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Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower

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Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#1
Dominic S. Avatar
Dominic S. Dominic Soreco
Glen Rock, NJ, USA   USA
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Hello All,
1971 mgb. Does anyone have any suggestions on stiffening up the suspension? Car feels like it floats especially when turning or changing lanes at speed?
Also, and this most definitely has been spoken about but I’ll dig into it anyway, what do you think is the best electronic ignition/ distributor out there?
I see the flame thrower quite a bit is that a good enough one or is there better? I have a new coil now. Do you need to change it when going electronic?
Thanks guys!!

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#2
MG Cruiser Avatar
MG Cruiser Keith Delta4
Rockingham, WA, Australia   AUS
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1970 MG MGB "Moneypit"
How old and used are the armstrongs, this would be my first port of call. Changing out the rubber suspension bushes for urethane gives a marked improvement as does good tyre pressures.
For the dizzie...Go to Advance Distributors to have yours rebuilt by Jeff, you can't do better! Keith

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#3
rntanner Avatar
rntanner Roger N. Tanner (Disabled)
Oxnard, CA, USA   USA
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1970 MG MGB
1977 MG MGB
Open up the Moss pages and they have most everything you need.

You will need rebuilt shocks from several sources. I use Moss/

A flame thrower has to have heavy exhaust pipes (I use 3 1/2 inch diameter pipes...heavier than exhaust pipes.


Roger N. Tanner
Professional Engineer, Retired

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#4
joron Avatar
joron Silver Member Michel Joron
Roxboro, QC, Canada   CAN
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1977 MG MGB "Victoria"
2018 Jaguar XE "Meghan"
Inspect closely the coil springs, it is possible one is broken. It should not be soft at all. In fact, a 71 MGB should very stiff.

The sure sign you need to rebuild the shocks is when they leak or when there is no resistance when you press down on the fenders.


Note: I was able to swing the front by pressing repeatly on the the right side as the resistance was not enough to stop the momentum. I known one shock was gone. It turns out the coil on that side was broken as well. I changed also the bushings everywhere + engine mounts.


1977 MGB Red 'Victoria' and 2018 Jaguar XE 'Meghan'
All Classics:
Married, 2 children, MG MGB May to December, Jaguar the rest of the year.

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#5
purpleGT Avatar
purpleGT Gold Member Bud Osbourne
Pittsburgh, PA., USA   USA
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1956 MG MGA 1500
1972 MG Midget MkIII
1972 MG Midget MkIII
1974 MG MGB GT "The Grape"    & more
It's been my observation that a high percentage of MG suspensions are suffering from extreme wear. The MGB front suspension will last just about forever, if kept properly lubricated. But, not many were kept properly lubricated, over the years and, as a result, many are in need of rebuilding.

Shock absorbers wear out very gradually and you may be startled by how well your B reacts to having the shocks replaced with remanufactured originals from World Wide Imports of Madison (our own Peter Caldwell's outfit).

The BMC B series engine doesn't care how hot (or not) the spark is, but is very particular about WHEN the spark occurs. If your distributor is original, or has never been rebuilt, chances are it isn't meeting the engines needs for spark at the most appropriate times. As others have mentioned, Jeff Schlemmer, of Advanced Distributors, is the go-to guy foir distributor rebuilding and custom re-curving.

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#6
chris Avatar
chris Chris Roop (RIP)
Pendleton, OR, USA   USA
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If you really want an electronic ignition, my preference is the Crane XR-700. But, my distributors go to Jeff aka Advanced Distributors so I can use points.

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#7
Gokart Avatar
Gokart Rob Illingworth
Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand   NZL
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1974 MG MGB GT
2004 MG ZR 160 "SCRUFFY"
If you get excessive bounce carrying on after going through a bump then I would look at your shocks.

Check the shocks for oil, they are built to leak a bit but if excessive then they need a rebuild. Many recommend here; http://www.nosimport.com/ for replacements.

I would recommend a disassembly and rebuild with all new rubber components and bushes throughout to be sure you have everything operating effectively.

I also went for a 7/8 anti roll bar witch leveled the car out in corners and is not too hash (I think anyway).


