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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Leaf spring lowering blocks - less than 1'

I want some Leaf Spring lowering blocks in a half inch size or maybe 3/8" or 5/8".

Does anybody make them? I'm sure at one time half inch lowering blocks were fitted to at least one Wolsley 1500 but no such spare appears on standard Wolsley parts lists I've found let alone the spacer.

I realise I can buy some bar and spend some winter evenings with a grinder and file but my skill with both isn't first class.
Daniel

I don't think I've seen any less than 1 1/2.
I ended up cutting one of them in half as I wanted something in between to stop my car leaning! It was fairly easy as they are made from soft cast ally.

I have since sorted the problem on my car by lengthening the forward Spring mount by about an inch. This adjustment is obviously halved at the axle mount but it still gives the required amount to offset my wonky shell!
John Payne

I have made special front mounts and expect to need a half inch lowering block instead of an inch. I suppose you only didn't straight cut the block in half but the first and last thirds and then re-filed the middle third?
Daniel

Yes, it wasn't exactly in half anyway. I used the part with the lug and then used a drill and rotary file to roughly cut out the recess. To be honest I'm not sure what is fitted at the moment, I think I might have part of one block fitted due to a sagging Spring.

John Payne

Just thinking, with a little 1/2" block the spring centre bolt head would nearly be right through it making it impossible to have a faulse centrebolt head on the block-
Why not get a couple of pieces of 1/2" x 1 1/2" plate cut to length 4"-5" long and drill a hole in the middle for the centre bolt and run the centrebolt through the plate as well as the spring----
Cheers
willy
William Revit

I have some aluminum 1 inch blocks for a future suspension build...

It's like $20 for a local machine shop to mill them down and just a few minutes of time

But you could have them custom made from a block of ally for almost nothing...that it almost not with worth screwing with unless you have the proper machines ... but it's not brain surgery

Prop
1 Paper

Daniel,

You know my e mail when you have a proposed solution !

R.
richard b

will happily machine these for you Daniel. . . cranky old lathe and a four jaw chuck at the ready
P Bentley

Many thanks all.

Since I do have a pair of 1.125 blocks that I bought for the very purpose of modification I've decided to take the saw to them. Well, the first one of them. I suppose that despite being rectangular given there has to be a central core they might turn up on a lathe so this turns into a complete mess...

Photo attached after the first 4 saw cuts which is all I'm going to bother with tonight.

The indentation for the centre bolt is a quarter inch deep so ok for a half inch spacer.


Daniel

Daniel,

Another solution for adjustment is to take some flat alloy slab sheet and cut spacers to go at the rear of the spring mounts. If you put them between the boot floor and the spring mount, it will raise the car to take back some of what the blocks did to lower it.

Charley
C R Huff

Hi Daniel,

Where did you get the lowering blocks from, did you have to buy the kit or did you just buy the blocks?

Thanks

Peter
Peter King

I had to buy them as a kit and I forget where from.
Daniel

there's a choice of suppliers - just use google and search on Morris Minor as well as Spridgets.
David Smith

Daniel,

I could machine them for you and also reform the location spigot as well.

Richard
Richard Wale

Daniel, have you considered the consequences of all that additional weight. No mince pies for you over Christmas.
G Lazarus

Thanks for the offer of help - it won't hurt me to practice my filing. However, if I make a complete botch of it I might be in touch.

This project is about saving weight more than a suspension improvement. The saving will come from the front anti-tramp bracket being combined with the new front spring locating bracket(also raises the mount and lowers the axle) rather than being a separate bracket.

I'll be happy with any weight saving but estimate 150g a side but could easily be more.
Daniel

This thread was discussed between 12/11/2017 and 14/11/2017

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