However V8s have a one-piece assembly where the rubber bush is bonded to the steel sleeve to give more positive handling. With these it is important not to tighten the pivot pin castellated nuts until the weight of the car is on its suspension. This is because the outer part of the rubber is a tight fit into the A-arm, the steel sleeve acts as a spacer and is clamped tight by the nut, and so the action of the suspension tends to twist the rubber rather than slide it over the spacer. If the castellated nuts are fully tightened with the suspension hanging down then when the car is on its wheels there is already a lot of twist imparted to the rubber, and when the suspension is compressed over a bump it gets twisted even more. This can tear the rubber to the detriment of handling.

The steel sleeve is quite a snug fit over the pivot pin and can rust to it. In the past I've had to drill through the rubber to part the A-arm from the pivot, then carefully grind through the sleeve before I could chisel it off. The rubber bonds to the A-arm as well requiring more digging-out. Clean up the pivot pin and A-arm hole with a fine file or coarse emery as required to get smooth surfaces. To get the new bush into the A-arm you may well have to smear it with washing-up liquid or Swarfega Original (smooth), then use a vice to press the new bush in. For full seating you may need to use a large socket that will fit over the bush but bear on the A-arm hole on one side, and a small socket that will bear on the sleeve on the other. Smear the pivot pin with copper grease to aid future disassembly and reassemble the A-arms to pivot pin, washers and castellated nut leaving the nuts a turn or two loose as mentioned above. Reassemble the A-arms spring pan, spring, swivel axle as described in Front Spring Removal. Lower the car onto its wheels, and only then tighten the castellated nuts and fit the split-pins.

Then last year I became aware of a rattle from the back of the car. When I checked I found that both of the ARB drop-links had snapped where they connect to the bar itself. When I got them off I could see there was a pin on top of the drop-link that goes through a large dished washer, rubber bush, the eye on the bar, another bush and washer and a Nylock nut holding it all together. The pin had thinned due to corrosion, eventually snapping, click on the picture at the left to enlarge. They had been on the car some eight years and 65k miles of all weathers but even so I thought it was a bit soon for suspension components to corrode and break. However the rear of the car suddenly felt like an unmodified car again, indicating that the improvement came from the ARB and not the tubular dampers.

Ron Hopkinson used to be located in Derby but Moss UK in Derby has taken over the distribution. I ordered a pair of drop links and new nuts, together with two bushes and washers which had been lost, one from each side. The rubber bushes being compressible, and with no instructions, I erred on the side of tightness and when fitting the new parts tightened down the nuts quite a bit. I also daubed the parts in Waxoyl to hopefully reduce any subsequent corrosion. Immediately the rear handling was restored and I went merrily on my way. However about 100 miles down the road I had just done a bit of enthusiastic overtaking when I heard a bump, looked in my rear view mirror, and saw something bounding off into the undergrowth. When I checked underneath sure enough the new pin had snapped but this time I had lost both bushes and washers from that side as it had snapped right at the base of the pin and not part way up as before, see the picture on the left.

I got on the phone to Russ at Moss, who asked me to return the broken drop-link, then he sent me a new pin, bushes and washers at no charge saying he wasn't surprised it had broken given the design of the drop-link with its sharp angle. However after the failure of the new drop-link I had a close look at the ARB and realised there is a significant design weakness in the Ron Hopkinson design as a whole and not just the drop-link. If you look at the factory bars where it joins the drop-links you can see there is a joint that allows the drop-link to swivel back and fore freely, and this is important because as the axle goes up and down the angle between the drop-link and the ARB is continually changing. But with the RH arrangement the only movement that can take place is by distorting the upper rubber bushes which themselves are trying to bend the upper pins of the drop-link back and fore. So this time I made what movement there is as easy as possibly by only tightening the nuts enough to fully engage the nylon on the Nyloc nuts. But even sooner this time it seemed, the drop-link on the right-hand side broke yet again, this time while travelling in a straight line but over some undulations.

Another phone call to Moss and another free drop-link, bushes and washers, but this time they sent yellow poly bushes instead of black rubber. These are much harder than rubber so I would imagine they would break the pins even quicker. Fortunately I had enough rubber bushes left for the top and used the yellow ones on the bottom where there is less bending movement. I decided to try and strengthen the pins by welding and grinding at the base to form a radius instead of a right-angle, you can see the before and after as A and B in the picture on the left. I also cut a chamfer into the base of the bottom washer (C in the picture) so that it sat right at the base of the pin and not up on my weld (D and E before and after). Furthermore I have tried to make the bushes more compliant by shaping the inner hole into a cone rather than the original cylinder, in the hope that this would impart less bending force to the pin. Time will tell, but if one of these breaks again then short of coming up with a completely different joint that allows free pivoting of the drop-link to the bar, I shall have to junk it all.

Update May 2005. Some 18 months and 4k miles later, and prompted by an enquiry from someone else who has had the same failure, they seem to be holding up, and that includes a reasonable amount of using the power and working the suspension. Someone else reported a while ago that they only just nipped up the nuts and have had no problem, but when I did that on the 2nd replacements they broke even sooner than the 1st replacements. An alternative to doing away with a rear ARB altogether might be to fit the factory system recovered off a scrapped car. The joints at the ends of the bar (which freely articulate) could well be worn and loose but I note they are now available again. Another possibility might be to machine the ends of the RH bar to accept the screw-on factory end joints.

Update April 2007.

All's well with the drop-links, but I've had a request from someone who has obtained the kit but without instructions and asking for any help I can give on where and how the bar mounts. Mine were fitted by the PO so I have no instructions, but I can at least supply some photos and a brief description, click on the thumbnail.

Front anti-roll bar. I have an issue with the uprated front bar as well. One day I noticed a grinding on full lock and it turned out to be the rim of the wheel rubbing on the bar. Checked the other lock and it had plenty of clearance, so I gave an exploratory tap on the bar with a lump hammer and it moved sideways a little bit. So I tapped it some more until the clearances were about equal both sides. Now the standard bar on both the V8 and 4-cylinders cars have clamps which sit just inside the pivots and bushes which bolt up to the front apron and so prevent the bar moving from side to side, but mine doesn't have any. Either the PO never fitted them or the Ron Hopkinson kit never provided them which would be another black mark against them. However this is the first time in 9 years and 65k miles so perhaps I do them an injustice. The right-hand (where the rubbing was) front damper has also started leaking recently and although it still seems to be damping normally maybe that has had an effect too. We shall see and if it rubs again after I have changed the damper I will have to investigate some clamps. Update summer 2006: Still grinding, and by this time Colin Parkinson had emailed me to use a 1" length of hose of the appropriate diameter split up one side, and a worm clip clamped round that. Didn't have any suitable hose, but I did have an old inner tube I had already cut into, so I used a 6" (or so) length of 1" width of that, wrapped round the bar several times, and then clamped. We shall see. Update Summer 2007: No further grinding, so it looks like a successful mod.

The stud thread is 1.4" UNF, so a nut welded onto the end of a tube or bar, with some means of levering it out once it is screwed in will do the trick. I thought about a couple of lengths of bar pivoted together, but I've got enough volume and weight of tools as it is. So I opted for a length of tubing about 4" long, with a nut welded to one end. A slot drilled in one side to insert the blade of a largish screwdriver, and away we go.

Screw the tube on to the stud until the slot is just about level with the end of the hub, insert screwdriver, and lever. If the slot is too deep in the hub the angle of the screwdriver will tend to try and push the cap to one side rather than levering it off, ditto if the slot isn't in far enough, close to a right-angle will be fine. The cap is pushed in about 3/4" or more so once the cap has started to move you will probably need to remove the screwdriver, screw the tube onto the stud a few more turns, then lever again. For replacement you can either leave the tube on the stud and tap the open end of the tube, or any one of a number of other methods. There is a distinct change in sound from a dull 'thock' to a sharp 'clink' when the cap is fully on.

