MGB Hit Manhole Cover

Driving on the road today, hit a manhole cover that was raised slightly with a pothole around it! The drivers side front end is on the ground!!!! Any ideas???? Is it kingpins???

Yikes! That must have been one severe hit. I've launched my B through the air during my teenage off-road excursions and never suffered anything like that.

I assume the wheel is still attached to the car? Something could be broken, or something could be bent. I would hope for broken, personally.

Probably collapsed spring and broken upper arm/shock.

That looks like the shock absorber has broken off its mounting or the shock arm has broken.

I don't think anyone will be able to tell you from the photo. I'd be willing to bet whatever bent or broke will be very evident when you look underneath.

Looks like the Grand Prix I got for my GF when I towed it in. The strut collapsed on it but MGs don't have those.:)

Nothing too severe as much as speed goes, only traveling 35 MPH..................I can't tell if the wheel is attached.............its kinda lying sideways! I can't post another pix to show the undercarriage!!!!!!

Please keep us posted as You go along.PICS.WE need pics.:thumbsup:
Sorry to see Your B is broke,Bye the way.:(

Here is what it looks like...............kinda hard to get a good pix!

I'm soooooooo sad!:(:thumbdown:

Wow! That must have startled you. Like the others have said, it should be clearly evident when you start pulling it apart.

It tore the bottom trunnion right out of each A-arm! I'd have to guess that those holes were pretty worn out already from a frozen lower trunnion bolt...

They do look a bit 'wallowed' in that photo don't they. Gees, that is such a shame to have that happen to your car, but think of the bright side, at least you'll get a new front end out of the deal. What about a claim to the municipality for damages done due to poor maintenance of the street? Just a stab in the dark but worth an attempt.

Jim B.

At least it's a quick, easy fix - and probably not expensive, depending on exactly what was damaged. It looks like the easily replaceable parts absorbed the hit, possibly preventing and damage to the undercarriage structure...

Don't be surprised if when you try to start the car, it won't start or stalls after a few seconds. You probably hit hard enough to trigger your Fuel Cut Off Valve and the fuel pump won't run until you reset it. That is, if you have one. I think they were only on '77 - '80s and I can't tell what year your car is from the photos.

EDIT: I should have said INERTIA SWITCH, under the dash. Not the valve in the engine compartment since that should only shut off if the car is upside-down. But a good jolt will shut off the Inertia Switch.

Check the RH side too. That was a disaster waiting to happen.

Photoshopped the picture.

Bingo! Lower trunnion ripped right out to the control arm ! And I mean ripped !

Before you start in with thinking that a repair is going to be fairly painless, you should spend some time examining everything having anything to do with the front suspension and steering.

I am not so much suspecting lots of other impact damage as I am concerned about the rust/wear condition of all of the bits.

From what I am able to see, rust and frozen parts played a big part in this and if one side was bad the other is probably in a similar condition, that is, DANGEROUS.

Spend your own time or pay for quality information, but expect a little down time.

Jack

Man I hate when that happens, hopefully there is not too much unseen damage after a closer inspection. Good luck in your quest, on repairing.

I actually did the same thing back in Liberty Missouri and the City paid the repair bill. The city had done some street repairs and neglected to replace the manhole cover. No markings or barricades anywhere. Good luck. Sorry about the damage, but fairly easily repaired.

Those A-arms were about 15 years overdue for replacement! Lower trunnion was probably loose, too. Lightened image...

Looks like the lower trunnions have been frozen for a while, and wore most of the way through the lower control arm. The Manhole cover just broke it the rest of the way through. It needed a front suspention rebuild long before now, but now you will have to do it. .

Thank god that you were not doing 75mph at the time or this would have been really bad.

I have heard of them flipping over when this happens at high speeds.

When there is a clunk in the front end these are what should be looked at as well as other items. I replaced my 4 as one was a little elongated.

