1973 MGB GT- A little rust 30/08

[adam73bgt]

Dec 13, 2013 8:22:02 GMT Rich said:

Dec 12, 2013 23:55:29 GMT @volksangyl said:

painttheletters-painttheletters-painttheletters-painttheletters-painttheletters-painttheletters.

Only if he swaps then for slotmags, thrushes and an extended shackle kit

Glad to see the minishites off the car at last everything seems to foul the track rod on these, my compomotives would if they had balance weights on them. I aught to centreline balance them but it's not noticeable enough
Good work, keep the mojo flowing

Are your compomotives 15's? the track rod does seem to be a pain indeed!

Well as a small update, I've now rectified the wheel fitment issue by putting a 5mm slip on spacer on each side at the front in addition to the bolt on, so theres now a tiny bit of clearance

Seems to drive fine, though I'll be sure to find any issues on my way back home from uni on sunday

[Rich]

Dec 13, 2013 16:34:19 GMT adam73bgt said:

Dec 13, 2013 8:22:02 GMT Rich said:

Only if he swaps then for slotmags, thrushes and an extended shackle kit

Glad to see the minishites off the car at last everything seems to foul the track rod on these, my compomotives would if they had balance weights on them. I aught to centreline balance them but it's not noticeable enough
Good work, keep the mojo flowing

Are your compomotives 15's? the track rod does seem to be a pain indeed!

Well as a small update, I've now rectified the wheel fitment issue by putting a 5mm slip on spacer on each side at the front in addition to the bolt on, so theres now a tiny bit of clearance

Seems to drive fine, though I'll be sure to find any issues on my way back home from uni on sunday

Nope, also 14"s but the offset is spot on. Wheel balance isn't bad enough to bother me anyway, need to tracking done more than I need to balance the wheels.

[adam73bgt]

Dec 13, 2013 18:24:29 GMT Rich said:

Dec 13, 2013 16:34:19 GMT adam73bgt said:

Are your compomotives 15's? the track rod does seem to be a pain indeed!

Well as a small update, I've now rectified the wheel fitment issue by putting a 5mm slip on spacer on each side at the front in addition to the bolt on, so theres now a tiny bit of clearance

Seems to drive fine, though I'll be sure to find any issues on my way back home from uni on sunday

Nope, also 14"s but the offset is spot on. Wheel balance isn't bad enough to bother me anyway, need to tracking done more than I need to balance the wheels.

Ah fair enough, after going for a short drive I'm fairly sure the track rod ends are still trying to remove my wheel weights


I also found that the rear tyres do indeed rub on the inside of the arches (need that panhard rod...) so some arch modifying may happen over the weekend

[wyer1972]

would the minilights fit a midget?

[ChasR]

Dec 13, 2013 21:13:10 GMT wyer1972 said:

would the minilights fit a midget?

Nope. Wrong PCD. Saying that I think Mini wheels may be able to fit a Midget (in 13" guise) so you could consider some Revolutions .

[wyer1972]

chas I have pmd you

[jpsmit]

Dec 13, 2013 22:50:05 GMT ChasR said:

Dec 13, 2013 21:13:10 GMT wyer1972 said:

would the minilights fit a midget?

Nope. Wrong PCD. Saying that I think Mini wheels may be able to fit a Midget (in 13" guise) so you could consider some Revolutions .

No. Midget is 4X4" MGB is 4X4.5"

[ChasR]

True, but Mini wheels should fit since their PCD is shared with the Midget. Of course he would have to be looking for a rare(ish) sized Rim (a 13" which is not massively wide) in the Mini world if he simply wanted some wheels to bolt on with no modifications required L).

[adam73bgt]

Mm I think there are a few sets of 13" minilites that pop up on ebay from time to time, they're usually midget/mini fitment

My minilites are for sale though, so any lurkers reading this with an MGB, Scimitar, Triumph 2000, Triumph stag (chas ) or various japanese stuff, give me a buzz

[adam73bgt]

A small update with mixed feelings as always

The boring dual carriageway drive home from uni has shown that the new wheels are quite nicely balanced with the slight steering wheel wobble that was previously there, now gone

The wipers also are still working very well even at high speeds and with the annoying spray rather than full rain that you often get on dreary winter days.

But the rear tyres are catching on the arches when cornering, its not a huge amount but I would like to get rid of it. With this in mind I tried to do a bit of 'ghetto' arch rolling which has resulted in a vertical crack appearing on one of the rear arches

It was the older of the two rear arches (the other one having been replaced not long before i got the car) so now I have to think about body work. The front wings are a bit shabby too and overall the car's paint isn't great


thoughts of sebring kits are forming in the back of my mind....

[Rich]

Dec 15, 2013 22:20:37 GMT adam73bgt said:

But the rear tyres are catching on the arches when cornering.

Panhard Rod

[adam73bgt]

Dec 15, 2013 22:31:45 GMT Rich said:

Dec 15, 2013 22:20:37 GMT adam73bgt said:

But the rear tyres are catching on the arches when cornering.

Panhard Rod

Belive me those words were reverberating around my head the whole 130 miles home

I was going to ask what sort of setup yours is, is it an off the shelf kit or something you've fabbed up?

[Nathan]

Trim the arch lip fella, the replacement panels seem to have a massive lip compared to the originals. When I put my old MiniLites on they did the same, but a small bit of trimming helped, so it may be the same, however I have noticed you are running spacers.

Also MGB Axles were never fitted central so you will find one will rub more than the other. Mine is way out, exaggerated when I was lining the prop up etc.