The objective is to get the centre-line of the rack shaft crossing the centre-line of the column shaft at the exact centre of the UJ. It is achieved by shims between the four rack to cross-member mounting points, together with positioning of the steering column within the movement of its mounting bolts. It is necessary because the rack and column shafts sit at different angles in both the vertical and horizontal planes, as well as manufacturing tolerances in the bodyshell and crossmember. The factory used this tool (click thumbnail), note that the different bores were probably because it was a standard tool across a range of BL vehicles, although there are different lengths of chrome and rubber bumper MGBs of which more later. Highly unlikely to be available now, so how do we replicate it? Personally I wrapped some stiff wire around the end of each shaft, with the tip of each wire at a point in space equal to where the centre of the UJ would be when fitted to that shaft. You can get the tip exactly on the centre line by rotating each shaft in turn, if you get any wobble of the tip it isn't aligned, so tweak it until it is stable. Then it is a matter of fitting shims and adjusting the column as required to get the two tips just touching, which could be quite a long process of trial and error. Others have said they used blobs of Blu-Tak or similar. The problem with both of these is that it is very easy to knock the tip of the wire or Blu-Tak off-centre as well as length. Some have said they loosely fit the rack, connect up the UJ, then measure the gaps between the rack casing and the crossmember and fit shims accordingly. Personally I don't think that is good enough on its own as the weight of the rack will be hanging on the UJ to some extent, although it is probably good enough to get a starting point for shims, and trial and error with pointers after that for fine adjustment. Update January 2010: Even worse is a method I've seen where someone turns the steering wheel back and fore while someone else tightens up each rack bolt bit by bit, till the steering wheel binds, then that bolt is slackened a bit, a section snipped out of a washer so it can be slid on the bolt, and that bolt tightened. That is so crude, the UJ will surely start binding way before you can feel any resistance at the steering wheel, hence still be binding when it is backed off a bit and the washer tightened. Besides which the washers that were shown were way thicker than any shim I have seen. Definitely from the "If it isn't bodged it won't work" school of engineering.

Note that the early and intermediate columns (all Mk1 cars, and non-North American cars before the 72 model year) had a different mounting arrangement to the final fully collapsible column. The early and intermediate columns have two sets of brackets under the dash both of which can be used to alter the column position, and small movements here will make large movements of the end of the column shaft in the engine bay. The final column has one bracket under the dash, and the bottom of the outer tube has three bolts screwing into the firewall around the rotating shaft. These bottom bolts allow for very little movement of the column, but alterations of the top bracket will still give some movement of the end of the column shaft in the engine bay. Particularly the early columns but even the later column, if you remove or alter the column even if you haven't altered the rack you will need to recheck the column alignment before retightening the column bolts.

Some time later I came across a web page by Simon Jansen in New Zealand who had fabricated his own alignment tool and gave the dimensions he used, see here and scroll down to January 2006. This topic comes up on mail lists and BBs from time to time and I had posted links to Simon's site. Recently someone came back querying the 29mm dimension from the centre of the notch in the shafts and the tip of the tool, saying his was more like 33mm. I passed this on to Simon, and he said it was possible as his car was a mish-mash of components as it was a conversion from rubber bumper to chrome and from LHD to RHD. I measured a new RB V8 UJ as carefully as I could and also came up with 33mm, with 45mm for my chrome bumper roadster (measured on car) and posted this as a warning with the link I already had on this site to Simon's page.

Some time after that Kelvin Dodd of Moss US posted this link to a replica tool available from Moss. It's curious that it seems to come with two sets of screws, as it would need two sets of holes to be suitable for both chrome and rubber bumper cars, which would need only one set of screws. I asked Kelvin if could confirm whether there were one or two sets of holes, and what the distances to the tips were. He came back with the information expressed slightly differently as being an overall length of 2.11", one hole 0.336" from the open end, and another hole 0.936" from the open end. The bore is 0.744+-0.005/0.002" or 18.9mm (slightly smaller than Simon's 19.3mm), and the hole depth is 1.70". Converting this to distance from the tip and millimetres I get 1.174" or 29.82mm for one hole and 1.764" or 44.8mm for the other, and this is where it gets curious. The Moss 29.82mm is pretty close to Simon's 29mm, and the Moss 44.8mm is very close to the 45mm I measured on my CB roadster. However my RB V8 UJ measures 33mm, which is the same measurement that the person who queried Simon's dimension in the first place, and looking in the Parts Catalogue there are only two part numbers for UJs for all models, years and markets i.e. one for CB and one for RB.

So I've re-measured my new RB V8 UJ more carefully, and still get around 1.2415" which equates to 31.5mm, so the Moss 1.174" or 29.82mm remains a mystery (Simon's original 29mm less so as his car is much modified). If making a tool for yourself you will need to check your UJ dimensions very carefully.

Update March 2010: Just been made aware of the identical alignment tool at Moss Europe. The good news is that it is only £7.65 as opposed to $24.95 when the exchange rate is 1.5 i.e. $12 or £16! The bad news is that they insist on you ordering at least £10 of parts, before they tell you the shipping costs.

Update August 2010: I get the Moss gauges with a replacement UJ and track-rod ends, so measure them myself. As I've got to change the steering column UJ, and the rack has to be pulled forward for that, it's a good opportunity to check the alignment at the same time (which is why I bought the gauges with the UJ ...).

The gauges are a nice snug fit on the shafts which is good, and one thumbscrew in each gauge going into the shaft groove holds them firm. The pointers are about 1/8" out, part horizontal and part vertical, which could have contributed to UJ wear, but there is some up and down and side to side play in each shaft so the end result would have been not much by way of sideways forces on the UJ. I'll need to adjust the sideways misalignment at the column mountings, so I opt for seeing if I can get the vertical alignment corrected there as well, rather than fiddling with shims at the rack. This style of collapsible (not energy-absorbing, that came later, the two halves of collapsible colomns slide freely once the plastic peg has broken from an impact. With energy absorbing columns the outer concertinas to absorb energy, as well as the inner collapsing) column used on UK 72 and 73 models is supported by two body brackets, one up by the dash and another one further down under the shelf. Both are slotted so each mounting can move up or down independantly giving quite a large change in vertical position of the UJ end of the column shaft. I find the top can go up just a little bit and the bottom down, which puts the gauge pointers in perfect vertical alignment. For horizontal alignment I put a washer between the body bracket and the column bracket on just one side, and this brings the two gauge points together. I was lucky, it really was as simple as that, the first repositioning of the brackets was right, and the first washer I tried was right. Then it's unbolt the rack again and pull it forwards as before to remove the gauges and fit the UJ, lining up the splines by eyeballing the front and rear tyres to get an equal overlap both sides, then fitting the UJ with the wheel in the straight-ahead position, and finally bolt the rack back down. The UJ only attaches to the column shaft in one position as the cut-out for the clamp bolt is cut straight across, but the rack shaft is cut all the way round. Really I should have put a paint-mark on the rack-shaft in line with the slot in the clamp before removal, but as I've got to change the track-rod ends as well and then get the alignment checked, it'll come straight in the end.

Note that chrome bumper UJ consists of separate yokes, spider and bearings (needles in a cup) and the spider and bearings can be replaced using the existing yokes. For rubber bumper cars the overall UJ is smaller which precludes component replacement and it has to be replaced as a complete assembly.

Bee had advisories on both track-rod ends this year. Having a quick look the boots had split on both, and the pin on one was loose in the body so I'm surprised it wasn't a fail. But while checking those I became aware of slop in the column UJ (again!) and that is usually a fail. This will be the fourth replacement, the first failing at the next MOT as the cups were loose in the yokes, but I got a 50% refund on those. The second replacement lasted about eight years, this one six, but only at about 2-3k miles per year for each so pretty poor. Thinking it could be column and rack alignment, my previous attempts being done with wire pointers as above, and having recently found Moss UK have the alignment gauges, I get the UJ, track-rod ends and gauges from Moss.

The UJ change was a fairly straightforward operation - remove the four rack bolts, pull it forwards about an inch or so and that with the column shaft pulled back (early collapsible column inners move in and out a couple of inches) gives enough room to get the UJ assembly off the shafts. Circlips removed and tapping the yokes knocks the cups out, but the new ones need the big vice to press them in, so no problems of them being loose next year! I then go to grease it using the supplied nipple and find it is smaller than standard, so my grease gun doesn't fit. The tapping in the UJ body is also smaller than normal so a standard nipple won't fit that either. Email to Moss, but I'm still waiting to hear what size it is or what size grease gun nozzle is required. Two local car spares places don't have any nipples or adapters, and the garage staff at one of them aren't aware of these under-sized nipples, so that problem goes on the back-burner for a while, and I get on with checking the alignment of the column and rack shafts.

