On Mon, 19 Jan 1998 18:37:50 +0000 "Scott Gardner"
<gardner7@pilot.infi.net> writes:
>> Scott Gardner wrote:
>>
>> > So Keith, how DID you compress the old springs? I removed the
>> > springs on my '72 to replace the A-arms, and none of the spring
>> > compressors I could find could be maneuvered into the available
>> > space. I ended up putting a half-dozen jumbo radiator hose clamps
>on
>> > each one and slowly tightened them in sequence until the spring
>was
>> > short enough to remove.
>>
>> There's an easier way, according to Haynes! When I removed
>my springs from a
>> '77 and a '74, I used this method with no ill effects. Simply place
>a floor jack
>> under the spring pan and jack the car up slightly (of course, the
>car should be safely
>> on stands now!) Remove the bolts that hold in the spring pan and
>stand out of the way
>> as you slowly lower the jack. If done properly, the spring should
>run out of
>> compression long before the jack is bottomed out, and it will fall
>harmlessly out of
>> the inside of the crossmember. Hey, it worked for me, but be
>careful! The first two
>> times caused me to fear a large spring shooting around my garage
>like a piece of
>> zealous flubber. I have faith in the "good book of MG" - the
>Haynes. YMMV
>> --
>> Michael S. Lishego
>> St. Andrews Presbyterian College
>> Elementary Education Major,
>> English Minor, Class of 1999
>> R.A. of Winston-Salem Hall
>>
>Maybe it's a chrome bumper/rubber bumper thing, but I found that on
>my '72, placing a jack under the spring pan does nothing but lift
>that corner of the car off the ground. The spring hardly compresses
>at all. To finish the job last time, I had to borrow a 235-pound man
>from an adjacent stall and ask him to sit on my fender while I jacked
>under the spring pan. Without the added weight, all of the parts of
>the car just moved upwards atthe same time, with no relative motion
>between them. Only with the added weight could I get the spring pan
>to move up with the body staying still.
>Scott
>
It;s not neccessary to completely compress the springs to remove them
with this method.
Place the car on jackstands, securely.
With the weight of the car on the stands, place a floor jack under the
spring pan/A-arm as far outward as possible (for maximum mechanical
advantage)
raise the jack until it just takes the weight of the suspension. the
suspension should move little if at all.
Remove the lower trunnion bolt and slowly lower the jack.
As the A-arm droops, the spring will drop free, with no tension on it.
" Installation is the reverse of dis-assembly"
Rick Morrison
72 MGBGT
74 Midget
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