1973 MGB GT- A little rust 30/08

[adam73bgt]

Apr 5, 2013 9:29:37 GMT AceOfHearts said:

Hope the repairs don't come in too pricey!

I have just lowered my rubber bumper so I will get some pictures up of the car when it settles down a bit. The rear is actually higher than before at the moment because the old springs were so knackered

Same here! haha nice, be good to see some photos of it lowered, is it supposed to be chrome bumper height now? The back of mine is quite low thanks to aged springs so i don't dare change them

[AceOfHearts]

Yer hopefully it should be chrome bumper height now, the new front springs were a lot shorter than the originals!

[ChasR]

I saw this a couple of days ago near the Campbell (or is the Phoenix now?). It was at night time but it did look good .

Apr 5, 2013 9:08:42 GMT adam73bgt said:

Yeah I've used moss a couple of times, I've found them to be a bit pricier than other MG parts suppliers if I'm honest but their range is very extensive! So I tend to use their site mostly as a reference but I end up there if I can't find something anywhere else

Moss do tend to be pricier than most but you can get the same bits cheaper than them through David Manners (who I guess are an agent of theirs (and MiniSpares)). I would not always go for the cheapest. On my B Many bushes simply did not fit/last. The latter is one reason my many owners (including myself in the end) turn to a quality Poly Bush like Superflex . 2,000 miles before upper arm bushes start coming apart anyone (the first set from a local supplier didn't even fit!)?

So, will this be able to make the Beach Party?

[adam73bgt]

Apr 5, 2013 11:00:52 GMT AceOfHearts said:

Yer hopefully it should be chrome bumper height now, the new front springs were a lot shorter than the originals!

Ah good, should look a lot better for it, lowering springs are somewhere on my shopping list though whenever i search lowering springs i keep seeing ones to lower to chrome bumper height, which is no good for me! haha

Apr 5, 2013 11:01:56 GMT ChasR said:

I saw this a couple of days ago near the Campbell (or is the Phoenix now?). It was at night time but it did look good .

Moss do tend to be pricier than most but you can get the same bits cheaper than them through David Manners (who I guess are an agent of theirs (and MiniSpares)). I would not always go for the cheapest. On my B Many bushes simply did not fit/last. The latter is one reason my many owners (including myself in the end) turn to a quality Poly Bush like Superflex . 2,000 miles before upper arm bushes start coming apart anyone (the first set from a local supplier didn't even fit!)?

So, will this be able to make the Beach Party?

Ah yeah that sounds like me, i got a mate who lives up the road next to the phoenixbell so I'm round that way a fair bit, and it always looks much better at night haha probably helps that i gave it a clean recently for once

Aye, ive been going through MGBhive for quite a few bits and bobs, they've got an ebay shop and the prices are pretty good, when it comes to suspension parts and things ill definitely look to pay a bit more than the minimum though.

Ah I had a little look at poly bushes a while ago and there seemed to be so much conflicting advice out there about which is best i just decided to leave it for a while

Annoyingly I'm not gonna be able to make it to the beach party as ive got work on sunday, in addition to not knowing if the repair work is gonna be done in time

[adam73bgt]

Well its made it ;D



and with only a couple of advisories to keep an eye on



I think it posed a bit of a challenge for the garage from what ive heard, it wanted to put up a fight

The rust that needed attention was based behind the rear hangers for the rear springs, heres a bad pic which i took while lying in the street.. (the repairs are more to the left, ill try and get some better photos sometime)



there were rusty bits on a couple of sides of the box section which the spring hangers attach to, so they were a bit of a pain to get access too.

The bumper irons were in the way so an attempt was made to take the bolts out holding the bumper on, unfortunately the nut snapped off the bolt and then the head snapped off the bolt so the bumper is held on with a couple of small welds in those positions i believe, the heat from this did affect the paint on the rear valance though...





he was going to put some underseal on the rear valance but since you can see it, it would look better with some green on it. So its just a small job for me to flat it back a bit and spray it over with something that just so happened to arrive today





Its not technically the cars original colour but it'll be fine for touching up, the car has a rollered black roof after all....

The next thing that needed sorting for the MOT was the handbrake, I'd had a call from the garage saying that they were gonna have to order in a new handbrake cable but handily I'd left the new one that i got given by the previous owner in the car So that was fitted.

Turns out the handbrake was fully adjusted but someone hadn't adjusted the brake shoes up properly. Anyway, the new cable went in, the mx5 seats caused a bit of an issue here as usually they'd remove the drivers seat to fit it, but theres speakers in the seats now and the drivers side seat is a bit permanently wired in.... anyway, they managed to get the cable in.

One of the rear wheel cylinders was leaking as well so that was changed, I'd had a suspicion that a cylinder had been leaking for a while but had other garages not find anything wrong.. anyway, after some adjustment, a fluid top up and bleed, the brakes are a LOT better than they were before, good solid pedal so I'm happy there ;D

Hand brake actually does something too ;D

New steering rack gaiter went on to replace the split one and they adjusted the headlights so I'm not blinding every one

So, the B soldiers on for another year (its 40th year)

and after driving it back from the garage its safe to say I'm still happy with it Plus there are mods being planned for the short and long term so more updates to come soon

[Rich]

Apr 5, 2013 11:44:52 GMT adam73bgt said:

Ah good, should look a lot better for it, lowering springs are somewhere on my shopping list though whenever I search lowering springs I keep seeing ones to lower to chrome bumper height, which is no good for me! haha

You're missing a trick here, they will lower a rubber bumper car to chrome bumper height, and lower a chrome bumper car lower than chrome bumper standard.

