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MG MGB Technical - MGB Crossmember

I’ve put a crossmember in my mgb roadster with spoked wheels and the steering shaft seems to be too long to put a universal joint on but it looked ok on the crossmember with the rostyle wheels can anyone suggest what’s happened Cheers Barry
Barry S

There are two different cross members and two different steering shafts for the chrome bumper and rubber bumper cars. Are you trying to mix and match parts from a chrome car with a rubber car or vice versa, 'cos it doesn't work.

What are you doing? Are you putting together a car with bits that didn't come from it? Can you explain a bit more.
Mike Howlett

Sounds like you have used a rubber bumper crossmember on a chrome bumper car.
Colin Parkinson

Barry-
The type of wheels are irrelevant to the type of crossmember. If you're using the steering rack that came with the crossmember, and the pinion shaft of the steering rack is too long, then it's from a rubber bumper car. If this is the case, it'll never work without major ($$$$) reworking of the angle of the mounting brackets and the pinion shaft. Far cheaper and easier to find a crossmember and a steering rack for a chrome bumper car.
Stephen Strange

Barry
If I've read this correctly your car originally had rostyle wheels and you have fitted a wire wheel equipped x member but retained your original steering rack----??
If your car is like around 74 onwards from when the v8's were introduced the brackets for the steering rack on the crossmember are slightly longer to move the rack forward to clear the v8 engine- this x member was standardised on 4cyl cars from then on
If your new x member is from an earlier car the rack brackets will be slightly shorter making it impossible to fit your rack
You will need to refit your cross member and then if it's wires you're after, the easiest way would be to take the whole hub/kingpin assy off in one piece and swap it onto your original arms
willy
William Revit

There are three different cross members;
for chrome bumper, rubber bumper RHD, rubber bumper LHD cars.

There are five different steering ( pinion ) shafts;
1800 chrome bumper RHD, 1800 chrome bumper LHD,
V8 chrome bumper ( RHD only original ),
rubber bumper RHD, rubber bumper LHD.

RHD, LHD shafts differ in the pinion gear angle.
Chrome bumper to rubber bumper differ in length.
Other variation in rubber bumper pinions was number of gear teeth to give different steering ratio.

It pays to check the manual and parts list ( or ask on here ) before picking up the spanners.

Have you changed the whole suspension & steering assembly in order to change from ROstyles to pram wheels ?
To save changing the hub/kingpin assembly ?
( It's not something I would dream of doing, so I don't know the details ).
J N Gibson

This thread was discussed between 07/04/2019 and 08/04/2019

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