I've seen enough worn out and neglected front suspensions to know exactly the condition that suspension was in the moment before you hit the pothole - everything was worn out and some of it was worn to the point of being dangerous. The pothole merely "informed" you of it in a sudden fashion. The good news is that once you replace everything it will be about the most night and day difference you can experience with regards to MGB mechanicals. But once you do that you better regularly grease it and monitor its condition!

Judy,
Might consider locating a used cross-member with everything attached as a rebuild starting point. I collapse like that could have damaged a variety of parts.

No big deal in the grand scheme of things as nobody was hurt! Congrats!

Glad you're ok. You were lucky it happened this way.

I have a used RB front end, but it's for a splined wheel, not a four-bolt and you're way over there and I'm way over here. Otherwise you could have it. Sorry. Hope it's not an expensive fix and I'm glad you're okay.

Can you put in a claim for damage against the state/town????

Judy I have a working front end you could have if it would help you out. I sent you a PM with the info.

This forum is great! Thanks to Matt T my B will be running again soon! THANKS MATT!!!!!!!:thumbsup:

That is wonderful.:thumbsup::thumbup:

That pothole did you a favour; the a-arm was not only ovaled where the lower trunion goes through, but I believe there is a rust hole in the picture? If that had happened at high speed, it could have been bad not only for you but for some other motorist. I do believe that as drivers of these older cars, we do have some responsiblity to make them safe even in states hat do not force us to do so.

A-arms are cheap. You should also look at the inner a-arm mounts as they might be next on lthe list. And don't put it on the taxpayers bill, you did need a new front suspension. It is not actually illegal to be personally responsible for stuff in America....yet.

Hi Matt,
Its me, Judy with the broken MG......I'm sorry I never got the front end......my boyfriend (conveniently?) split up with me, and he was the one going to take me to get the front end.......and he didn't want to help me out! .......I'm gonna miss my B this summer....its already getting real hot!!! Well, anyways, my question is......do you still have the front end?
Judy :)

Most likely slammed the the bump stop. I've seen the lip on the crossmember where the bump stop connects bent up. PITA to heat up and get bent straight. New A-arms, upper/lower trunnion kit, springs, (spring pans probably okay they're tough) throw in some new bearings and it should be less than $200 and a weekend of work. Now if the king pin is shot or spindle bent, now your talking another $400 for both sides but you could wait to do the passenger side.
On another note, as folks have already mentioned, I've pulled alot of cars apart and I've find the condition of the front ends to be horrible. Outta sight outta mind I guess. I'm really surprised we don't see this more often.

This brings up a good question,what to look for to insure our front suspensions are in safe condition. Can you jack it up and see the ovaling? I like to go around corners fast and wouldn't like something like this to happen. Can you experts about there give us hints on what to look for.

Jack up, pull road wheel, Turn steering wheel all the way left or right, Look. You can see when the head of the bolt is no longer centered in the end of the a-arm and you can definitely see when it gets as bad as that one was.

Judy,

Just saw this thread for the first time...

From your avatar it appears that your car has rocker guards on it (chrome trim under the doors and the bottom of the front and rear fenders). Usually, these are installed to cover rust. I suggest before you go too far in repairing that front end, examine the sills and floor of your car, or have someone do it for you. If the sills are shot, this would make the car as unsafe as the cancerous a-arms, and would be a very expensive repair.

Perhaps someone on this board would look at it for you?

Judy.....you might want to send Matt a PM since it's been 4 months since his response - and he might not be following this thread...

Judy, you may not realize it, but you were actually very lucky. Had you been zipping along at 70 mph on your way into Boston or somewhere in heavy traffic when that happened, you would have ground to a halt, been hit from behind maybe by a big SUV or a truck or flipped the car over. Think about that. Whatever it costs and whoever pays for the repairs, keep that in mind. Something under there was about ready to break due to rust or whatever. Good thing you found out about it at 35 mph. Sorry that happened to you, though, by the way. :)