I fitted MGB Hive 500Lbs race springs, but have yet to try them on the road. Sits lovely though.

[adam73bgt]

You're missing a trick here, they will lower a rubber bumper car to chrome bumper height, and lower a chrome bumper car lower than chrome bumper standard.

I fitted MGB Hive 500Lbs race springs, but have yet to try them on the road. Sits lovely though.[/quote]

I.. I did not realise this I just assumed they'd have no effect on a chrome bumper car I'll have to have a look at how the spring rates compare as I did want to stiffen up the front a bit, would be interesting to hear how they ride with 500lb springs

[Rich]

Apr 6, 2013 14:23:37 GMT adam73bgt said:

You're missing a trick here, they will lower a rubber bumper car to chrome bumper height, and lower a chrome bumper car lower than chrome bumper standard.

I fitted MGB Hive 500Lbs race springs, but have yet to try them on the road. Sits lovely though.

I.. I did not realise this I just assumed they'd have no effect on a chrome bumper car I'll have to have a look at how the spring rates compare as I did want to stiffen up the front a bit, would be interesting to hear how they ride with 500lb springs

It comes from the rubber bumpers having revised suspension datum points due to US federal spec impact law. Springs that will make a 74+ ride at pre 74 height will drop a pre74 lower than stock. Simples

Its all here on Moss's website, but the MGB hive springs are real cheap.
Replacing springs is also a great time to polybush the lower arms as its all more or less gotta come apart to take the spring out.

[adam73bgt]

Ah fair enough, thats good to know

Yeah id looked at that page on the moss site a lot when i first got the car I kinda set my heart on the 'sprint' 550lbs springs. I suppose the lowering springs are the same for both so i knew about the spring rates anyway

Aye, my initial plan (which I'm still hoping to do at some point) was to change the springs, dampers (for uprated lever arms) and polybush everything all in one go, possibly adjust the caster as well, as i think frontline costello make a caster shim which improves the low speed steering, but i can live with fairly heavy steering i suppose

[flyingphil]

Congrats on the MoT - Always a fraught time!

[AceOfHearts]

This is where i got my starter motor from, and seem to be quite cheap on spares:

mgbreakers.com/

[adam73bgt]

Ah yes i think id seen them before a while back, definitely got some good prices, especially on some of the used stuff

[Mike]

interesting reading, when i swapped out to lower springs in the rubber bumper b i undid the four spring pan bolts and then pushed them in from the top, does anyoine know if the caster shims make much difference at low speed? also the difference between a rubber bumper and chrome bumpers steering? i just swapped to a chrome bumper steering rack and the steering is so heavy! wondering if it needs stripping and greasing or if this is just the way it is?

[adam73bgt]

Heres the link to the caster correction shims that i came across www.frontlinedevelopments.com/mg/parts/castor.html

I'm not sure if the steering is relatively heavy in mine as ive never driven a rubber bumper B the steering can be quite heavy for low speed manouvering (as to be expected without power steering i suppose) the other thing is the self centering can be quite strong when cornering, not sure if this is common to all B's though?

[ChasR]

Apr 7, 2013 21:21:49 GMT Mike said:

interesting reading, when I swapped out to lower springs in the rubber bumper b I undid the four spring pan bolts and then pushed them in from the top, does anyoine know if the caster shims make much difference at low speed? also the difference between a rubber bumper and chrome bumpers steering? I just swapped to a chrome bumper steering rack and the steering is so heavy! wondering if it needs stripping and greasing or if this is just the way it is?

Yes the steering becomes lighter with the castor shims. Whether it causes instability I cannot say (most people seem to be happy with them as a cost effective upgrade).

When Matt fitted my 550lb springs onto his '67 BGT, the drop was not as much as it was on my car. I put it down to the different crossmembers.

I'd go braided on the brake hoses. Both of the pattern items on the Stag collapsed internally when I bought it (one simply did not act on the brake at all, the other was a valve). You should also get a firmer pedal.

[adam73bgt]

When the weather is a bit better (and i don't have a load of uni deadlines) I shall get out and attend to a few bits of cosmetic rust and ill also go hunting for these corroded brake pipes too, hopefully give them a bit of a clean up and paint for the time being.

Also bit of a silly question, but from my mot advisory it says some rock and lift in vertical link, what is a vertical link? is this referring to one of the king pins or something? or a drop link for teh front ARB? I should have asked the mot tester really

[ChasR]

It may be the Kingpin. Most of the time, greasing them will satisfy most testers. Greasing them can also make the steering lighter .

I forgot to say I was quietly hoping you were going down to the Beach Party. I have a few 'B spares which I need shot of (interior door tops in tan, a 20mm MDF speaker shelf (where the stock item is) that I made years ago), steering column) along with a couple of other odds and sods .

[adam73bgt]

Ah right, a grease gun is on my list of things to buy, probably should have got one ages ago to be honest..

aha damn, I'm always on the lookout for spares and bits and bobs, they rarely seem to actually make it all the way on to my car though, just tend to clutter up my house

[ChasR]

In that case I would grease them ASAP. Around every 3 months to 6 months they should be greased .

[Nathan]

Congrats on the MOT fella.
As others have said it will be the kingpins, but before you change them check your hub nuts are tight (ohh err). I've had too many testers round here get them mixed up, if it is your kingpins then grease them (every time mines jacked up I tend to do it). They are a recon exchange part too, but if you have the wedge at some point buy a set from the US with dropped spindles ;-).