My 72B, about 90% restored, is now officially on the road. Its been to work
twice and very much noticed with its new black tulip paint job. The first
time I took it to work, it was to get the front end aligned at
the neighboring shop. The car seems to have a bit of wander and the toe-in
adjustment reduced it considerably. But its still there.
The front end settings are within specs except for a very slight negative
camber as I mentioned earlier. During the restore, I installed new
polyethylene bushings on the a-frame arms. Spring height was correct so
they were reused. I also replaced the leaf springs, gaining an unwanted
extra rear end lift of about 1.5". Thus one of my next orders will be a
lowering kit.
At 60-70 mph, there is some wandering, maybe a right / left type movement
requiring a slight steering correction every 1000-2000 feet roughly, just
enough to be of concern. Otherwise, the car rides quite well and smooth,
steering is responsive and uniform.
The car has a few other problems to keep me busy fine tuning it this
summer. But the wandering is my first concern. Any tips or experiences with
this problem? Would the elevated rear from the leaf springs cause the
wandering? Or should I focus elsewhere?
Once I get the wandering resolved (hopefully), I still have to figure out
why my wipers are not working, redo right door seal, fix left headlamp low
beam, finish hard top, finish painting last two rostyle wheels, and other
tasks that do not come to mind right now. But otherwise, another MGB has
been reborn to the world after several years as a rusting body shell.
David Councill
67 BGT
72 B
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