Subject: Re: [Mgs] question about steering rebuild

From: Eric J Russell via Mgs <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 May 2015 16:05:41 -0400

> When I hit the road in my 62 II deluxe, especially on bumpy roads, I get a
> lot of rumbling , clunking and shaking. She goes down the highway
> smoothly; no veering and only above 70 do I start to get some shimmying.

How are the tires? Some tires will 'flat spot' when left sitting. Some will
become round again after driving for a while, some seem to take a permanent
set. Uneven wear, broken cords, etc cause all sorts of noise/shakes.
Remember that you can balance a square tire - but it won't give a smooth
ride.

> I am planning to put in a major suspension kit and steering bits
> I am thinking specifically about any steering ball parts, or shims.
> Suspension springs front and rear, rebound buffers. Although there is no
> problem that I am aware of, I am also thinking of putting new bearings in.

New parts for the sake of having new parts might be false security. I have
found that many of today's reproduced parts are inferior to parts from
'back-in-the-day'. If not broken/sagging then springs are not usually a wear
item. The MGA steering rack is usually very long-lived if kept full of oil
(90 weight, not grease). Wheel bearings can usually be serviced by cleaning
& re-packing. This avoids having to R/R bearing races unnecessarily.

Rubber suspension bushes are certainly suspect. Unfortunately, today's
rubber parts do not last as long a they used to. Polyurethane bushes will
give a slightly harsher ride but they'll usually last a lot longer. If there
is a choice of firmness, a soft polyurethane is close to rubber's
compliance.

Eric Russell
Mebane, NC

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From: Clayton Kirkwood via Mgs <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 May 2015 14:03:08 -0700

Thanks Eric. No, I don't think there is anything wrong with the tires; she
gets driven often, and bumping problem is just at around 70+. Having never
seen original springs front or rear, I don't know what would be sagging. I
know that in the old Landrover trucks, it's not uncommon to replace leaf
springs from time to time. Like the square wheel analogy:<) As far as the
bearings, like I said, I don't having specific indications that the bearing
are failing, but bearing can pretty easy to replace, but like you said,
false security is always an issue.

Clayton

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric J Russell [mailto:[email-masked]] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 1:06 PM
To: [email-masked]
Cc: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: [Mgs] question about steering rebuild

> When I hit the road in my 62 II deluxe, especially on bumpy roads, I 
> get a lot of rumbling , clunking and shaking. She goes down the 
> highway smoothly; no veering and only above 70 do I start to get some
shimmying.

> I am planning to put in a major suspension kit and steering bits I am 
> thinking specifically about any steering ball parts, or shims.
> Suspension springs front and rear, rebound buffers. Although there is 
> no problem that I am aware of, I am also thinking of putting new bearings
in.

Eric Russell
Mebane, NC

[email-masked]