That gives me time to ponder the issue of the grease nipple. The supplied nipple is an angled one, and is in two parts i.e. a straight nipple screwing into an angled base. With the steering turned to the appropriate position the nipple is pointing straight up, so easy to get a 6mm socket on to unscrew it from its base, which I had previously screwed in to the tapered threads so as to position the nipple between the two yokes. I have the idea of making an adapter by finding a bolt that screws into the nipple base, drilling a hole through that, cutting the head off, then drilling and tapping a straight standard nipple to screw on to the bolt. The first brass bolt I find in my box of bits screws into the nipple base. It's a bit loose as the threads aren't the same but should be OK as I only intend to use it for greasing, replacing it with the under-sized nipple between services. The bolt has a 3BA thread, so I drill and tap the standard-sized nipple right the way through (it doesn't need the ball and spring to keep dirt out as it isn't staying on the car) making it easier to clear out swarf afterwards, and I pump a little grease through the assembled nipple and adapter stud just to make sure they are clean. Unscrew the under-sized nipple, screw in my adapter, pump grease gently until some issues from the cups, and none comes from where the adapter screws into the nipple base, which I reckon is a pretty good result! Finally unscrew the adapter and refit the under-sized nipple (which still has its ball and spring to keep dirt out of course). All I have to do now it put the adapter in a small poly bag and keep it somewhere I can find it at the next service ...

The Factory Manual is quite clear on the need for a particular end-float i.e. 'free play' to be present with the type of taper roller bearings used in the MGB. Anyone who tells you to apply a pre-load of 11-15lb ft (i.e. the opposite of end-float) or whatever is wrong. That may be correct for other applications, but not for the MGB. Some say that you don't need shims in the front hubs, some even say you don't even need the spacer. Others say that the act of clamping the inner races, shims and spacer between the hub nut and the base of the axle spindle significantly increases its strength. I can certainly imagine that without shims or spacer the inner race could spin on the axle wrecking it, so personally I prefer to keep things as they came out of the factory.

It is advisable to have a selection of spare shims to hand before starting the job, they come in three sizes - .003, .005 and .010, and in the absence of a dial gauge will be required for estimating end-float as well as setting it. Updated May 2008: I've just had to reset the shims on one side of the V8 and found a .030" shim in there as well, which I seem to remember someone else mentioning in the past but I didn't notice one when I did the roadster. Whatever, it will be the three smaller sizes you will be juggling with.

• When replacing bearings assemble everything dry first (i.e. without grease) as it keeps things cleaner and is easier to set the end-float.
• The order of parts on the axle is: oil seal collar - inner race of inner bearing - spacer - shims - inner race of outer bearing - bearing retaining washer - nut.
• The first time you assemble the parts onto the hub leave out the shims and tighten the nut until the bearings bind to seat the outer races in the hub.
• Now fit the shims between the spacer and the outer bearing. The objective is to add and subtract shims until you get an end-float of .002 to .004. Using combinations and multiples of shims will give most values in .001 increments with the exception of a few of the smaller values, as follows:

Total Qty. of .003 Qty. of .005 Qty of .010 .003 1 0 0 .005 0 1 0 .006 2 0 0 .008 1 1 0 .009 3 0 0 .010 0 0 1 .011 2 1 0 .012 4 0 0 .013 1 0 1 .014 3 1 0 .015 0 1 1 Etc.

You will see from this that you will need up to 4 of the .003 but only one each of the other two, until you get up to 20 thou when you will need a second .005" or .010". There will almost certainly be some shims in the hub already, but if you make sure you have these as spares before you start you should be fine.

• Keep juggling shims until you get two combinations that are ideally only .001 apart where the thinner combination gives no end-float and the thicker gives perceptible end-float i.e. -0.001 to +0.001. Use the lower combination and then add another .003 shim. This should give you the required .002 to .004.
• When you have determined the correct shims remove the races and inject or press grease in one side only! Keep going till the grease comes out the other side, and leave a bulge of grease on both sides. Don't be tempted to save time by greasing from both sides you will trap air in the middle of the bearing and possibly cause premature failure.
• Fill the groove in the oil seal that goes at the base of the axle shaft with grease, and the cavity between the oil seal and the inner bearing. Don't fill the cavity between the bearings or the grease retaining cap with grease.
  Update October 2008:
  There doesn't seem to be any written description of which way round the oil seal goes in the hub in either the Workshop Manual or Haynes, and whilst Porter does cover it in some editions of his 'Purchase and DIY Restoration of the MGB' or 'MGB Restoration Manual' it seems his description differs from his drawing. My 1989 edition of the former doesn't cover it at all, but Neil from the BBS writes that in his 1992 edition Porter on page 179 says the oil seal should be "fitted to the hub with the lip facing inwards or uppermost in this shot"... but 'the shot' shows the seal facing OUTWARDS, which is indeed uppermost in his picture! So he says it right but shows it wrong. The Workshop Manual does have this photo showing the flat side of the seal facing out from the hub and the grooved side i.e. the lip facing inwards. This is probably deliberate to keep water off the spring that provides the tension on the lip, so preventing it rusting, breaking, and consequently letting water and dirt in and grease out. I believe this to be the standard way to do it i.e. the flat side facing the dirt and the lip facing the oil or grease. Certainly for the rear axle half-shaft oil seals both the Workshop Manual and Haynes say "lip facing inwards".
• Reassemble everything, tighten the nut to 40 lb. ft., then tighten further until a hole in the shaft lines up with a slot in the nut. This should occur well before the maximum torque of 70 lb. ft. is reached. Some people say that this additional tightening removes the end-float and to fit additional shims on the outside of the outer bearing until the hole and slots line up at the minimum torque. Personally I have not found that this loss of end-float occurs. However, I have found that fitting shims between outer bearing and locating washer causes slivers of metal to be shaved off the shims when the nut is tightened, because in this position they are resting on the threads of the axle. Slivers of metal are not what you want in your new bearing!

When changing a damper for the first time you will almost certainly need a new link bolt and nut and bushes, as each one I have done has had the pin corroded solid with the inserts in the bushes. In both replacements I have done the link bolt was supplied with a nyloc nut instead of the original low-profile castellated nut and split-pin. In neither case was the bolt long enough - or the nut low-profile enough - to be fully tightened - with a Nyloc nut there should be about three threads clear of the bolt, but the bolt barely reached the nyloc let alone go through it. Fortunately the bolts were drilled for a split-pin and I had a suitable low-profile castellated nut in each case. Do not use a nyloc nut without there being at least three threads visible with the nut fully tightened, the bolt could come out in use. Before paying for dampers check they move smoothly (and heavily damped through their full travel and back to the centre, then wiggle the arms up and down near the centre and make sure there is not slop as they change direction. Exchange dampers where you return the old one is much cheaper than buying new, and the rebuilt replacements are usually of reasonable quality. But as the rebuild is only as good as the original it is possible to get a duff one that fails after quite a short period, however it is still much cheaper to have to change it again fairly soon than to buy new. Out of three replacement lever-arm dampers I had to change a rear one for a second time after only a year or so, its replacement and the other two have been fine. At the time of writing I have just replaced another one so the jury is still out on that. Update October 2009 Annoyingly that started weeping after a year or so, but lasted a further couple of years and MOTs before it got bad enough to start dripping on the floor, which was when I changed it again. Hopefully better luck this time.

Raise the front of the car by jacking under the rear edge of the cross-member (if you jack further forwards than that it will slide further forward in a series of sudden and noisy movements which is a bit disconcerting. Place axle stands under the outer edges of the spring pans, and lower the jack just enough to lift the damper arms off the rebound rubbers. It is important to do this otherwise when you remove the top link bolt the axle assembly and hub will shoot downwards as they are under significant spring pressure.

