[Healeys] Rear suspension

[EDWARD ANDERSON]

I've had many many listers asking for details so I'll respond with this post.
I stopped at "Miata Specialists" yesterday and told Soren the owner that I had
put pics of their suspension conversion on the Healey list and was being
flooded with questions and asked permission to tell them. He said yes so here
goes. My bill was getting BIG for several reasons. The work included the 4
wheeel disk brake conversion so I can't say how much just the suspension was.
The rear brakes were turned down BMW and the bracket to mount caliper was from
Welsh of Canada that came with a full size drawing for further maching. Both
came from a lister in Portland, Or. No idea why he didn't choose a rotor that
didn't need maching I don't understand, same with caliper bracket. The rotors
cost 4 times what Jag's cost. The caliper is for a Jag series 1 XJS same for
the manual hand brake caliper. Front disk parts came form Moss and are Healey
parts. I told Moss I was converting and needed everything for front. They're
getting bad about telling they don't have everything so the Miata people had
to fabricate what was missing. Between brake and susp there was a lot of
fabricating and maching. Keith, the mech who did the whole thing was a mech at
a Jag dealership and knows all about both cars. He is so good, he took it for
a road test to see if Koni dual adjustable coil over shocks needed adjustment,
he had set them up at center when installed. They did not but he wasn't happy
about rearend lifting up high when moving away from a light or sign so back to
the shop where he opened up diff and adjusted angle of pinion. That is
critical. Dave P says you better know what you're doing to do that. The lower
bar supports the axle with the same ubolts and plate that went to the leaf
springs. The lower shock bolt goes to a small plate welded to the side of bar.
The bar is welded to end of the box chassis frame located of front side of
wheel arch. The top shock bolt goes to a similar plate welded to the round
tube at top. They got the tube from a company that supplies parts for race
cars along with the shocks. It's obvious things came from all over and much
they had to modify or make. When Keith and I went for a test drive I told him
I would be showing pics and talking about the whole thing on the Healey list
and be prepaired to supply a complete setup kit. Since they have now done
mine, I'm confident they could manufacture much of what they had to get from
other places and buy the shocks at wholesale. Same for rear brake setup as a
separate kit. As I said the bill was getting big but they had never done one
of these and were learning as they went. I'd seen a lot of their work and they
are truely outstanding craftsmen. On their own they halved the labor price.
Still I couldn't say how much was just the suspension. Here is their contact
info. Miata Specialists 505-344-9560   810 Arno St Ne, Albuquerque, NM 87102