lowering the front

[lukedauvergne]

hi im looking to lower my car word on the street is this isn't to difficult but i would like to hear the story from someone whos done it themselves. is it difficalt to get them at the same level?
i have no idea what im going on about so please could someone save me many thanks.

[charlie_morris_minor]

Lowering the front and back is very easy and getting them level involves a bit of trial and error but certainly no difficult.

The back requires lowering blocks fitted between the rear springs and the axle. I believe they come in 1.5 inch blocks so you can lower as much as you want, within reason.

As for the front you have two or three options.. if you only want to drop the front by 1.5 inch this can normaly be done with the standard minor torsion bars. Read the Haynes manual about resetting the hight. There was a thread somewhere about how to do it but can not find it now (typical). You can use uprated torsion bars to allow the car to be lowered even more. Both these are simple jobs that require no changes to the body work and just require a spanner /jack/axle stands to fit. The final option is to change to coil over shocks but this I believe requires a change to the inner wing to fit them. I personaly went down the uprated torsion bars lowered the front by 3 inches and found the ride good. I am in the process of modifying my traveller and will be going down the uprated torsion bar route again if that is any sort of recommendation.

[bmcecosse]

Be wary of lowering the car too much. If it sits on (or very near to) the bump stops it will soon mash the front inner wing sections, and the engine bay tie-plates ! The front is easily lowered (or raised) by simply moving the suspension arm round one spline on the torsion bar. The uprated bars make little difference - and are not cheap! At the rear - Minors usually sit well down on the bump stops (which MUST be present front and rear) - but you can trim 1" off the rear bump stops - and about 1/2" off the front bump stops without causing any problems. Best suspension modification is to drain the nasty old oil out of the dampers - and refill them with SAE 40 oil - that's NOT 10W40 oil, but is 'straight' 40 oil - possibly Hellfrauds, certainly from a Motorcycle shop.

[Lukey]

I've often wondered how lowering the minor will affect the handling?

[charlie_morris_minor]

I've often wondered how lowering the minor will affect the handling?

That question is a bit difficult for me to answer as I not only lowered the car but also replaced the all the suspension with telescopic shocks as well as fitting an anti roll bar at the same time

So if you bare in mind all of thoughs points I found the handling greatly improved especially when driving through the twisty bits and roundabouts. Lowering the car, lowers your centre of gravity and hence your roll point and should therefore improve handling... within reason obviously.

As bmcecosse says you can move the minor torsion bar around by 1 spline which gives you the 1.5 inch lowering, I was talking about in my previous post. Do not attempt to lower the front any further using the standard torsion bar as you will have "unwound" the torsion bar too much apparently and they will effectivly stop working. As stated yes the uprated torsion bars are not cheap.. unfortunately the cheap route of modified marina/ital van/pickup route is nolonger an option as you can not get the parts to modify them..unless someone can correct me. But I will be spending the money as the saying goes "you pay your money and you take your choice"

Something i forgot to say previously, check that your rear springs are in good condition before lowering the rear because as your springs age and loose there temper they will naturally spread and lower the rear of the car. If you then add in lowering blocks you may not be able to fit your bump stops.

As bmcecosse said you must have your bump stops without them when your car bottoms out you will have metal to metal contact and you WILL damage your car! This applies to standard ride hight cars as well by the way, obviously lowering your car greatly increase your risk of bottoming out your car

[Lukey]

So it has a positive affect on handling because of the lower center of gravity? I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't have a detrimental affect on handling.

[ratrodmog]

When I was 18 and just got my mog I lowered the front by 1 spline and fitted 13" wheels to the front and left the back completely standard. This gave the car a great look IMO but when I came to driving it the steering was quite heavy(more than normal) and the back felt quite 'light' and seemed to 'skip' around. I then purchased the rear lowering block kit bringing the back down to a similar hight to the front and the handling and steering were back to normal, if not better.

[minor_hickup]

So it has a positive affect on handling because of the lower center of gravity? I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't have a detrimental affect on handling.

It will have a detrimental affect if the cars sitting on its bump stops! Once the bump stops are reached and compressed you have no suspension!

[Brouchard]

I have sorted the back of the car out.
When purchased the car had aftermarket alloy wheels fitted.
We decided to change these for minilites.
This is when things did not look right.
The wheels and tyres looked not quite right in the wheelarches.
Upon investigation it appeared the car had extra long spring hangers fitted and had been JACKED up at the rear.
By refitting the rear of the leaf spring to a higher position it now sits better,plenty of clearence between bump stops etc.
The front looks as though it too has been lifted a bit.so tomorrow I will sort that out.
We have known the car for many years ,but without taking any previous interest we now realise the car always appeared a bit higher than normal.
It had previously been restored in the mid eighties,its what people did then,myself and many others Jacked up or Highrided all sorts of vehicles.
Now everyone wants mild custom,original on the outside but uprated on the inside.
Street sleepers we used to call them.
If you are old enough and wait long enough everthing comes back around.

Bye For Now
Mr More Happy.

[charlie_morris_minor]

glad to hear you are getting it sorted.. always nice when you find the solution.