Next comes removal of the top link bolt connecting the damper arms to the swivel axle. Easy to say, much harder in practice. The bolt runs through the arms of the damper and steel sleeves in the rubber bushes. It is a snug fit in both and unless it has already ben replaced fairly recently or was assembled using Waxoyl and copper grease it will almost certainly be well rusted to both. The rubber bushes will probably also have deteriorated and be bonded to the eye in the swivel axle. In two replacements on may cars this has been the case and I have had to hacksaw through the bolt both sides of the swivel axle eye. On a second replacement of one of them everything came apart very easily.

Remove the nut on the end of the link pin, it is usually castellated with a split-pin. Slacken right off the clamp-bolt holding the two arms of the damper together, and drive a wedge between them to lever the arms apart and give you more room to cut through the link bolt.

Use a length of cable or whatever to tie the swivel axle to the bracket of the bump and rebound rubbers to prevent the axle falling outwards and stressing the brake hose when the link pin has been cut through or removed.

You can try driving the link bolt out of the bushes and arms, but it shouldn't take much hammering to realise it isn't going to shift. If not, cut the flange off the end of each bush by chiseling and cutting at an angle into the eye of the swivel axle. This reveals a section of link bolt on each side to cut through without damaging the inner faces of the old damper (which might then be rejected as a core replacement) or the swivel axle eye. Use a hacksaw where you can turn the blade at 90 degrees to the frame and this should allow you cut inwards and upwards each side. With a decent blade it shouldn't take many minutes to cut through both sides, and the damper arms can be lifted up from the swivel axle eye. Remove (it really should be that easy) the four bolts securing the damper body to the cross-member. I use a universal joint between the ratchet and socket, it gives that extra depth for all four bolts and a bit of angle for the back ones where the inner wing curves over them. Lift the damper away - it is heavy!

Now you have to drill, cut, twist and hammer the old bushes and remains if the link bolt out of the swivel axle eye, they will probably come out as a single piece, which can only be done if you have previously removed the flange from the bushes as previously described. Remove any lumps of rubber that are stuck in the eye as this will make insertion of the new ones more difficult.

Check the fluid level in the damper now, it's easier. If you find you have to add a lot, or in any case after transportation where they may have been at a different orientation to when fitted to the car, work the arm up and down it's full travel several times to expel any air from the valves. Remove any dirt or grit from the cross-member where the damper will sit. At this point I put a bit of copper grease into each hole in the cross-member, then put the damper in position. Coat each bolt with copper grease and insert just a few threads, don't tighten them any more than that until all four bolts are started. Again slacken the clamp-bolt holding the two arms together and wedge the arms apart to fit over the bushes. This is necessary when leaving sound bushes in the swivel axle, not just for new ones.

Coat the outside of new bushes and the inside of the swivel axle with Waxoyl and insert the bushes. They will probably be much wider than the gap between the damper arms even if they are wedged apart. You can either put one or more large nuts over the threaded end of the link bolt then tighten its nut to squeeze the bushes fully into the eye or use a small sash-cramp or something similar. Eventually you should be able to get the bushes far enough in and the damper arms far enough apart to fit the two together, but before you do so put some copper grease inside the steel sleeve of each bush, wiping off any excess from the rubber.

Place the damper arms over the bushes, put more copper grease in the holes in the arms and on the link bolt. Tap the bolt through the appropriate damper arm the bushes, and the other damper arm. Note that the bolt has a special round head with one flat which engages with a recess on one damper arm. This is the front arm on the right-hand side, the rear arm on the left, therefore the bolt can only go in one way each side. Things might need a bit of wiggling about while you are tapping to get everything lined up.

Note where the split-pin hole is in the bolt and fit and tighten the nut (40ftlb). This has to clamp the damper arms onto the ends of the bush sleeves, and the inner ends of the bush sleeves together, so it does up tight. The final position of the nut should allow insertion of the split-pin, of course. Refit and tighten the damper arms clamp bolt (28 ft lb). As the four mounting bolts allow a little wriggle-room for the damper now is the time to use it to try and correct any tendency to pull to one side or the other on a flat and level surface (note a normal drainage camber will cause the car to pull to the kerb side slightly). Pulling to one side or the other is caused by unbalanced camber, not by tracking as many think. Which ever side the car pulls there is more camber that side than the other, so pushing the damper arms forwards as you tighten the four bolts (43-45ftlb) will tends to reduce it, and pulling the damper arms backwards on the other side will do the same. It may not do much but is worth a go while you are at it. Refit the wheel and away you go. Inspect the new damper from time to time in the early days just in case you have got a duff one, and always before an MOT.

Most seem to agree thus far, but opinions differ as to whether the four bolts that secure the spring-pan to the lower A-arms should be removed next and just the spring-pan lowered to free the spring, or whether the lower trunnion bolt should be removed disconnecting the A-arms from the swivel axle, and the A-arms and spring pan complete lowered to free the spring.

Having tried both ways I would only ever recommend the latter method. There are two reasons for this:

Removing the swivel-axle to A-arms bolt (lower fulcrum pivot) allows you to lower the spring pan while it is still held securely until all spring tension is released. With the jack out of the way you push the pan down a bit more with one hand and simply lift the spring out with the other. That done, you can tackle the spring-pan to A-arm bolts in complete safety.

In the time-honoured phrase - "reassembly is the reverse of removal" - that is, push down the A-arms complete with spring-pan, insert spring, jack spring-pan and pivot swivel-axle until the lower bolt can be inserted. The only thing to watch is that the grease seal, thrust washer and seal support are all present and correct on reassembly.

Another tip when buying new springs of any type is to insist on a pair with the same free height! The pair my supplier put on the counter for Vee differed by nearly 1/4". He got a matched pair without quibble, but said "it won't make any difference". At first I thought he meant that the free height made no difference to the loaded height which is obviously wrong, but once fitted although the loaded height had been the same with the old springs with the new, even after a shakedown run, there was a 1/2" difference. So maybe he meant "it doesn't matter what the free height is, the loaded heights will probably be different anyway!". Also the free heights were quite a bit higher than spec, so if you are able go for the shortest.

Update December 2005: A tip from Michael Beswick is to leave the spring pan to A-arm bolts on one side slack by a turn or two to make insertion of the assembled fulcrum, thrust washers, seals etc. into the A-arms a little easier.

Update September 2007 Another tip is that when sliding the lower fulcrum out of the A-arms, as soon as the hole reappears outside the arms, refit the bolt and nut and this will stop the grease seals etc. falling off and the bolt/nut getting dirty/lost. But I digress. Many moons ago for various reasons I fitted CB GT front springs to the roadster as they are stiffer, but with a lower free height, which gives much the same ride height. At the time they gave much the same ride height with less roll and dive under braking, but since then they have settled and for some time I haven't been able to get the hydraulic jack under the rear edge of the cross-member, and the A-arms and track-rods were both angled upwards (outer ends relative to inner) which didn't seem to me to be correct. So I decided to replace them with new originals, and in doing so found that I needed to employ a combination of the two methods above. The CB GT springs have a free height of 9.32" (and the used ones were a little less than this anyway) and pushing down on the A-arms/spring pan with the lower fulcrum pin removed was all I needed to do to get the old spring out. However the correct springs have a free height of 10.2" (and in fact the new ones were a little taller than that) and I could not push the arms down far enough to get the new spring located in the groove in the spring pan. So I removed the inner spring pan bolts altogether, and with the outer bolts slackened (actually only the bolt as I couldn't get at the anti-roll bar drop-link nut easily) the pan pivoted downwards with a bit of pressure and in went the spring. I then jacked up under the inner edge of the pan, and with a bit more levering got the holes aligned and the bolts back in. This is still a much safer method than complete removal of the four spring pan bolts as the pan and hence the spring is still securely retained by the outer two bolts (or bolt and anti-roll bar drop-link pin). So far so good, but when I jacked up under the spring pan I found I couldn't compress the new springs enough to get the holes in the fulcrum and A-arms aligned, I had to jack under the far outer edge of the pan to be able to do it. Not only that, but when on the ground a quick measurement showed that the front ride height had leapt up from 14" to 16" and looked ridiculous!

