Morris Minor Owners Club

going to upgrade to polly bushes this weekend, but before i order i have a daft question.

http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pop ... p?pID=2347
in the picture,
orange are for tiebars
blue for the top of the kingpin
and whats red ones for?

The eye bolt that goes into the chassis leg.

Or rear springs too, I think.

yep thats my guess as well

there is a bush on the eye bolt?

Yes, 2 each side for the eye bolt that goes through the chassis leg - and yes, they are the same as the rear springs (6 each side).

ahh, ill have to replace them as well. looks like its going to be a busy few days,

I advise only to fit the poly tie-bar bush on the outside face of the tiebar front mount - and a new rubber bush on the inside- thus retaining a little flexibility for movement - but good location when braking.

Better to use metalastic bushes in the eye bolts

Indeed - when I dismantled mine a couple of weeks ago to fit poly bushes, I found a metalastic bush in one side - and in perfect condition.

If you are replacing the tie bar bushes you may find that the new bushes currently being sold are too thick for the rear of the tie bar.
Regards
Declan

Which is part of the reason I advise a rubber bush there! It allows you to crank the nut up tight - and pull the castor angle up slightly!

Roy,
The rubber tie-bar bushes being sold are 3/4" thick and are from very hard synthetic rubber. It's no problem on the front of the tie-bar but I could not fit them on the rear where I still have the old perished rubber bushes. It could have to do with my teflon eyebolt bushes which don't flex at all. I'll have to cut the rear tie-bar bushes to fit but I haven't got round to it so I can't say exactly how much has to be cut off.
I was going to fit the adjustable tie-bars that are available but I was quoted over 50 GBP for the postage so I declined. I asked the company to recheck the postage or quote me the postage to our company branch office in the UK but I never got a reply. For 50 GBP I could fly over and collect them.
Who sells these metalastic bushes?
Regards
Declan

Hi

I just got a pair of Metalastik bushes from ebay the Metalastik part number on them is 13/1772

They were originally for a J4 van I believe but they will fit great in place of the eyebolt bushes.

They have to be shortened to fit in the minor and the question I have is - Should I machine them so that the steel tube thro the middle is clamped by the suspension arms when bolted up ( I would do this when using a poly bush with a loose centre tube) or should I leave a small clearance so that the tube can swivel on the pin.

I think its the latter but any thoughts/advise would be appreciated.

Taupe

The metalastic bush in mine just seemed to be the correct length for the eyebolt - no more, no less. I happened to have a couple of new-old-stock tiebar rubbers in stock - so I used them. I believe if the front tiebar mount is too stiff - it will be putting tremendous flexing strain on the mounting brackets each time the suspension moves - strain they are not designed to resist. They are only intended to resist the braking forces -and I realise I am pushing (or more likely pulling!) them to the limit by fitting very powerful 9" Wolseley drums on the front. But I do keep a close eye on them.........

Not sure if the pattern chassis legs that I fitted during the restoration are made from the same gauge material as the originals, but the vertical part fo the tie bar mounting did distort rearwards slightly after 10+ years, presumably under braking. The combination of vented discs, 4-pot calipers, Mintex 1155 pads, 2.2:1 servo and very sticky Yokohama A021R tyres defintely puts more load on the tie bars!

I have since straightened them and welded a 3mm stiffener to the rear edge and no movement since.

I use poly bushes both sides of the tie bar front bracket, which have been there for 13 years, with no sign of wear at all. All the bushes were bought from SuperFlex, but they don't appear to have Minor parts listed on the website at the moment, which is a bit strange.

The castor has been increased by 1° by moving the bottom suspension arm out by about 10mm to correct the camber angle, which goes horribly positive when the car is lowered. As the suspension arm is moved out, the outer end moves forward slightly, as it is contrained by the tie bar. The result is a hint of negative camber + 1° more castor to improve 'turn in' = double benefit!!

" The result is a hint of negative camber + 1° more castor to improve 'turn in' = double benefit!! " - absolutely - best mod you can make to the Minor front suspension!