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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - Gas Filled Rear Shock Absorbers

I am finding my MGA (Mk2 Coupe) has a very hard ride at the rear and I can feel evey bump. On a smooth road its fine and the ride height seems OK. Having visually examined all the suspension parts I can find no evidence of damage. I have not removed the Shock absorbers yet. But I see in the MGOC latest magazine they are offering a kit of gas filled adjustable telescopic dampers for the MGA( Spax or Koni or GAZ)
my question is has anyone fitted these and what if any improvements can one expect
Paul
P D Camp

Paul, my car has adjustable rear shock absorbers fitted, I must admit I am not certain of the exact type.
I am fairly sure that they are a competition shock because when I first got the car they were adjusted to mid setting ande the ride was so hard that everything shook and rattled on the car on anything other than a perfectly smooth road surface.

I have had to back the adjustment off to its minimum setting to get an acceptable ride although to be honest it is still very hard.

It will be interesting to see if there are any gas shocks out there that could improve this.

Colyn
Colyn Firth

Paul,
I fitted the Spax ones last year. You are very welcome to come over and take a look.
They are easy to adjust, even after fitting. I didn't have the standard set up before and so cannot say what improvement you can expect but they seem to do the job OK.
Graham V

Has anybody ever used the adjustable version of the lever shock absorber?
Photo from Barney's site is attached.

Mick

M F Anderson

My understanding of the tube shocks is they were made for competition. Stiffer not softer ride. The springs are quite stiff and are part of the charm of the MGA.
R J Brown

PD my coupe also has a very hard ride. I've reduced the rear tyre pressure to 26 psi although the rear tyres hardly show any compression at this pressure. I hesitate to drop the pressure much more than this. There's not a lot of weight over the rear axle and I've always felt that the shocks are too stiff for this load. New seat foams help a little. A while ago I looked into using a sprung seat base instead of foam but it proved difficult. The poor state of our road surfaces also doesn't help with countless 'make do' patches all over the place. I was driving in the 1960's and even though the sports cars were called 'bone shakers' I don't remember the roads being as bad as they are today.
J H Cole

I'm not a fan of tube shock conversions for road cars. Here's my take. Except for true racing shocks that can be disassembled and all the valves replaced or modified to get the exact characteristics desired the rest are designed for other applications than MGs and are thus a comprimise on our cars. For acceptable ride qualities in the rear most owners wind up setting them on about the softest settings and still have a pretty harsh ride. As far as I know there isn't a tube shock specifically designed for any early MG application. Not enough demand for the shock companies to design and stock a specific model for our cars.
Get your existing lever type shocks rebuilt by a professional rebuilder such as Peter Caldwell and I don't think you'll be unhappy with the shocks or the ride. http://www.nosimport.com/ Peter also has designed a fully adjustable version for both front and rear shocks.
B Young

Thank you all for your comments It does seem that telescopics may not soften the ride. However this afternoon I took off the rear shocks cleaned them and topped up with fluid, I did test the stiffness and movement of the arms and they both seemed OK with both having quite stiff movement and equal force required to move them. After refitting took the car for a run and the car appeared to ride better not so many sharp bumps and the harsh ride seemed smoother !!!.I run 26 psi on the fronts and 28psi on the rears.
Yes JH the road conditions dont help-
back in the 60s our roads were so much better then than the French roads, that has been totally reversed today !!
Graham thanks for the offer we must get together again are you going to Croxley Green Car Day on Sunday?
Paul
P D Camp

Paul, I've converted my MkII roadster to SPAX dampers last year , I'm very satisfied with this conversion. The ride is not too hard, the car is now very stable on poor roads. The dampers are adjustable, rate No. 4-5 is enough. My car has wire wheels and new Firestone tyres (165/15), the pressure is about 2 bar, the best combination in the last 18 years of ownership.
Dietrich
D. Krahn

Mick,

I have a pair of the adjustable lever type on the rear of my car.

They work fine although usually set on one of the softer settings.
John Bray

Paul
Yes, weather permitting I will be at Croxley. Will look out for you
Graham M V

The Restorers group of the MGCC Vic recently had a very informative tour of the S G Leslie & Sons shock absorber repair facility in Melbourne (specialist repairer of lever shockers for over 50 years). Their comment on gas shockers is don't waste your money using them on MGs - the gas is only there to stop the gurgling noise as the oil moves from compartment to compartment - nothing more. All the shock absorbing is done with the oil going through the valve restrictions. The magic is in valve settings for compression and rebound (normal road undulations and cornering) and the blow off valve setting for when you hit something like a kerb.
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Graham and Paul

I am up in the Croxley Green area on Sunday (Mill Hill); unfortunately without Marmaduke. What gives? This one got under my radar scan.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Just to clarify my comment above - telescopic adjustable gas shockers are great product just that the gas filling is stop frothing of the oil and the gurgling noise in operation. The correct valving and condition of the shockers is the more important issue.
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Steve
If the weather is good, why not have a quick pit stop on your way by. Its free entry to the public and there are normally over 200 or so cars of various shapes and sizes.
Graham V

Thanks Graham. Reg numbers for you and Paul so I can find you?

