A tech tip from Bernard Allison
Recently, Bernard had to replace the steel tubes, bolts, and rubber bushings on the bottom links of his 1957 MGA’s front suspension. He was concerned about releasing the pressure of the springs and came up with this safe, easy method of doing it alone.
Lift the front of the car and support it with a pair of jack stands under the crossmember. Slack oil the nut on the lower link bolt, then slacken the four nuts and bolts that hold the spring pan to the a-arm. Remove the sway-bar link.
Place a jack under the inner edge (the widest part) of the spring pan and lift it to remove weight from the spring pan blots. Remove the two inner bolts, then slowly lower the jack allowing the spring pan to hinge on the two outer bolts. With the front of the car supported on the crossmember, the front suspension will be resting on the lower bump stop and the spring pan will only have to be lowered a few inches to remove all tension from the spring. Once the spring has been removed, the remainder of the suspension can then be disassembled to whatever extent is necessary for the job at hand.
To put the spring back in, simply reverse the disassembly procedure. The beauty of this method is two-fold. The job can be done by one person and as Bernard says, “This method takes away the tension of having the spring jumping around the garage walls.” We heartily agree.
Bernard will receive a Moss gift certificate for his contribution.
'Removing & Replacing MG Coil Springs' has 1 comment
September 18, 2019 @ 7:27 am David Lyddall
Great method! This made changing the coil springs so simple! On my ’72 MGB there are 3 small bolts (the front and rear inner bolts holding the spring pan, and the outer rear bolt). The outer front corner of the pan is held in place by the sway bar link bolt. I loosened the outer bolts, removed the inner bolts as described (with a jack lifting the inner edge of the pan enough to remove tension from the bolts). After lowering the jack, I was able to pivot the spring pan down enough to remove and install the spring without having to remove the sway bar link or the outer rear bolt. Total time for replacing both front coil springs was under 30 minutes. The new springs appeared to be the same height as the old springs when I compared them on the ground, but when installed, the ride height is about an inch higher. I’d replaced the leaf spring a couple of weeks earlier (on of the leafs had cracked and the axle had shifted backwards on that side) and noticed how much the rear ride height was raised, so thought I’d better do the fronts also. The ride is massively improved – no more crashing over small road imperfections or grinding over speed bumps.