Not being a believer in springs 'settling' soon after installation, nevertheless a tour round some of the speed-hump ridden streets of Solihull and some bumpy country lanes for an hour settled them to 15.375" at the front both sides, with 14.125" at the rear also both sides. Better, but still a little high at the front, but it will probably settle more over time. I think the initial settling is due to the front springs only sitting in the spring-pan and cross-member, and so not fully seated until they have been worked up and down a bit. In contrast the rear springs are positively located by bolts and I'd expect very little initial settling. The A-arms and track rods are now angled slightly downwards (click thumbnail), and I now have 6.625" clearance under the front cross-member as opposed to about 5.5" previously.

Update October 2007
Replaced Vee's front springs today. Being shorter it was much easier than Bee's, I only had to remove the anti-roll bar and lower fulcrum bolts, and slacken the bolts between the spring pan and the rear A-arm. Pushing the pan and A-arms down the old spring came out easy enough, although the axle assembly kept pivoting inwards getting in the way, and I didn't have enough hands to hold that out, push down the spring pan and lift out/replace the spring, so I propped the axle assembly up out of the way with a piece of wood between the hub and the ground. Didn't take much more than an hour each side. Before starting the ride height between hub centre and bottom of the trim strip was 14.5" on the right and 14.625 on the left. Immediately after replacement the right was 16.25" and the left 16.5", and after a couple of miles over the speed bumps came down to 15" and 15.5" More disparity there than originally, and the springs were the same free height, so we'll see how it goes. Clearance under the Y-pipe on the exhaust is now 4.45", up from 3.5" before, which was way below the spec ground clearance of 4.25". This thumbnail shows (from left to right) the original roadster springs (with a nice curve in them!) taken out some years ago, the newly removed CB GT springs, and new V8 springs waiting to go into Vee.

Update October 2009
Measured Bee's ride height as 14.75" right front, 14.625" left front, and 14.25" for both rears. Vee's are 14.5" right front, 14.625" left front, 15.375" right rear, and 15.6875" left rear.

There is further scope for argument over fluid level, believe it or not. The Workshop Manual simply says "fill to the bottom of the filler plug hole". But some say it should be half an inch below it on the rears to allow an air space to absorb up fluid expansion on heating up, otherwise it could be forced past the seals. But if that is correct, why doesn't the manual say so? I then started thinking about the positions of the filler plugs, and realised that with the front damper filler plug on a vertical face of the damper body, filling to the bottom of the hole will still leave a significant air-space above it. But the rear dampers have the filler plug on top, which may not unless there is an air-space under the lid i.e. above the bottom of the filler plug hole. When I converted Vee from tubulars back to lever-arms I bought a 'kit' containing dampers, drop-links and bottom plates second-hand from some unknown MG at Stoneleigh, and it was only when I decided to recheck the fluid level some time after fitting them that I discovered the filler plug hole was also on a vertical face, and not on top as they should be! "Ah ha", I thought, that would leave an air-space in the rears as well, and maybe that part of the manual had been copied from that for another vehicle where both front and rear filler plugs are on a vertical face. But looking again in the manual not only does it show a top-fill rear damper, with instructions to remove the plastic plug in the chassis rail to access it, but it also shows the front damper with a top-mounted filler-plug! So from there being an obvious air-space above the fluid on both types, there could be none on both types! When Vee's rear dampers started leaking (after having lasted a few years, I was quite prepared to change them at the outset as they were an unknown quantity) I got the correct top-fill ones of course, and checking the level before fitting found that it was indeed about half an inch below the bottom of the filler plug hole. So I'm none the wiser now, but having found with leaking dampers that the fluid level can drop a long long way before it affects damping, leaving a half inch gap below the bottom of the filler plug hole on the rears is neither here nor there, and at least you are sure that there is then a clear air space, if that makes a difference.

I actually painted it on semi-congealed rather than as a liquid suitable for spraying, then used a hot air gun to melt it whereupon most of it was absorbed into the gaps between leaves and interleaving and little dripped off. At first it didn't seem to have made much difference, but then over a bit of driving it seems to have 'worked in' and they have definitely become much quieter and now I can't say that I notice them at all and neither has the Navigator commented recently. It would have been much easier to apply with the springs removed from the car and laying on their sides, but a much bigger job overall of course.

In response to a question on a Bulletin Board I mentioned this but another contributor said he didn't like Waxoyl because it dried out. In my experience whilst it does 'dry' in that the white spirit that makes it liquid evaporates it leaves behind the waxy stuff which if you rub it between your finger tips is still slippery i.e. does still lubricate, and as I say is much less likely to get washed out than oil or even grease. And being drier it will pick up less dirt and grit.

Update August 2007: Having broken a rear spring on this year's Snowdon Run before I replaced them I laid the new springs on their sides, painted on some dollops of Waxoyl, then used a heat gun to melt it into the crevices between springs and interleaving. When they were 'dry' I could pick them up by the eyes and it was a cleaner job than I was expecting to fit them while coated. Incidentally, this is the third set of springs I have bought from three separate suppliers and fitted to two different cars - one chrome one rubber, including stiffer rubber bumper roadster springs to the chrome bumper roadster, and I have never had any trouble getting the shackles, damper drop-links or rebound rubbers attached, or in getting the shackles to point downwards. The weight of the body was more than enough to compress the springs before the body lifted off the axle stands in all cases.

Update August 2010:A tip when disconnecting the track-rod ends from the steering arms. The nut is usually a Nyloc, and the effect of this is that once the taper is broken you can't turn the nut on the thread without locking the taper again, as the stud just turns in the ball-joint. And if using a screw-type splitter you really need to have a nut on several threads if you are to avoid damaging the end of the stud. The tip is to remove the Nyloc nut, then put a plain nut on until the end of the stud is close to the face of the nut, before using the splitter. As long as the threads are good the plain nut will be much easier to remove once the taper is broken. For replacement the same problem occurs, so screw the plain nut up tight to lock the taper, then replace with the Nyloc nut.

But I digress. Make alignment marks on the tie rod and track rod end. Slacken the lock-nut and count how many turns are needed to separate the track rod end from the tie rod. Change the gaiters then screw the tie rod and track rod end back together the same number of turns it took to part them, finishing with marks aligned, assembling with copper grease to aid future removal/adjustment. Fasten the tie or clamp on the smaller end of the gaiter, but not so tight that the tie rod can't be turned without twisting up the gaiter during future tracking adjustment. If changing both gaiters fasten the tie on one big end but leave the other off for the moment and use an oil gun to inject 1/3rd pt (0.4 US pt, 0.2 litre) into the big end - hold the bottom up to the rack housing whilst injecting in the top - periodically moving the rack slowly from lock to lock to distribute the oil.

Update Autumn 2005: If you put your hand over the top of the big end of the gaiter with the thumb down one side and forefinger down the other you should be able to squeeze and stretch the gaiter such that the bottom half is stretched into the groove of the rack to make a reasonable seal while you are injecting oil, and stretch the top half so that you make a small loop, or at least an area of lessened tension, to allow you to insert the nozzle of the oil gun. However if the shape or size or your oil gun prevents its insertion you could try this tip sent to me by Michael Beswick: "I found a 8" piece of windscreen washer tube, cut one end at a shallow angle to make a bit of a point. The other end I put in boiling water before forcing it over the pointy end of a biro. I left it for a while and the result was a small funnel shape that the nose of my oil can fitted into neatly. I released the clip on the gaiter, put the tube in at the top of the gaiter and managed to get it all over the metal fitting.Tightened the clip to just nip the whole assembly. Inserted oil can in the funnel end of the tube (it was quite soft so the oil can spout fitted reasonably tightly) and hey presto! A little care is needed or the tube blows off the spout. Remove oil can and carefully pull out the tube (which can be kept in the right plane)." Finally, fasten the remaining big end tie or clamp.

You should be spot-on, but unless you know your tracking was right before there is no harm in getting it checked, and you know you will be able to slacken and adjust everything before it all seizes up again.