Steve
Steve Gyles

If I bring the A it's 700DXW (white). Or I may end I giving my rusty frogeye a run as I tend to neglect her (green - WFG335).
Not sure Paul's number but he has a light blue coupe
Graham M V

There actually IS a tubular rear shock absorber available designed for the MGB, specifically dimensioned and valved for that application from "Nepean Classics" in Sydney. The shock absorber is a pure hydraulic unit, not gas filled. It was developed for Nepean Classics, and is built for them by Peddars, well known Australian suspension specialists. The development "mule' was an MGB GT. These "shocks" has been now available for quite a few years. The conversion is very popular around our parts. I fitted them to my MGB about four years ago and was quite delighted with the change. A much more supple and softer ride, with counter-intuitively, less roll in the corners. The rear axle seems to follow road undulations and irregularities better, with less skipping about. Nepean Classics haven't updated this page of their web site for years, but here's the link for their shock absorbers. http://www.nepeanclassic.com.au/pages/rear_telescopic.php

I can't comment on the suitability of these shock absorbers for MGAs, and I'm quite happy with the standard units in my MGA. (Maybe they just suit the more vintage feel of an MGA). If however you find your MGA rides stiffly at the rear, you might just find the Nepean Classics shock absorbers are the solution for you. Certainly I'm nothing less than delighted with the change in my MGB.
T Aczel

Steve
My Mk2 Coupe is Iris Blue Reg 907 NAE
Paul
P D Camp

Paul and Graham

Where were you? I was at the event from 1000 until 1300 and kept an eye out for you. I even missed the first half of the F1 race!

Must have been 200+ cars of all types. They included some monster Pontiacs and other 20ft plus US cars. For me the prize went to an adapted Mini (photo).

Steve

Steve Gyles

Steve
We were there but didnt arrive till 2 pm should have mentioned we could not get there until the afternoon. I looked out for you & graham but didnt see him
Paul
P D Camp

I was there too. From about 12.30 to 2.30. There didnt seem to be as many cars as usual but for me the car of the show was the MG P-Type.
It was in great condition but what amused me was that by far the largest dial on the dash was the rev counter. The speedo was tiny by comparison. No worry about speedlimits in the 30's, just put your foot down as much as the rev counter allows!
Graham V

Graham

That was a 1936 MGPB. I had a chat with the owner's wife about it. When he arrived he just baled out and disappeared into the crowd, leaving her to do the after landing checks!

That was a standard P-Series dash. I always admired the instruments, being encased in very handsome octagon bezels. I rebuilt a 1934 PA 4-seater in the 90s. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience. However, the parts were so expensive. Every jiffy bag of spares cost over £100! It was a great relief to my wallet when I transferred my allegiance to the MGA.

Picture attached of my PA and TC.

Steve

Steve Gyles

Steve
They are two lovely looking looking ladies! Have both moved on to pastures new?
I was also intrigued by the fuel guage. It was mounted on the petrol tank at the rear so you wouldn't be able to see it when driving. Was that standard?
And the tool case under the bonnet would be a good place to keep lunch warm!

I realise you are new to the sunny south. Broaklands must be somewhere near you. They do a sunday breakfast from time to time, including this Sunday by chance (our MG natter is making a visit).
Graham M V

I also admired the PB had a chat with the owner who restored the car- They didnt have a fuel guage as standard i used a wooden dipstick on my TC as well.
I agree with Steve parts for triple Ms and T types have got very expensive the MGA is much better supplied with spares. There was also a supercharged J2 there as well
P D Camp

Graham

Yes, both gone to other fanatics. I owned the TC outright. I went 50/50 with a colleague on the barn-find PA.

The P-Type was very chummy, a narrow cockpit of much the same size as the 2-seat Lightning. You can see from the photo how much wider was the the TC.

I found the downer on these cars was keeping them clean; so many barely accessible nooks and crannies. I used to graze the back of my hands to blazes when polishing them.

The fun bit on the 4-seater restoration was that there were no published plans for the body tub rear section. My colleague and I drove several hundreds of miles to other 4-seater owners so that we could measure and photograph the woodwork. We even got an engineer at the aerospace company to fabricate the rear panel that holds the spare wheel. It was beautifully made out of aircraft spec material. We also made a new toolbox to the original spec. One of the most difficult tasks was getting a good finish on the walnut dash. We made that ourselves.

We recorded the rebuild on a camcorder. I must edit it sometime and put it on Youtube.

Nothing whatsoever to do with telescopic shockers. The P-Type had Andre Hartfords.

Steve
Steve Gyles

This thread was discussed between 05/05/2011 and 11/05/2011

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