I am having difficulty in changing the rear springs on my TC.
The axle is currently out, being welded and having the differential overhauled.
The nuts on the outer ends of lower rear shackle pins are off and the nuts on the upper rear shackle pins are loosened.
But the shackle plate won't come off. It appears that the outer washer (between the lower rear pin nut and the lower bush) on the lower rear spring shackle pin is seized solid on the lower rear spring shackle pin.
Can anybody help/advise? I need to change the springs and both rear bushes on both sides.
Thanks............... Bill Ritson
Changing the rear springs on a TC
Re: Changing the rear springs on a TC
Bill- I had the rear springs off last year, and I remember running across something just like this. I believe the assembly on that lower bolt hanger is more complex than it might appear. For one, I think the inner (towards center of car) part of that lower bolt hanger has a notch cut across it, to lock it in place so it does not rotate. You are talking about the other end, I know, but I cannot recall how I resolved the same problem you are having. I do not think it was seized solid on that bolt hanger, it just seemed like it was. Maybe someone else can shed more light here, as I cannot recall specifics. I do recall needing a very large breaker bar on that big nut, as I don't use air tools on this car.
Re: Changing the rear springs on a TC
Ah yes. I did this recently as well. As I recall one washer on the big bolt at the very rear was press fit on, and one part of the bolt that looked quite like a washer turned out to be a part of the bolt itself. What I ended up doing was slowly and carefully applying pry bars to it, starting out with a flat crowbar and a hammer until I had a bit of a gap and continuing onwards from there.
When I did it I had to pry onboth ends of the spring as to not make it get wedged tight on the silent bloc bushing as well
When I did it I had to pry onboth ends of the spring as to not make it get wedged tight on the silent bloc bushing as well
Re: Changing the rear springs on a TC
So a little bit more of an explanation of how I did it...
On the rear, the drop shackle is pretty solidly on there it seems. Strangely, the silentbloc bushing is hardly on there at all in comparison, but it seems to work so I'm none to complain.
Removal and replacement of the silentbloc bushing is as simple as unbolting it, prying off the spring, and then figuring out how to keep the spring steady as you press it in and out. For lack of any better idea, I ended up C-Clamping the spring to the frame rails of the MG with the body off, then using a bottle jack as a sort of "inverted press" to push the bushing out. I then burned the rubber out of the old silentbloc bushing and used the outer lip of it to press the new one in to not put a load on the rubber when I pressed it back in. Realistically, any old socket would have probably been fine, but you work with what you have on hand.
As for the rear shackle, there is little to destroy there besides old rubber, so it isn't so hard to take apart with a good set of prybars and a wrecking bar. As I said, the outermost "washer" is press fit on flats on the shaft. It will come off with some prybar action however. Putting it back on is the more tricky part, because the new rubber parts seem to be just a little bit wider than the flats on that bolt, and the washer has to be lined up. The way I figured out to do it was to make a mark on the washer with a scribe where it was supposed to line up, then had it turned ever so slightly counterclockwise of that way, and held the washer in place as firmly as I could by hand while driving the nut back on with a light impact.
As it turns out, there is a pretty good use for owning the cheapest P.O.S. battery powered impact money can buy. Since it only can push oh... 150 foot pounds or so, not only can it change tires without fear of breaking lug studs, but also in general it is pretty safe to wail away on it without fear of breaking bolt, but anyway I'm going a bit detailed with this business. It should suffice to say that if you do this move correctly, the washer will go back on like it was.
Anyway, on with removal. So you have to do both sides at once, like I said, or else the silentbloc bushing will "bind up" and then you have to rap the spring back into place a little bit, so working both ways with your prybar is the game. At that point, the whole spring should be off, but it will be still together, most likely anyways. Fortunately, you don't care about the rubber bits at this point. The way I got the assembly apart was to first twist the shackle apart now that it was off the bolt, and work it back and forth until it came all undone, then to go about scraping and prying the old rubber until it was all gone.
Don't despair. Reassembly is much... much easier.
While you are at it, it might be fruitful and possibly wise to replace the cotter pin on the other side of the big bolt, just in case you ever want to service it. A cheap punch set is... Invaluable to the removal of rotten cotter pins.
Most everything I found with working on this car came on and off pretty easy. Then you end up sitting down on the garage floor for an hour with a hammer and a punch trying to diddle with those blasted slotted circular nuts on the wheel hub and softly curse England under your breath!
Soldier on?
On the rear, the drop shackle is pretty solidly on there it seems. Strangely, the silentbloc bushing is hardly on there at all in comparison, but it seems to work so I'm none to complain.
Removal and replacement of the silentbloc bushing is as simple as unbolting it, prying off the spring, and then figuring out how to keep the spring steady as you press it in and out. For lack of any better idea, I ended up C-Clamping the spring to the frame rails of the MG with the body off, then using a bottle jack as a sort of "inverted press" to push the bushing out. I then burned the rubber out of the old silentbloc bushing and used the outer lip of it to press the new one in to not put a load on the rubber when I pressed it back in. Realistically, any old socket would have probably been fine, but you work with what you have on hand.
As for the rear shackle, there is little to destroy there besides old rubber, so it isn't so hard to take apart with a good set of prybars and a wrecking bar. As I said, the outermost "washer" is press fit on flats on the shaft. It will come off with some prybar action however. Putting it back on is the more tricky part, because the new rubber parts seem to be just a little bit wider than the flats on that bolt, and the washer has to be lined up. The way I figured out to do it was to make a mark on the washer with a scribe where it was supposed to line up, then had it turned ever so slightly counterclockwise of that way, and held the washer in place as firmly as I could by hand while driving the nut back on with a light impact.
As it turns out, there is a pretty good use for owning the cheapest P.O.S. battery powered impact money can buy. Since it only can push oh... 150 foot pounds or so, not only can it change tires without fear of breaking lug studs, but also in general it is pretty safe to wail away on it without fear of breaking bolt, but anyway I'm going a bit detailed with this business. It should suffice to say that if you do this move correctly, the washer will go back on like it was.
Anyway, on with removal. So you have to do both sides at once, like I said, or else the silentbloc bushing will "bind up" and then you have to rap the spring back into place a little bit, so working both ways with your prybar is the game. At that point, the whole spring should be off, but it will be still together, most likely anyways. Fortunately, you don't care about the rubber bits at this point. The way I got the assembly apart was to first twist the shackle apart now that it was off the bolt, and work it back and forth until it came all undone, then to go about scraping and prying the old rubber until it was all gone.
Don't despair. Reassembly is much... much easier.
While you are at it, it might be fruitful and possibly wise to replace the cotter pin on the other side of the big bolt, just in case you ever want to service it. A cheap punch set is... Invaluable to the removal of rotten cotter pins.
Most everything I found with working on this car came on and off pretty easy. Then you end up sitting down on the garage floor for an hour with a hammer and a punch trying to diddle with those blasted slotted circular nuts on the wheel hub and softly curse England under your breath!
Soldier on?
-
Bill Ritson
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2013 8:09 am
Re: Changing the rear springs on a TC
Thanks for your help guys. You were both correct. I guess that I was worried about applying too much leverage and breaking something. Yesterday I visited Brown and Gammons; Malcolm Gammons produced working drawings of this fitting and suggested drilling the washer and then spliting it with cold chisel. This took about five minutes this morning. The rubber bush has deteriorated sufficiently to jam the washer......The various parts are now being painted before reassembly tomorrow.
Regards, Bill
Regards, Bill