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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Rear suspension advise please

Hi. I am going to start working on my 1979 1500 rear suspension tomorrow with putting new poly bushes in and a lowering block. My main question is where to jack in from as I normal jack the car useing the rear axle. I'm sure I am going to have fun getting the nuts and bolts off but are they all easy to get to. Any advise would be great. Thanks
Neil Allen

yes jack under diff casing; then support rear of car with axle stands and a bit of 75 x 50mm timber under the front part of the leaf spring hanger plates (or just forward of them if planning to remove them).
David Smith

Neil,
let the chemicals do all the hard work soak the nuts and bolts in penertrating/releasing fluid something like Plus Gas (not WD40) as far in advance as possible

on each nut bolt a slight tighten to crack the crud and rust seal bffore you start to undo them

if that doesn't work soak them again and again leave as long as possible, at least make yourself a mug of tea, then try the tighten to loosen
Nigel Atkins

Any exposed threads on bolts/studs can obviously be wire-brushed to remove excess 'crud' which will make undoing easier.
Dave O'Neill2

Hi Neil - I did this job last year. There is a long long thread in the archives on it. But yes, do what David Smith says in terms of jacking.

Re nuts: Yes soak them in penetrating fluid - if you can do it night and night you will be fine. If you are taking the front hanger off - there are 2 bolts that come down through the floor (behind the seats) and two that go up into the bodywork - there are two access holes in the floor which you can get penetrating fluid into in order to get at the captive nut for these latter two bolts.


Also, something to note: You should take the fuel tank off for access.

I needed to use a g clamp to pull in the poly bushes and somehow managed to catch the clamp on a captive stud that holds the fuel tank - this was a bad thing! - try and avoid! But then I guess you're not as stupid as me.

Christian
C L Carter

Removing the fuel tank may make access easier but you shouldn't need to. IMHO that's only asking for trouble and opening another "can" of worms!
A selection of g clamps, some brute strength, elastoplast, a fbh and some choice anglo saxon vocabulary should see the whole lot back in place!
Matt1275Bucks

Agree with Matt re: fuel tank
Dave O'Neill2

Agree also, it shouldn't be necessary. Although it does depend which way round the rear shackles were inserted when last assembled. On one car that I had, the off side rear shackle was inserted from the side adjacent to the tank and there wasn't enough clearance to allow the two prongs (bolts) to withdraw. A nuisance! It went back together the opposite way with the link plate beside the tank. Worth remembering if ever assembling the rear suspension before fitting the tank, else you may regret it later!
Guy

Even if the shackle is fitted the wrong way round, it is easier to unbolt the hanger from the boot floor than it is to remove the tank.
Dave O'Neill2

Thanks for the comments,eveything is going OK got everything of and giving it all a clean and then paint. The only problem I have is which is quite a big one is that when I was taking the front hanger off the bolts that go up into the car snapped and n most of it is still in the nut. Has anyone got any good ideas what I can do apart from drilling the rest of the bolts out?
Neil Allen

I've seen a number of cars where the plate has been welded to the floor on refitting for that reason, then it's left to the next owner to sort out - but I can't possibly recommend it!
David Smith

It's not uncommon.

One option is to try to drill it out and retap it.

Another option is to drill it out and fit a longer bolt with a nut on the inside. This is obviously far easier if it is the bolt right next to the hole in the floor.
Dave O'Neill2

You don't have to take the tank off... but I think it really helps. Personal choice!

Re removing bolt - lots of things you can try. The first is... spend a week loading it with penetrating fluid each and every night... it really will help

Personally - in this situation because you can't centre a drill easily, I wouldn't drill and re tap it. I would use a slightly smaller LEFT handed drill - which will either remove the bulk of the material or more likely than not it will grab hold of the bolt and pull it out.

One of my colleages has put together this site which addresses the removal of screws and bolts etc. Its very good.
http://www.bodgesoc.org/fastners.faq
C L Carter

You can drill it out and retap if neccessary. I've done it.

This is another subject that was discussed fairly recently too. Get the car high enough to get squarely under it, and drill in with a small pilot to begin with. Then increase size, until you can either scrape the remains of the old bolt out, or run in a tap.

Have fun. :)
Lawrence Slater

I also seem to remember someone welding a new head back on the remainder of the bolt, and after judicious use of penetrating oil, was able to undo and replace it.

And remember, ----- as someone is bound to say it soon. --- WD40, is NOT penetrating oil. LOL.
Lawrence Slater

OK I think it is going to be a slow and boring job to do. Where is a good place to get a tap and die set from and left handed drill set from don't want any cheap and chearful stuff that will break 1st time you use it. The longer I do this classic car stuff the more I think I will need these kind of equipment.
Neil Allen

Neil -

Once you get the new bushes in, don't forget that it's best to let the car down off the jacks before tightening up the shackle pin nuts. Those bushes should be unloaded (that is, not twisted) with the car at normal ride height.

For the pin that runs through the front spring eye, I estimated its final position before tightening it up on the workbench.

Good luck removing that broken bolt. I hate it when that happens. Anyone for Easy-Outs?

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

sorry got to say it so that others can learn from it

the only time I've snapped screws and bolts is when I've not had the patience to soak them in penertating/releasing fluid

as Christian put the easy way is to >>spend a week loading it with penetrating fluid each and every night... it really will help<<

also a lot easier to do this to get the screws, bolts and nuts off before snapping them

Lawrence,
yeap I did say it, not WD-40
Nigel Atkins

Yes if there is any of the bolt showing try welding a nut onto it...

Don't try screw extractors... they don't work for lots of reasons. Total waste of money.

Left handed drills won't be that expensive, if you want good ones try Irwin, but to be honest unless you're drilling our hardened studs - they don't need to be top quality... cos you don't use them very often.

Re taps... just go for a good HSS one... don't by carbon steel... they won't cut a thread in cheese. Having said that, if you're only using it to clean out a thread it doesn't really matter.

C
C L Carter

This thread was discussed between 01/02/2012 and 03/02/2012

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