The damper, drop-link, rebound rubber and bump-rubber pedestal (and for that matter spring) must be treated as a set for correct and safe operation of the rear suspension and these vary from model to model. Whilst the damper obviously controls the rate of spring compression and expansion through the normal working range, the compressed limit is controlled by a pedestal on the axle hitting a bump-rubber under the floor, and the expanded limit is controlled by the rebound strap which is fixed between a body and axle. The final component is the drop-link between damper arm and spring/axle assembly. In an ideal world the spring, in it's normal working position, will position the axle about mid-way between the fully compressed and fully expanded positions, and the drop-link length should be such that the damper is also about mid-way in its travel. The loading on the car could be a little as a single occupant, or it could be two people plus tools and luggage with the consequent compression of the spring, so maybe a median between these two is chosen by the designer as the 'central' position. Whatever, it is vital that the drop-link, rebound strap and pedestal are installed as a set so that it is the rebound strap and bump rubber that provide the limits to axle movement and not the damper itself. Get these wrong and the damper will suffer damage. In theory it doesn't matter as much if the spring varies in set or hardness, as the other components will limit axle travel regardless and so protect the damper. But if the spring is too soft or flat you will be hitting the bump rubbers over relatively small bumps (been there, done that, extended the shackles) or at the other extreme the car will have a very tail high ("submissive monkey") stance and be hitting the straps relatively easily. Whilst hitting the bump-rubbers is merely uncomfortable, continually 'hitting' the rebound straps will eventually break them, and then you will start hitting the damper limit and damaging that.

Chrome bumper 4-cylinder cars had one set of drop-link, rebound strap and pedestal, chrome bumper V8 had a different set, and all rubber bumper cars had a third set in this case the same for 4-cylinder and V8. I know chrome bumper V8s had a higher ride height to 4-cylinder chrome bumper cars to improve the exhaust to ground clearance, utilising a different front cross-member that was later commonised to all rubber bumper cars. I don't (yet) know the detail of how the rear spring hangers differed between 4-cylinder and V8 chrome bumper cars, but again I know they were the same on all rubber bumper cars, hence the same damper and axle movement limiting parts, even though the V8 springs are harder. The combination of parts for each model from the Parts Catalogue is as follows:

Peter Caldwell of Wisconsin posted the following information on the MGCars BBS as part of a thread on this subject in December 2006:

Replacement Added October 2009

Ostensibly two nuts and three bolts, but it can still be a bit of a bear to remove. If you haven't changed them before the nut (11/16") will likely be corroded to the drop-link pin in the damper arm, and nut and pin will turn as one. With units that haven't been on long and correctly assembled with copper-grease the nut will probably come undone but you won't be able to break the taper between pin and damper arm. Fortunately it is easy to remove the damper complete with drop-link and spring bottom plate and deal with them on the bench.

Important - chock the front wheels. Slacken the road wheel nuts a smidgen if the handbrake isn't up to much. Support the car at the front spring eye or hanger on axle stands by jacking under the axle or spring bottom plate. Lower the axle until the car is resting on the stands, then remove the road wheel. Continue lowering the axle to give you more room to work, but observe the condition of the rebound straps before trusting the full weight of the axle to it. Remove the nuts (11/16") and spring washers from the bolts (5/8") holding the damper to the chassis rail, turn the bolts to free them up, but leave them in-situ for the moment.

Undo the U-bolt nuts (9/16" deep socket), which will allow the spring to push the bottom plate and damper drop-link fully downwards. If necessary jack under the spring one side of the bottom plate or the other to raise the spring off the bottom plate and so take any tension off the damper to chassis rail bolts. Supporting the damper remove the chassis rail bolts and lower the whole assembly down off the ends of the U-bolts and away from the car.

With rusted nuts I had to hacksaw at angle part-way through the nut then chisel the cut open to free the nut. Because the pin had been turning in the damper arm this came out relatively easily. Where the nut came undone I left it screwed on to the outer face was flush with the end of the pin, supported to bottom of the pin on a lump-hammer, and struck on the end of the nut and pin to free the taper.

Check the fluid level in the new dampers before fitting. If you find you have to add a lot, or in any case after transportation where they have probably been lying down, work the arm up and down it's full travel several times to expel any air from the valves. Push fit the bolts to the chassis rail, noting that later cars have the 'outer' bolt head in a recess in the wheel arch to give better clearance for the wider tyres on GTs and particularly V8s, and this bolt is shorter than the other bolt. Offer up the damper to the bolts and fit the lock-washers and nuts. Fit the bottom plate with drop-link over the ends of the U-bolts and loosely fit the nuts, then position the damper arm so the drop-link pin can fit through it and fit its washer and nut. Tighten all nuts (55-60 ftlb for the damper to chassis rail nuts).

July 2010: A pal's MGB fails its MOT with a broken rear spring.

Unlike the V8 it wasn't obvious as the wheel was still central in the wheel arch, as this car has the factory rear anti-roll bar which controls the fore and aft position of the axle. I suppose the ride height might have been a little lower that side but it wasn't obvious. Keith brought it round, but when the door bell went I hadn't heard the car, apparently it had conked out round the corner! This time (on the last visit it conked out two streets away, so an improvement) a fuel leak had developed and emptied the tank. A short push to a convenient slope allowed the car to roll round the corner and onto the drive, so that was going to be the first job. In the event the rubber hose between the pump and the metal pipe leading to the carbs had split, so an easy fix, and I was able to manouvere the car into the best place for the spring change.

For security I drove the front of the car up onto ramps, with the front of the car pointing down the slight slope on my drive. The rear was supported on axle stands just in front of the front eye, with pieces of wood inserted into the flanges of the bracket between the floor reinforcement section an the axle stand. If one end is on its wheels and you are pulling an pushing at things it's very easy to tip stands over, particularly if its the front on the ground and the rear in the air, even with chocks.

This time not so lucky as both front eye bolts are siezed in the spacer tubes. I can turn the bolt with a spanner, but as I release the pressure I can feel them springing back a bit, so the spacer is turning inside the rubber bush. Pondered cutting through with a jig-saw, but they can only cope with a few mm of metal, so opt for a cutting disc for the (4 1/4") angle-grinder. Only had grinding discs before, which are thicker and have an off-set flange. Discovered that with the thinner, flat cutting disc the locking ring has to be turned over so the flat side contacts the disc, as otherwise it isn't gripped.

Decide to cut the spring off the eye as close to the eye as I can, to give me as much space as possible to cut up the sides of the eye and through the bolt and spacer tube. I was gobsmacked at how quickly it made the first cut, probably less than a minute, and with that out the way the other two cuts probably less than 2 minutes each. Angle the grinder for the first cut so the sparks fly away from the car and not under it, and downwards for the other two cuts. This meant that with one of the cuts each side it didn't go through all the way in one go, so just turn the eye 180 degrees and cut through the rest. The eye just dropped out of the bracket, and a bit of wiggling got the thin ring that was the end of the spacer tube off the remains of the bolt. Less than five minutes, and no collateral damage to the bracket or anything else, it took me longer to get the spring and bottom plate off the U-bolts!

One bump-stop pedestal had completely rotted away, and the other was hanging on by a thread, so replacements needed for those as well as the front eye bolts. Good service from MGBHive, they arrived next morning about 10:30 including something I didn't order until about 4pm. Reassembled everything with Waxoyl, turning to a clear liquid on what was a very warm day. As on the V8 with the front eyes mounted the rear shackles lined up with the chassis rail holes without compressing the spring, neither did the shackles lock under the chassis rail when I jacked up under the spring to fit the U-bolts and bottom plate. Again the U-bolts and plates were the biggest fiddle, getting them lined up, and getting the 'bump' in the top plate lined up with the hole in the bottom of the axle spring-pad. The factory anti-roll bar makes this slightly more difficult as you can't move the axle fore and aft directly, you have to rotate the whole axle to move the spring mounting pad into position over the spring. The second side is even worse as with the first side fitted you can't even do that, and a firm push from a foot on the brake drum was needed. One thing I noticed is that the new front bolts are only just long enough, and that is with the old nuts and lock-washers. Nylocs were supplied with the bolts but to be honest I don't think they were long enough to get the requisite minimum three threads clear, as it was the end of the bolt was just shy of the end of the nut. Other than that (well, there are only the shackles left!) it all went back together inside the hour, and that includes wheels on and tools etc, put back in the garage.

