> The left rear side of the Midget is starting to sag a little. The leaf looks
> a little worn out. How difficult is it to replace the springs on these
> little buggers?
> Marcus
Like almost everything else on these cars, it depends on rust. If the car
is rusty, problems abound.
I suggest you change both springs out for new ones. You can expect more
trouble in the near future if you put used ones in. Get new spring-eye
bushings when you get the springs. The springs and bushings I got from
Moss were OK.
Loosen the wheel nuts. Put a floor jack under the differential pumpkin and
raise the car. Hold a wide board across the car under the corner between
the belly pan and the vertical in front of the rear axle. Be sure not to
cover the horizontal flanges at the front of the springs. Put
jackstands under the board as you lower the floor jack. Lower the jack
until it just barely touches the diff. Have the front raised on
jackstands too or have the wheels very well chocked. You are going to put
some forces on the car, and you want it to remain safely motionless.
For the following, do all of one side of the car, then repeat for the
other side.
Remove the four nuts at the bottom of the axle. Remove the U-bolts that
go over the axle. Raise the floor jack just enough to lift the axle off
the spring a bit. Pull the plate down out of the way. You should not
have to take the shock absorber links off.
Remove the nut from the bottom of the rear of the spring. Here is where
rust can get you. There is a steel sleeve on the inside of the bushing.
If it is rusted to the bolt, you are going to have problems. If the bolt
turns freely, smile. Leave it sitting in there for now.
Remove the vertical bolts that hold the front mount to the car body. You
may break them off, and will therefore have to drill out and tap the nuts
welded to the car and use a larger bolt. If not, smile. You can now
lower the front of the spring, remove the rear bolt and remove the spring.
Now you have to remove the front mount from the spring. If the steel
sleeve in the rubber bushing is rusted to the bolt, you will have
problems. Otherwise, it is a breeze, as you have room away from the car
to get on the nut and bolt with substantial wrenches.
If the aforementioned steel sleeves are frozen in, remember this: You
have a new spring. You have a new bushing. Grade 5 bolts are easy to
buy. The only things you have to save are the spring mount (front) and
shackle (rear). So destruction is an acceptable alternative. A good
implement of destruction is a rigid hack saw and some decent blades. Saw
through the bushing between the spring and the mount, or diagonally across
the spring itself, whatever you can get away with. Expect much swearing.
You could try melting the rubber with a torch, but the smell! If the rear
shackle bolt refuses to cooperate, it is to your advantage to remove the
mount from the car by taking out the bolts that go into the trunk. This
allows you to get the spring out to the vice where you can get violent
with it in greater safety and comfort.
When you reassemble, use Grade 5 bolts. Use new nylock nuts on
everything. The bolts that go through the bushings should be liberally
slathered with silver anti-seize compound to prevent future problems. I
suppose one could find suitable stainless bolts instead, but I have no
experience with that.
Once that is done, you do the other side of the car.
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