[adam73bgt]

Dec 16, 2013 9:23:39 GMT Nathan said:

Trim the arch lip fella, the replacement panels seem to have a massive lip compared to the originals. When I put my old MiniLites on they did the same, but a small bit of trimming helped, so it may be the same, however I have noticed you are running spacers.

Also MGB Axles were never fitted central so you will find one will rub more than the other. Mine is way out, exaggerated when I was lining the prop up etc.

The lip does seem quite substantial, I did manage to get the minilites to rub on a couple of occasions but I'm running the spacers cos the new wheels were very high offset, though the spacers have made them lower offset than the minilites and fitting slightly wider tyres probably hasn't helped..

Yeah I can feel the difference in arch gap on each side haha, brilliant bit of design there...

[Rich]

Dec 15, 2013 22:36:52 GMT adam73bgt said:

Dec 15, 2013 22:31:45 GMT Rich said:

Panhard Rod

Belive me those words were reverberating around my head the whole 130 miles home

I was going to ask what sort of setup yours is, is it an off the shelf kit or something you've fabbed up?

It's an aftermarket adjustable escort mk1/2 panhard rod and home brew brackets, copied the mg kit one to a degree with the axle mount and bolted one end to a fabricated plate under the o/s spring hanger and the body mount wraps round the boot floor kickup and bolts into the boot with some hefty bolts and load spreaders. Works fine, keeps the back end well in check and cost about £50 rather than the £350 Moss and the OC want..

[adam73bgt]

Dec 16, 2013 10:48:22 GMT Rich said:

Dec 15, 2013 22:36:52 GMT adam73bgt said:

Belive me those words were reverberating around my head the whole 130 miles home

I was going to ask what sort of setup yours is, is it an off the shelf kit or something you've fabbed up?

It's an aftermarket adjustable escort mk1/2 panhard rod and home brew brackets, copied the mg kit one to a degree with the axle mount and bolted one end to a fabricated plate under the o/s spring hanger and the body mount wraps round the boot floor kickup and bolts into the boot with some hefty bolts and load spreaders. Works fine, keeps the back end well in check and cost about £50 rather than the £350 Moss and the OC want..

Ah nice, I was looking at the ready made kits and they seem a bit steep for what they are, unfortunately I don't have a lot of scope for fabbing up stuff at the moment

[adam73bgt]

Well I thought I should get some pictures up to show the extent of the damage..

I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure steel shouldn't crack..



And the paint on this front wing has been cracking for some time and now a little chunk has come off



I can live with these things for a while, but I really would like to get the bodywork of the car sorted out at some point, its the main thing letting the car down really.

Also been pricing up suspension refreshing/upgrading, looks like some parabolic springs with telescopic dampers and polybushes plus negative camber wishbones at the front with uprated dampers (using different valves) may be possible, need to get the front ride height a bit lower too just to get it level, thinking race springs or angle grinder....

Though it does catch the underside on some speed bumps as it is

I could also do with finding a cheaper way of making a panhard rod than buying the ready made kits, while being something I can actually make myself with my limited selection of tools

[adam73bgt]

But in better news, the tyres no longer rub on the back when its just me in the car, just when I carry any luggage or a passenger

[Nathan]

Its the filler that's cracked, it would have been skimmed from the top downward to flush. Have you tried to roll the rears or something? Being squared off they don't give up such tactics without a fight (I fell into that one, hence grinding the lip).

Poly bush the whole existing setup, drain the existing Leaver arm dampers and refill with better oil (I'll add which one in a bit when I remember). MGOC did a track day test with 1 car on standard suspension, the other on what I just mentioned and the last on a telescopic setup. Yes the latter was a slightly better ride but they did state the cost was not really worth it, at that time I was going to do exactly what you did but instead I went with the "Old school MG tuner Method".

Mine runs the race springs on the front with Standard springs on the rear and the rake is amazing.
The Panhard kit end of thing I am going to make one for mine too, if it works just as well I will make a few and sell them cheap as the price MG charge is plain stupid.

[adam73bgt]

Dec 20, 2013 14:04:38 GMT Nathan said:

Its the filler that's cracked, it would have been skimmed from the top downward to flush. Have you tried to roll the rears or something? Being squared off they don't give up such tactics without a fight (I fell into that one, hence grinding the lip).

Poly bush the whole existing setup, drain the existing Leaver arm dampers and refill with better oil (I'll add which one in a bit when I remember). MGOC did a track day test with 1 car on standard suspension, the other on what I just mentioned and the last on a telescopic setup. Yes the latter was a slightly better ride but they did state the cost was not really worth it, at that time I was going to do exactly what you did but instead I went with the "Old school MG tuner Method".

Mine runs the race springs on the front with Standard springs on the rear and the rake is amazing.
The Panhard kit end of thing I am going to make one for mine too, if it works just as well I will make a few and sell them cheap as the price MG charge is plain stupid.

Yeah I attempted to roll them with a pole, then got annoyed as it didn't work and tried to pull the arch out by hand as I needed to drive home from uni that night. It then cracked as I pulled it My own fault really as I was rushing at it

I'm fairly happy with the lever arms on the front, hence why I'd just look to change the dampers in them, or maybe just the oil if that provides a good enough improvement on its own?

One of the rear ones appears to be leaking as its wet where the other one is dry and the whole rear setup is a little stiff really. What are the race springs like up front? they're not too stiff at all? (not that the MG is the last word in ride comfort anyway )

I did own a telescopic rear shock setup briefly but sold it as I needed the money and didn't think I really wanted them at the time, had some new leaf springs too, the power of hindsight

Would be great if you or someone out there did make a cheaper alternative for the panhard rod, I just can't justify buying a rod of metal and two brackets for over £300