, how long should the part be that sticks into the jack point, measured from the tip to the pivot? Thanks. -G.



Glenn G

Glen

I took the metal cover off the Jack from my 67 GT when it stopped working. The gear shaft goes through the steel and the hole in the steel gets oblong over time.

I welded a plate and redrilled the hole. Thought about putting a brass bushing. That would probably keep it going longer, but I don't use it to where I feel I will wear it out again.
BEC Cunha

Glenn

I marked one of my 73 MGB doors when first trying out the original side winder jack - it kept leaning in and rubbing. I never used it again, preferring a small scissor jack that just slid under the axle.

Regards,

Barry
BJ Quartermaine

Glenn,
in one of my GT's i use a jack from a Ford Mondeo that fits underneath the sills just as made for the MG. on the other B's i use scissor jacks too, as discribed by Barry

Ralp
Ralph

The wooden handle is the old pattern and the gears are made from a soft material that strips. These were painted red. I still have mine but decided it was BER and got a newer black one at an autojumble for change. It's been fine for years. Only an issue for seriuos concours competitors I think. I do not have pics to upload but if it's a big deal I could take some.
Stan Best

I went out yesterday and did as I threatened above - took the spike off the original jack and welded it onto the working jack. Sorry about removing another MG jack from the world, but at least now I have one jack that works and fits well. As I prepared the better jack to receive its transplant, I realized that the previous owner had done nearly the same thing. He had welded a piece of an old suspension support to the jack's existing arm, which is a simple steel bracket. No clue why he made it too short to do the job.

Thanks as always for your replies. -G.
Glenn G

This thread was discussed between 09/06/2007 and 11/06/2007

MG MGB Technical index

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