not just lowering an MGB

[Mike]

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone else has put the lowest spec front springs on an MGB realised it gives you practically no play in the front suspension and the car still sits way too high?

I have the race springs on the rear and really need to get the front end lower its sat like a boat. il update with pictures tonight! anyone got a solution without going too extreme and designing a new front sub assembly?

[adam73bgt]

I cant say that i have, but whenever ive looked at 'lowering springs' they all appear to look longer than the ones currently on my car...

I'm interested to hear if someone has got a way of lowering the front end though as mines up in the air compared to the back too!

[Seth]

As far as I know the chrome bumper front crossmembers are different from the rubber bumper ones and may be a factor in the increased ride height of rubber cars.

Lowering springs may be longer, particularly if they've been progressively wound and replace original constant rate springs.

If there's not enough movement in the suspension its either going to need the bump stops 'adjusting' or perhaps conversion to a coil over/telescopic damper arrangement.

[ChasR]

Seth has hit on the money. The Chrome bumper cars will almost always sit lower than their rubber bumper counterparts due to different crossmember designs. I know my Chrome Bumper 'B did.

The Moss Coilover kit is one way to go about it (probably one of the cheaper off the shelf solutions but still not exactly cheap). I went with the 32.5mm ride height springs from them (everyone else was trying to sell me the 1" springs telling me the handling would be dangerous etc.). It dropped the car lower but not mega low:




If I am honest you could probably make some similar rated lowering springs by lopping a few coils off (my springs could just be held in by the spring pans) from what a renowned MGB racer told me .

[Mike]

hmmm, does anyone know how much difference in ride hieght there is from the crossmember? or is anyone selling on? chasr your car is gorgeous! are they 15" wheels?

[chin]

Mines on some stupidly low race springs. I'll try and measure my height tomorrow and see where its sitting.

[ChasR]

Around an inch. The two AFAIK are not interchangeable either as the mounting points (and the manner in which they mount) is a little different.

My car was nice, yes . It was on 8Jx15" Minilites on an ET0 offset shod with 225/50R15 tyres. It drove quite nicely.

[Mike]

hmmm right.... I'm now convincing myself that for the sake of an inch.... THIS IS WORTH IT! iv done a bit of research and a guy has swopped them over and done a bit of a write up.

there is no mention of the difference in way they are mounted so not sure on this will have to investigate.

the steering rack is bolted on at a different angle on the rubber bumper models and is also longer so the angle of the brackets that holds the rack on need to be modified, and the shaft needs extending. other than that......I think were good


chin, from your description i think i have the same rear springs, are you riding round with the front end high as a kite? also what have you done with your exhaust? mine had to be swopped for a straight through pipe due to clearance issue, looking for a cherry bomb to try and add some silencing tho, just not too much

[RetroWarwicK]

when reading upon this, the advice was to swap to a chrome bumper front clip to get the nose down on the rubber bumpered cars so i assumed its a straight swap.

my 67 GT now measures about 24.5cm from the ground to the top of the front wheel arch, running standard 14" wires and tyres. it dropped about 1cm then settled another 1cm when I fitted the lowering springs. the springs came from ChasR - can you confirm the specs Chas?

a helpful pic illustrating mahoosive slam:-


Matt

[Mike]

thats sat perfect for how id want mine. definatly pursueing this next payslip! is it 24.4 inchs by any chance? went out and measured mine and got totally confused by that haha! mines sat at 26 inch so nice inch and a half off the bow of my vessel

[ChasR]

I sold Matt the 32.5mm Springs (550lb/inch), same type that I had fitted to my Sebring GT. When put next to the stock springs they were significantly shorter, but still long enough to stay within the suspension and pass MOTs etc. .

The issue I find with lowering springs is that you cannot really compare the true drop by the old springs if they are tired. This was the case from my Stag (the rears which had been replaced saw the Stag lower quite a bit on the rear, but the front did not drop all that much (although it does now take corners lovely .

[RetroWarwicK]

ah, yeah...inches. top of the arch sits about 24.5 inches off the ground. front ride height dropped by one fat finger (15-20mm). I've driven to work in it today so ill post a ful side on shot.

lowering the front has also added a bit of negative camber too. handling is much better but i did also fit a 3/4" ARB and new drop links too

[RetroWarwicK]

you can always pop the spring pans out and mod them so they sit lower between the bottom arms, effectively making the spring sit lower

[Mike]

Ahhh yesh i concidered modding the spring pans but it results in riding on the bump stops. ahhh does the anti roll bar make a big difference? and yhe camber is always going to be good =] Also have you done anything with the shocks? Mine still have standard if any oil so deginatly need o go stiffer. cant seem to find any yhicker oil tho. a guy mentioned putting bike damper oil in but i wouldnt know were to start with thickness. ahhhhhh the art of lowering......

[ChasR]

Besides the damper oil, I believe that the valving also plays a part in the stiffness too, which can be easily replaced .

Regarding the bumpstops, which type do you have? You can get two kinds. If they are not the lowered type then you will indeed be bottoming out most of the time. Hell there were a few times that I bottomed out gently on the lowered items!

Here were my lowered items :




Yes, with those springs, my ackerman angle etc. were on the verge (and possibly past that!) of going on the curse word!

[Mike]

chasr you certainly know your stuff! i didnt realise they had different bump stops so il be investing in some lowered ones! much apreciated, as for the shock absorber set up it looks spot on, thinking about fabricating a couple of brackets up and getting some telespic dampers.
certainly looks the part from those pictures!
what thickness arb did you go for?

[ChasR]

David Manners (Abingdon 4 MG) sorted me out on the lowered bumpstops although Moss also sell them. I do not believe the MGOC do however. However, thanks to electrolytic corrosion, I would keep an angle grinder handy for taking off your old ones (the bolts corrode into the alloy spacer blocks on the stock items).

I stuck with the stock ARB arrangement on the front of mine. It was just about comfortable enough, and it still did not roll alot with the front gripping well (I cannot remember it understeering TBH, maybe once slightly when I really did take a corner faster than in other cars/ than I really should in !)).

However, bear in mind that I had also lost a good chunk of weight from the MGB as well (no bumpers all round, fibreglass/metal wings and FG valance on the front) .

[mdh]

Sept 5, 2012 18:46:56 GMT ChasR said:

Around an inch. The two AFAIK are not interchangeable either as the mounting points (and the manner in which they mount) is a little different.

My car was nice, yes .

No it wasn't, it was an MG!

At least you've made amends now!

[ChasR]

Cheeky curse word!

But yes, according to some I have fully swung over to the darkside. Both of the Triumphs are runners too for a change!

[mdh]

Sept 17, 2012 10:56:56 GMT ChasR said:

Cheeky curse word!

But yes, according to some I have fully swung over to the darkside. Both of the Triumphs are runners too for a change!

Two running Triumphs? What sort of heretical black magic is this??

As you seem to have the magic touch, do you wanna have a look at my Vitesse? ;D