I lowered my B today and what a difference!!

In an earlier post I asked what would folks do to a RB MGB.

http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/read.php?1,607397,page=1

Ignoring the "sell it and buy a CB" the common view was swap out the ZS carb and lower it. Well the carb is gone and today I lowered it using a lowering kit from Brittek.

WOW what a difference!!! First of all it looks good - much better proportioned. Second it sticks to the road! The car barely rolls at all around corners - its pretty much horizontal the whole time. The ride is just much more solid and road hugging.

For those who haven't done it - this is an upgrade well worth the money. I also replaced the sway bar bushings, and in fact I have a new sway bar on the front as well. In addition I replaced the drivers swivel axle - the John Twist video on wheel bearings was a life saver when I couldn't figure out what goes where.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJYIXZtnIiw

All in all about 6 hours of work. But the results are completely worth it! Of course I now have to be very careful over speed bumps!

Tomorrow - no wrenching - just driving!!

Aren't worthwhile improvements totally gratifying? Almost like a different car!!

Great! I will be doing alot of suspension work soon too. I think my car lowered itself(I think it has the original springs). But mine does not handle like yours, as it needs work in EVERY respect!:(


peace, Kyle

Richard, Richard, Richard... I cant believe you put those RUBBER straps onto your car... I wash my hands of you. :)

BrokenheartStudio Wrote:

Yo,

Mine's been lowered for over 7 years - and I think the RB are best served, in the pre-75 riding height.

Way to go! Dan

JimmyHilton Wrote:

what comes with the kit?

Front springs, 4 U bolts and nuts for the rear and two metal spacer blocks for the rear. Cost from Brittek $159. The kit is actually from Moss Europe - at least thats what it said on the box.

You have to modify the bump stops, but thats not hard.

To tighten up the suspension, its probably worth replacing sway bar bushings while you are at it if they are very worn.

i just checked ebay and the kit over here is £64.95, not bad at all, i need to do mine. as for bump stops, are these the straps on the back axle?

Mark - the bump stops are the rubber lumps that are mounted on the chassis. At the back they look like large black eggs. The prevent the axle burying itself in the petrol tank when you come down hard after flying over a speed bump.

For the rear ones, I just cut off about an inch using a hack saw. Takes 2 minutes.

The front ones are attached to the top of the cross member where the shock absorber is. This is a bit more complex. There are two sets of bump stops, a lower set and upper set. They are mounted on a metal plate that has 4 bolts. Between the lower set and car is an aluminium spacer. You remove this, cut it in half and insert it between the top stops and the car. This has the effect of moving the whole set up about an inch. Brittek makes a nice picture of the process and its really easy although the hacksawing part takes a few minutes. Also you have to bend the metal a little to get it to fit.

As for the rear straps...You will need shorter axle rebound straps at the back. They prevent the axle dropping too low while you are air borne flying over the speed bump. You can buy them or get Rusty "Brokenheartstudio" on this forum to make you some. If you don't buy them from Rusty don't tell him because he'll constantly give you a hard time about it :)

Incidentally, how's Doncaster? I grew up in York.

cheers

Rich

Did mine years ago, what a difference. I went a little further though. I replaced my 75 front crossmember with a CB crossmemeber to bring the front end down. Had to modify Cb rack & pinion shaft. The rear end was lowered by de-arching the springs. Love the way it handles, but lost some travel distance on rear axle.

dmills Wrote:

My rear bumper stops where simply cut too, and yup, the rear end has less travel - however, I hardly ever bottom out.

I was thinking about putting in a heavier shock valve, but don't know? I realize the leaf-springs do the heavy work, and the shocks, light work. Any ideas?

I think you are correct - the springs do all the work on the rear, the shocks just slow the rate of movement. I think if you not bouncing around too much, you could leave things as they are.