Dear Fellow British Car enthusiasts:
I wonder how many of you are devoted to that fine publication: "Your Classic" I
have been an avid reader since the days it was called "Restoring Classic Cars"
I still enjoy taking the back issues out and reading, I always find something I
had not noticed before. In the Feb. 1994 issue there was an article on MGB mai
ntenance. In this article I found one bit of advice I would like to pass on to
all enthusiasts. The article recommended that one wire brush their rear-leaf sp
rings and spray the springs with oil for a smooth, comfortable ride. If the ope
ration of a leaf-spring is considered, the lubrication makes sense. The leaves
in a clean, oiled spring will slide over one another easily as the spring is de
flected. In over 15 years of general automotive enthusiasm and study I had neve
r heard this. We forget today how prevalent leaf-springs once were and the fine
performance they gave. For instance, the superb Maserati Ghibli had a live rea
r axle on leaf springs but its cornering capability was equal to that of the Fe
rrari Daytona and Lotus Europa! LJK Setright once likened the leaf spring to on
e of the last vestiges of the blacksmith's art in automotive engineering. The l
eaf spring lent itself to other elegant solutions such as the leather gaiters o
ver the spring itself in the Rover P4. I wire brushed my B's leaf springs and s
prayed them with motorcycle chain oil. I cannot say with certainty whether the
B did indeed ride better afterward, but, theoretically the procedure makes sens
e and might be of great benefit to those whose springs might have been caked wi
th mud and sand.(Mine were pretty clean to start off with) I shall make this pr
ocedure part of my normal chassis attention. I will be interested to hear of ot
her people's results from the procedure on their British baby.
Cheers!
David Knox
Renault Fuego Turbo 1976MGB roadster
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