John J. Peloquin wrote:
> After Bob's digest on GT handling, I'm now not certain as to the best
> course of action regarding repair of my 1970 MGB-GT's rear springs and
> suspension.
I'm running Koni tube shocks on the back and they are, ah firm (but
adjustable). No experience with Spax but I've never heard anything bad. I
replaced the leaf springs with the stuff from VB. I strongly advise to get
the "installation kit" or whatever it is called. It contains all the nuts,
bolts, washers, and bushings. Removing the old stuff can be a pain
especially if you think you have to save the old stuff. I had great success
during dissasembly with a Makita mini-grinder.
My car also runs the Adco rear sway bar from VB and it fits okay. I had to
get different end links as the 'ears' of the sway bar were not parallel to
the ground when normally installed. Other folks don't like that brand but
it has serviced me okay.
If I was going to do this again, I would like to purchase the plastic
springs and panhard rod that I 've seen on the net. I don't know who is
selling them but I thought I found it at Steve Darby's Sports Car
International. He's on this list but, lately, I haven't seen his URL. You
would think the vendors would be sure to be in the monster list (hint).
There is a lot of stiction in the springs and I would think the single leaf
plastic spring would be a lot more compliant on small bumps. Of course, the
price is triple that of the regular springs. When you install the regular
springs you will discover a very, very stiff ride until the leafs bed in
and then the tail sinks 3/4 of an inch.
The axle weighs 170 pounds and it's gotta come out. Other than that (and
with the installation kit) it is a pretty easy garage project. I'm not a
believer in hard plastic or metal bushings. The rubber ones have always
serviced me just fine. Greased your you joints lately? Now is the time.
--
Bob Allen, Kansas City, '69CGT, '75TR6, '61Elva(?)
"Outside every thin woman is a fat man trying to get in." -- Katherine
Whitehorn
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