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Aluminium Crossmember Pads

Posted by Wendelspanswick

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Aluminium Crossmember Pads #1
Wendelspanswick John H Somerset, United Kingdom	Posted: April 27, 2012 04:42PM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 2

Sorry in advance for the dual forum posts but I hadn't realised that there was a Motorsports forum.

Hi, I thought I would introduce myself and my current project, I am prepping a 1975 MGB GT as a hillclimb car for my son, we are in the process of fitting a CB crossmember and lower springs into the car and I was wondering if anyone has fitted aluminium crossmember pads to their car instead of rubber or Poly. Apparently this was done by BMC on comp cars! Machining up a set of pads shouldn't be a problem but some sites have suggested doing away with pads altogether and shimming the bolt into the over-sized hole in the crossmember?

Also fitting the CB crossmember involves shortening the steering column, most forums suggest re=splining the end of the shaft to fit the universal joint but I would be happier cutting a section out of the shaft and welding and sleeving. Has anyone fitted a collapsible, lattice type joint, into the shaft as a safety feature.
All thoughts gratefully received.

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Re: Aluminium Crossmember Pads #2
TomBrooksuk Tom Brooks Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom 1967 MG MGB GT	Posted: April 28, 2012 01:24AM Registered: 2 years ago Posts: 591

Hi John

I have almost finished a 1976 MGT GT circuit racer (there are quite a few threads on this forum about it)

Before we fitted a fully fabricated front xmember with coil overs from Dave Headley of FAB TEK (if you want any suspension advice or parts i would strongly advise emailing him) we fitted a early 1965 xmember, there are no need for the pads at all bolt the member directly to the chassis rails. You get a little extra lowering and it improves front end rigidity. It terms of actually bolting it to the frame we simply made up some little metal shims around 2-3mm thick and did a little work on the lathe to the RB bolts and it all fitted together great.

While your at it you can lighten the front xmember, lower A arms (fit longer neg camber ones btw) and spring pans with holes (pic attached of when we had this set up on the car) the if you are really keen you can slot the damper holes making camber adjustable.

With regard to the steering rack what we have done is use a CB rack, shorten it ( approx 1-2 inches) add a second UJ joint and machine the ends to fit. It works great now and was actually very straight forward. I would recommend against altering the steering rack mounts on the xmember as it will be a nightmare to correct the steering geometry again. The added benefit of the second UJ is in fact it allows you to position the steering shaft where you want in relation to the chassis rails and engine mount on the drivers side because when you come to put this all together as we did you will realise the steering shaft if left un modified wants to go straight through the engine mount on the drivers side......

Hope this is helpful if you want any more advise esp regarding the rear suspension as that is different to a CB car too and there are a few tricks to it i would be happy to help.

Tom

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Re: Aluminium Crossmember Pads #3
TomBrooksuk Tom Brooks Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom 1967 MG MGB GT	Posted: April 28, 2012 01:26AM Registered: 2 years ago Posts: 591

P.S ignore the steering rack in the pics that was simply a mock up to get the car rolling at the time

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Re: Aluminium Crossmember Pads #4
JP12 Joe Phillips Bristol, United Kingdom	Posted: April 28, 2012 03:11AM Registered: 4 years ago Posts: 166

John,

Lots of race cars are fitted with aluminium pads. You can normally buy them from MG Motorsport but it will be cheaper if you can make them yourself.

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Re: Aluminium Crossmember Pads #5
MGST Andrew Metford Perth, Australia 1966 MG MGB 1973 MG MGB GT 1974 MG MGB GT	Posted: April 28, 2012 07:44AM Registered: 6 years ago Posts: 807

I made some for my car out of nylon = even lighter than aluminium

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Re: Aluminium Crossmember Pads #6
fast-MG.com Dave Headley Cortez, 4 corners, Colorado, USA	Posted: April 28, 2012 08:57PM Registered: 4 years ago Posts: 3,209

Do what Tom Brooks said. I drill out 5/8" cone seat lug nuts to fit over the frame bolt/studs with nuts and washers below. grinning smiley

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Fast-MG.com Dave Headley, dba FAB-TEK offers full service race car parts and preperation for MGB & MGA race cars, SCCA and Vintage. Dave is a mechanical engineer and has raced MGBs since 1963.

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Re: Aluminium Crossmember Pads #7
V8MGBV8 Carl Floyd Kinggsport, TN, USA	Posted: April 29, 2012 07:11AM Registered: 8 years ago Posts: 2,463

In reply to # 2053214 by fast-MG.com Do what Tom Brooks said. I drill out 5/8" cone seat lug nuts to fit over the frame bolt/studs with nuts and washers below.

Awesome tip, thanks!

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Re: Aluminium Crossmember Pads #8
twentyover Greg Fast Burbs of Detroit MI, USA	Posted: April 29, 2012 10:26PM Registered: 7 years ago Posts: 2,221

In reply to # 2053214 by fast-MG.com Do what Tom Brooks said. I drill out 5/8" cone seat lug nuts to fit over the frame bolt/studs with nuts and washers below. grinning smiley

Dave- Having trouble visualizing this. Can you elaborate?

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Re: Aluminium Crossmember Pads #9
9146 rick dentel yardley, pa, USA 1970 Porsche 914 1978 MG MGB 2002 Mini Cooper	Posted: April 29, 2012 10:36PM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 1,349

Recommended for a street car??

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Re: Aluminium Crossmember Pads #10
fast-MG.com Dave Headley Cortez, 4 corners, Colorado, USA	Posted: April 30, 2012 03:54PM Registered: 4 years ago Posts: 3,209

Greg, W/O the rubber which fills up the oversize holes in the X-member and compensates for holes not exactly centered on the studs (they seldom are), the drilled out cone slips over the studs and the cone partially enters the Xmember holes and when clamped by 1/2" nuts and washers from underneath effectively averages out the misfit and locks the x-member in place to the frame rails.

How to advertise on this website

Fast-MG.com Dave Headley, dba FAB-TEK offers full service race car parts and preperation for MGB & MGA race cars, SCCA and Vintage. Dave is a mechanical engineer and has raced MGBs since 1963.

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Re: Aluminium Crossmember Pads #11
TomBrooksuk Tom Brooks Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom 1967 MG MGB GT	Posted: May 01, 2012 01:11AM Registered: 2 years ago Posts: 591

Rick,

No i wouldn't and haven't done this on my street car as well, theres no need i just used poly bush pads.

Tom

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