Cheers Rob

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#8
sandglowB Avatar
sandglowB Al Blosser
Uniontown, OH, USA   USA
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1977 MG MGB
IMHO I would do the shocks, put in urethane bushings (big improvement) (really big), check your sway bar also. As far as the Pertronix flamethrower, I drive mine daily with one and have never had a problem. Instant starts, good mileage, been reliable so far. I just wish I had another 100 horsepower.


member - Emerald Necklace MG Register,
NAMGBR member #1-263
infantry RVN 1969,
Grunt 1/20th inf. 11th BDE, Americal Division

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#9
NOHOME P P
O, ON, Canada   CAN
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1967 MG MGB GT "Maggie (GT From Hell)"
In reply to # 3611209 by rntanner Open up the Moss pages and they have most everything you need.

You will need rebuilt shocks from several sources. I use Moss/

A flame thrower has to have heavy exhaust pipes (I use 3 1/2 inch diameter pipes...heavier than exhaust pipes.

Sorry to derail....

Roger.so good to see you back on the forum.

Pete

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#10
ted535is Ted S
Allentown, PA, USA   USA
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1974 MG MGB GT
On an otherwise stock suspension for my previous '70 roadster I did the following:

Rebuilt shocks. Your choice of valving but if you want cruise road manners stay with stock. Just having new ones makes a huge difference.
New bushings all around. Then new rear springs. Check ride height to see how bad they sag.
a 3/4 inch front sway bar with urethane bushings will make the car handle much, much better and help stiffen things up as well.

When I first got the '74 GT about a year ago it had a stock swaybar. I couldn't stand the body roll! First thing I did was the front sway bar.

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#11
Gerald O G O
..., NC, USA   USA
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1971 MG MGB GT
1972 MG MGB GT
1978 MG MGB
In reply to # 3611127 by Dominic S. ... what do you think is the best electronic ignition/ distributor out there?...
The best electronic ignition/ distributor is a crank-triggered coil per plug system with no distributor.
Like this:


Distributorless Ignition



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-10-17 09:31 AM by Gerald O.

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#12
thomas.dahl Avatar
thomas.dahl Tom Dahl
Bonn, NRW, Germany   DEU
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The original Armstrong shocks are actually pretty good, but once they wear out your car will behave like you describe. Of course there could be many other things wrong, like the springs, worn out bushing etc. One thing is for sure.. Check it out! Make sure you are not in danger of having a suspension failure big time.

I once had a wheel come of a car I had just bought while going around a roundabout in the UK!

You may wish to consider upgrading to adjustable GAZ shock absorbers while you are at it. That way you can play with your suspension settings. There are kits available with all you need from msc. Of course, you do realise that once you start stripping things down there will be many more parts to replace. The Germans call this the 'rats tail'...


Trying to fix up my dads old 1969 MGB. Lots to do. Lots to worry about. Lots of fun.

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#13
MGUK Paul Wiley
Watton, Norfolk, UK   GBR
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1977 MG MGB GT
I mention this as it doesn't seem to have been covered. The electronic distributor can usually cope with a higher current so a suitable coil can be used to take advantage of this. It produces a larger spark which aids starting, fuel economy and helps give smoother idling if other settings are correct.

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Re: Stiffer suspension and the flame thrower
#14
rocannon Avatar
rocannon Gold Member rocannon L
Comanche County, OK, USA   USA
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1967 MG MGB GT "GT From Hell"
Dominic,
I suggest the first thing you do is join an MG club. Here's one: http://mgccnj.org/ . I'm sure there are more in your neck of the woods.

Ride in/drive other member's cars. Find one with the suspension feel that you like, then duplicate it in your car.

"Stiffening" is pretty subjective. I've tried all poly and hated the harsh crash/bang feeling. Others love that feeling (remember: subjective winking smiley ).

I use V8 bushings (rubber) for the inner a-arms, very soft poly for the upper/lower kingpin fulcrums, rubber for the front of the leaf springs and poly for the rear shackles. The front cross member bushes are a hard poly. I find it a good compromise between crash/bang and overly soft.

Frank

In reply to # 3611127 by Dominic S. Hello All,
1971 mgb. Does anyone have any suggestions on stiffening up the suspension? Car feels like it floats especially when turning or changing lanes at speed?
Also, and this most definitely has been spoken about but I’ll dig into it anyway, what do you think is the best electronic ignition/ distributor out there?
I see the flame thrower quite a bit is that a good enough one or is there better? I have a new coil now. Do you need to change it when going electronic?
Thanks guys!!


Pogo is right.
—————————————————————-
The power of reasons is an illusion. The belief will not change when the reasons are defeated. The causality is reversed. People believe the reasons because they believe in the conclusion.

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