• Remove the horn push or centre cover (varies with model)
• Slacken the nut by just a turn or two - make absolutely sure that plenty of turns remain engaged and the nut does not protrude too far above the end of the column.
• Sitting in the drivers seat, draw your knees up behind the wheel and use them to apply pressure to the back of the wheel rim.
• Wearing appropriate eye protection, place a medium hammer on the end of the column shaft. If you have a hammer with a ball-end then use this end against the column. Whatever hammer you use make sure the hammer is in contact with the end of the column and not the nut or you will damage the threads.
• Strike the first hammer firmly with a second hammer.
• After a couple of blows the wheel should pop free, but be safely retained by the nut which prevents it from flying towards your face.

A solid steering column was originally fitted to all cars. For MkII 1967 cars onwards for North America a collapsible energy absorbing column was fitted. Non-North American cars got a basic collapsible column for the 1972 model year which had the same basic appearance and fittings as the solid column. All rubber bumper cars got the same North American spec collapsible column, and for the 1977 year on all cars got a column with different steering wheel splines although the rest of the column was much the same as before. This gives four different columns, each with different splines, and the wheels are not interchangeable.

Update September 2007:
1977 (and later) model-year cars have a special wheel boss which engages with a cancellation collar on the indicator/turn switch. Before that there was a peg screwed into the column (early cars) or a clip (later cars) that engaged with 'fingers' on the switch (see here). The peg has the disadvantage that the column must be correctly aligned to the rack shaft in the UJ for cancellation to work properly. The clip can at least be slid round the column into the correct position. In some ways the 77-on arrangement is best of all because all that needs to be done is to correctly align the steering wheel for the straight-ahead position. But if an after-market wheel is fitted, or if the later dual-stalk column switch is fitted to an earlier column, the wheel won't have the necessary protrusions to engage with the slots in the cancelling collar. The later clip could possibly be fitted to the column shaft, but is too wide to fit in one of the slots in the cancelling collar. A peg screwed into the column shaft would work, but I would draw the line at drilling a hole for it. On a friends car with a non-standard wheel I made a part out of a bit of scrap metal which joined together two handy holes in the back of the wheel boss, to the two slots in the switch cancelling collar.

Shortly before getting my hands on this 1980 UK model Barrie Robinson was seeking advice on cancelling indicator/turn switches on his car, which is a bit of a mish-mash of years, and he wasn't sure which column he had. He had bought a new 77 and later switch as the old one broke, but having a Moto-Lita wheel was left with this problem and didn't really want to splash-out for a new switch. I sent photos of what I had done to him, which gave him the ideas as to what to do with his wheel, making a neater job of it than I did.

A tip when disconnecting the track-rod ends from the steering arms. The nut is usually a Nyloc, and the effect of this is that once the taper is broken turning the nut just turns the pin with it unless you lock the taper again, as otherwise the stud just turns the ball in its joint. And if using a screw-type splitter you really need to have a nut on several threads to avoid damaging the end of the stud. The tip is before cracking the taper remove the Nyloc nut, then put a plain nut on until the end of the stud is close to the face of the nut, then use the splitter. As long as the threads are good the plain nut will be much easier to remove once the taper is broken. For replacement the same problem occurs, so screw the plain nut up tight to lock the taper, then replace with the Nyloc nut.

If changing track rod ends and they are basically the same length alignment marks and counting turns will probably get you close enough to drive straight (hopefully!) to an alignment centre, which should be done as there are bound to be dimensional differences between old and new track rod ends. However changing Bee's track-rod ends I found the new ones were quite a bit longer than the old, so no point. I measured the difference as best I could at 6mm, then screwed the lock-nuts back towards the gaiters until there was a 6mm gap to the ends of the old track-rod ends, and removed them.

The old ones were surprisingly bad given they were only advisories, the worst had lost a large part of its rubber boot, the ball was sloppy in its joint and rusty. The other one had a split boot and was rusty inside, but the ball wasn't as loose. I then screwed the new ones on right up to the lock-nuts. Not happy that I had got the tracking close enough for driving to the alignment place I decided to make an alignment gauge, but first some points about tracking and alignment:

• The alignment of the front wheels, or tracking, is adjusted by screwing the track-rods into or out of the track-rod ends.
• If the rack is in front of the axle (as on the MGB), and the track rods are screwed into the track-rod ends, the front of the wheels are moved closer together and the back of the wheels moved further apart. If the rack is behind the line of the axle the opposite is true i.e. screwing the track rods into the track-rod ends moves the back of the wheels closer together and the fronts further apart.
• If the fronts are closer than the rears the wheels are said to be toeing in, and this is the normal arrangement for most cars, but by no means universal, and the amount different cars toe in or out also varies. The MGB (including V8) is adjusted to toe-in 1/16" to 3/32" (1.5 to 2.3mm), unladen. This is total toe, i.e. between the two wheels, half of that between each wheel and a notional centre-line.
• The purpose of toe, either in or out, is to reduce the amount the tyre scrubs against the road road surface, the more the tyre scrubs the faster it will wear. If a tyre is toeing-in too much, the outer edges of the tyres will wear more rapidly, in a sort of stepped fashion. And if they are toeing-out too much the inner edgtes will wear more rapidly. If one tyre wears different to the other, then that is an indication that other aspects of steering and suspension alignment are unbalanced between sides, and this can include problems at the rear. It can be caused by accident damage and chassis misalignment as well as damage to or wear in suspension and steering components. It is the various suspension angles - camber, castor and king-pin inclination that determine how much toe is required to produce zero scrub, and in which direction.
• It is incorrect to say that if the car is pulling to one side or the other on a flat and level road then the tracking is out (although it may be). The front suspension is designed so that when travelling forwards the steering self-centres, so you don't have to pull on the wheel to straighten up after a bend, and there is no tendency to wander from side to side needing continual corrections when travelling in a straight line. This is achieved by the castor ('caster' is a type of suger, or a container for sprinkling it) angle of the king-pins, which is the amount a line through the centre of the king-pin is off vertical, in a fore and aft direction, the bottom of the king-pin being further forward than the top. Clearly seen on a bicycle or motorbike where the line of the forks up through the frame is angled (bicycles and motorbikes also have the rotational centre of the wheel set forward of the line of the forks, which is called 'trail', from having curved forks on a bicycle and the axle bracket attached to the front of the forks on a motorbike). Forward motion with turned steering puts the contact patch to one side or the other of a notional centre-line, and it tries to pull back to that centre-line, just like a shopping trolley wheel. If the castor (and all the other) angle is the same on both sides then the centralisation forces will be the same both sides, and regardless of how much the toe in or out is both tyres will be at the same angle and the car will travel in a straight line. If it doesn't, on a flat and level surface (the usual camber for rain-water drainage will always tend to pull the car towards the side of the road), then it means the castor angles are different between sides, and the car will pull towards the side with the greatest castor angle.
• On the MGB the castor angle is between 5 and 7.25 degrees, and not adjustable, except possibly using clearances between bolts and holes by slackening the damper mounting bolts, and the A-arm inner pivot to crossmember bolts, and applying appropriate leverage while you retighten. In theory, if the car is pulling to the left, the left king-pin is more inclined than the right, so pulling its damper backwards or its A-arms forwards, and doing the opposite on the other side, might have an effect.
• When checking or adjusting tracking the car must be on a flat and level surface, with the suspension at its working level i.e. bounce it up and down to settle it if the front of the car has been raised and roll it back and fore a few times, with the tyres at correct and equal pressures, and the wheels in the straight-ahead position. This last is to remove the effects of the Ackerman Angle, which is where when cornering the inside wheel turns more than the outside wheel, to reduce scrub, steering effort and loss of traction, as the inside wheel takes a shorter line than the outer. Similar to why a driven axle has a differential, although in that case it is to prevent drag, wheel skid and loss of traction. If you measure the physical toe with the wheels off-centre you reduce the toe-in, maybe to the point of making them toe out. If you adjusted them to the book figure like this they will be toeing in more than they should be when straight ahead. On the MGB when the inner wheel is at 20 degrees the outer wheel is at 19 degrees (+- 1 degree).
• When adjusting the tracking, if the steering wheel was previously straight when travelling in a straight line, then both sides must be adjusted by an equal amount. If you only adjust one side then the steering wheel will end up at an angle when travelling in a straight line.
• The other aspect to steering is the lock each side, or how far the wheel can be turned in each direction. Ideally there should be exactly the same number of turns from straight ahead to the right lock and the left lock. Compare the angle of the wheel spokes at one lock to the other, and it should be a mirror image. If the wheel turns more to one lock than the other then that will give different turning circles one side to the other. No big deal with small amounts, but if it goes too far the wheel could rub on something, as well as making manoevering awkward. To correct this, move the steering wheel on the splines until, from the centre position of the wheel, the spokes are a mirror image at each lock (or as close as can be obtained between two adjacent splines). This will put the wheel off-centre when travelling straight ahead, so then turn the track-rods in each track-rod end by exactly the same amount in the appropriate direction, which should leave the tracking alignment unchanged. For example if the wheel is turned to the right when travelling straight ahead (or the car turns to the left when the wheel is held centred), unscrew the left-hand track rod from its track-rod end (for a front-mounted rack), and screw the right-hand one further in.

