First: PhileE, where was that disclaimer you included about how if
you get killed, it's your own damn fault? I need to borrow it... :-)
> Following the thread started by Daniel on the front suspension coil
> spring compressor for his TR4A, I have the same problem with the MGB GT.
I bought a spring compressor to do my MGB (tourer but same suspension,
just different spring rates). I tried to fit it to the B, but couldn't,
for the reasons you probably discovered -- everything's in the way.
So I read the effing manual, a task I recommend for one of these cold
winter -- er, warm summer evenings. :-) You too will then learn that
the MGB's suspension is designed to be dismantled without any of these
fancy spring compressors, and quite safely too. I rebuilt mine with
no difficulty by following the Bentley manual. If that's unavailable,
here's basically what you do:
Raise the entire car and place it on jack stands with the front wheels
removed.
Use a good, large, solid floor jack (buy one if you don't have it, you
will thank yourself every time you get under the car) and compress the
suspension by only an inch or two, just to support it.
Remove the big castellated nut (don't forget the cotter pin) at the
top of the kingpin.
SLOWLY lower the jack so that the spring pressure is released. You
will notice that before the kingpin threads clear the upper A-arm,
the spring is fully extended and has no more pressure on it. That
doesn't mean that you shouldn't attack this task as though it were
an unexploded bomb -- a compressed spring is exactly that.
Support the kingpin so that it doesn't simply flap outward from the
mounting point on the lower A-arm. The steering arms will keep it
from falling if they're still connected, but if you've removed
them, you can damage the brake lines. Be sure to wire up the
brake caliper so that it doesn't hang from the rubber line while
everything's apart. I safety-wired the caliper to the upper A-arm.
Do whatever rebuilding your suspension requires. For reference,
I've used both the MGB-V8 bushings (at the front) and the Nylatron
bushings (at the rear), and if performance is what you're after,
go with the Nylatrons.
Installation is straightforward. When you have all the parts put
back together, line up the threads at the top of the kingpin with the
bottom of the A-arm mounting trunnion. This task could use a second
person to help line everything up, BTW.
Carefully raise the lower suspension arm (assuming the spring is in
position, etc.) while checking to make sure the threaded top of the
kingpin is still lined up. Raise the lower suspension a fraction of
an inch at a time, keeping everything in place so that the spring
neither binds nor comes loose.
Gradually, you will get everything compressed to the point that the
top of the kingpin itself (not the threads) is flush with the bottom
of the upper A-arm trunnion. Put on the nut (there might be a big
sealing washer, I can't recall now) and tighten, replacing the cotter
pin when you're done.
So that's the tip. Don't bother with the spring compressor, as even
the factory book recommends the previous procedure to remove and install
front coil springs on MGBs. (Presumably also on As and TD/TF cars as
well, which used the same suspension.) And of course, be sure to RTFM
to make sure that I haven't forgotten an important point in the three
years or so it's been since I've done this job.
--Scott
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