The Dark Wob

The worst thing about owning an MGB and a series Landrover is some of the other owners, followed closely by the fact that just about anything else is quicker, more economical, and cheaper. This is irrelevant if you're in it for the long haul, have sorted out all the stupidities, and actually enjoy driving them.
In the case of my series vehicle, of increasing concern is that they have become seriously overvalued and cannot be left just anywhere as they are unlikely to be there on your return.
The MG owners club mutterings about parabolic springs didn't manifest itself over the 2500 miles of towing a caravan that I've done with the MGB this year- they never bottomed once on the potholed tracks that the government refer to as motorways.

So where did you get your springs from and would you recommend them for a MGB that isn't used for towing?

Thanks

What puts me off the parabolic springs is that it's highly recommend to move away from the lever dampers. I'm not a pursuit but I do like the mechanical simplicity of the lever dampers. Look not far off something you'd see on a horse and cart.

There are some very cheap spring kits out there. Like this:
http://www.msc.parts/contents/en-uk/p31 ... 65-74.html

Moss still have an offer on theirs too:
https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/leaf-spri ... ahc31.html

I agree they're simple things to make and there is no reason why a factory in Asia can't make them. However they build everything to a spec. You can demand high quality and they'll do it. However like many repro parts, people want everything to be no more than a fiver and thus they build it to that.

Moss do stock that Cornish companies upgraded calipers but interestingly not their springs. Possibly they think it's too expensive for the market to take?

Jones springs I couldn't find a listing for the MGB and GB Springs didn't list a price of theirs.

Moss have their parabolic springs on offer at the moment:
https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/parabolic ... gb-gt.html

I think the price is each

I've had telescopics on the back since about 1980 or so and preferred them to levers. I suspect that I'm going to need new rear springs, as they're original, but can't check as I haven't seen it for about a year and a half so am getting the info ready in case the garage ring to tell me that I do need them.

Mine aren't hitting the bump stops but as others have said, it's riding pretty low at the back. I'd be interested to see the difference in driving performance between the levers and telescopic. I wonder if I'd even be able to tell the difference.

The front of my car has had a lot of the suspension parts replaced. All the rubber (apart from subframe) has been replaced and I'm running polybush on the bottom arms. I have noticed that the rubber bushes on the top of the trunion are already looking a bit out of shape. If that repro rubber is a bit shot, I'll probably replace it with PolyBushes from Moss. Supposed to be harder but I've not noticed anything bad about the bottom arm ones. But then I'm used to much harder modern cars.

Because of that, a lot of the suspension rattle had gone from when I bought it. Now it's pretty tight and I'd be interested to feel the difference on one with less love on the front end. 6Cylinder from AS drove it and he said it felt a lot tighter in the steering than his MGB GT, which he admitted was a tired, elderly old girl.

I still prefer driving this on country lanes than my Boxster. Boxster is much nicer for longer journeys and especially cruising though. That may change though once I get the top mounts on the Boxster replaced. Also the top end noise from the rattle of the tappets still irritates the fuck out of me. If we ever move house, the Dolomite will be welded up and I want to pull the MGB engine before the start of summer. Inspection/light rebuild on the bottom end and then send the head off to Peter Burgess for a rebuild and a very light port polish or whatever magic he does. Also tend to a few bits of the bodywork that are a bit worse for wear, before they get properly bad.

set your tappets with a SPQR Tappet adjuster, allows for wear in the rocker face. Also worth checking that the rockers are not loose on the shaft, you will never get them anywhere near set if the rockers / shaft setup is worn out

Tappets should make a noise which is why ohc is more refined. if your tappets don't make any noise then likely that they will be gtoo tight

Why don't you see if the existing springs can be re-tempered.

That's a good point.

I'll ask that when they eventually get back to me.

chadders wrote: ↑Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:01 pm So where did you get your springs from and would you recommend them for a MGB that isn't used for towing?

Thanks

I had these, they're fine without 750kg of caravan too. I think changing dampers is more sales bollox, they say that for Landrover ones too, bullshit about needing better damping due to less friction, maybe new teles will feel better but only because they're replacing something knacked.
With lever arms you can simply put heavier fluid in if you're arsed, but who's going to bother? Re-tempering and re-cambering - I had the latter done to an AEC Regent double decker once to stop it leaning (so much) but neither applicable for a car.