As well as describing measuring side-slip or scrub the Celica manual has a detailed description of how to measure the physical amount of toe. Basically you mark the middle of tread, in line with the centre of the axle, on the front or the back of the tyre, and measure the distance between the two marks, which is most easily done with two pointers on a connecting bar resting on the ground. Then roll the car half a revolution, so the marks on the tyres are now on the other side but back in line with the axle centre-line again, and again measure the distance between the two marks. If you carefully move your pointers from the first (reference) position to the second (comparison) position, and line up one pointer with its mark, you can directly measure the total toe between the other mark and its pointer. If you take the reference measurement at the back then roll the car forward to make the comparison, or vice-versa, so the marks aren't scrubbed off on the ground. If adjustment is required this method obviously needs you to move the gauge between the back and the front of the tyres several times, making small adjustments to the pointers each time, and being careful not to knock the pointers when moving from the reference side to the comparison side, in addition to rolling the car back and fore several times (which applies to both methods). The side-slip method will certainly be easier, but at a cost of typically £75 as opposed to perhaps nothing if you have a long enough broom-handle and some thin rod, considerably more expensive for something that may only be used once per year at most.

Having recently had a major clear-out of garage and shed I didn't really have the makings without butchering a garden tool or two, so for a few quid I bought some square tubing, threaded rod and nuts from B&Q. I measured the distance between the centre of the treads on each wheel, and this gave me the nominal spacing of the pointers. I also measured the ZS, which is quite a bit wider, and made the bar just long enough to take the pointers at this spacing, in case I ever needed to do that car as well. I drilled hole through the tubing (at the MGB soacing) to take the threaded rod, then overdrilled the bottom hole to allow a cap-nut to pass through which would be on the bottom of each rod. A butterfly nut further up the thread, above the tubing, clamps the rod in position. The rod rises vertically from the tubing and is then bent forwards to meet the mark on the tyre, it's overall length being such that the pointer touches the centre-line of the axle.

Having (hopefully) got the tracking close enough for a test drive it was immediately noticeable how smooth the steering was, I had recently been aware of some vibration through the wheel, which wasn't consistent so I didn't think it was wheel balance. Forward progress also seemed quieter, as if I had subconciously noted some rattling, both must have been coming from the worn UJ as well as track-rod ends. I suppose it is a case of not noticing gradual changes in sound and feel over a long time, whereas we should all be aware of sudden changes and either know what they are (as in this case) or investigate them - Nory's "Listen to your car, it is talking to you". Two days later... took the car to my local tyre place for a tracking check to find their stuff would not fit over/round the spinners, also my next local place. The fronts could be turned so that with the ears at an angle the laser unit fitted round them, but at the back it is a single central vertical bar and even the body of the spinner sticks out too far for that. Good job I got them (hopefully) close with my home-made gauge, looks like I have a 20 mile drive to the next nearest place with kit that should cope with them. One week later... Some nice weather at long last so a trip through the countryside to a place with screw-in adapters that hold the gizmos further out from the wheel hence clearing the spinner. Tracking is a shade under 2mm toe in, so given that the spec calls for 1.5 to 2.3mm I call that a result! Even more of a result is that checking is free, only adjustment costs!!

	The replacements lasted for many tens of thousands of miles (no more than one should expect) but I had been aware for a while that the ride was getting quite bouncy, especially over humps and dips. The USP of the Spax is their adjustability, but unless you have them on the softest setting they give a bone-jarring ride, and many testify to this. Thinking that they may have 'softened up' over the 70k or so miles they have been on the car (which itself is a poor 'feature') I tried turning the adjusters, but needless to say they had seized, and I decided that I would not replace them when the need next arose but go back to lever-arms. However I was concerned that if one should fail, unless I splashed out again for a replacement (or possibly a pair), I might have to take the V8 off the road for a time while I sourced a pair of lever-arms together with the drop-links and bottom plates. So at the 2006 Stoneleigh MG Spares Show I was on the lookout and managed to pick up the whole lot minus one bottom plate for a tenner, and got a used bottom plate from elsewhere for another fiver. They were already assembled but I wanted to part them for cleaning and painting, but as usual (IME) the nuts had seized. TIP: Careful hacksawing as far as I could through the nut without cutting into the studs (OK, I just nicked the threads, but that won't affect its strength) then using a cold-chisel to open up the cut cracked the rust and it came undone. Using heat is inadvisable is it is bound to damage the rubber bush the stud is mounted in, which is not a replaceable item. That left me needing a couple of nuts, which being Imperial are not that easy to come by. Popped down to my local Halfords where the chap who usually MOT's all my cars had a root through his toolbox and came up with exactly what I needed (That's *another* pint I owe you ...).
	I then discovered that despite measuring two lengths of drop-link at the show, and thinking I had got the longer V8/rubber bumper items (10 5/16" pivot pin centre to pivot pin centre, thanks Graham), I actually ended up with the shorter CB items (8 3/4"). Only discovered this as part of an email thread with someone else, who had the longer ones and needed the shorter! Sadly he was in America so a swap was out of the question. Rather than buy another pair I decided to try 'cutting and shutting' them to extend them (as I had with the rear shackles on the roadster) by the required 1 1/2" or so. Looking round the garage I found a couple of front suspension bottom trunnion bolts that were the correct (0.5") diameter and did the necessary cutting and welding. Two coats of Hammerite smooth on them and the bottom plates and they were ready to go on.
	I was quite surprised to find the U-bolts and the nuts and bolts holding the top brackets to the chassis all came undone quite easily as they had not been touched in my ownership, likewise the replacements went on straight-forwardly, the whole job only taking a couple of hours. TIP: The only thing to be aware of is that the two bolts holding each dampers to the chassis rail are different in length by about 1/4", which could cause you some head-scratching if you get them mixed up and the two shorter ones on the same side. At some point the forward bolt was recessed into the chassis rail to give more clearance for tyres, possibly for the wider tyres on GT and V8, the shorter bolt goes in this position.
	Took the car for a test drive and immediately noticed that on 'normal' surfaces the ride seemed exactly the same but over humps and dips there was no bounce, just a more appropriate firmness without harshness. The standard lever-arms have a two-stage valve that gives relatively mild damping with short movements and harder damping with larger movements, something I have never seen attributed to tubulars of any type. I was deliberately taking the car over as many speed humps as I could find, and going at them progressively harder, when I actually broke one of the welds. It was my fault, when doing the first one I became aware that I was feeding the wire too quickly, which tends to form bobbles of weld on the surfaces of the two pieces being joined rather than fusing them together. No matter, 1/2 hour to take the broken drop-link off, clean up the joint and re-weld, but this time I slipped the spacer tube from the aforementioned bottom bolt (exactly the right internal diameter) over the shaft first, then welded the shaft, then positioned the spacer tube so it covered both welds, and applied more weld between spacer and shaft. Repainted, refitted a couple of days later, and so far so good.