Morris Minor Owners Club

I have a lowering kit fitted on my convertible and I Am very pleased with the ride and looks of my car except for when I carry anybody in the rear of the car as the wheels rub at times on the arches.
To raise the rear suspension slightly what would I need to cut the lowering rubbers down or what would be required please.

Lowering rubbers??

Lowering is usually achieved by fitting aluminium lowering blocks between spring and axle. If you want to raise the suspension slightly you need to reduce the thickness of the blocks which are normally 1.5" deep.

Ah yes my old springs had the rubbers and the lowering blocks were alloy so its a case of reducing the block which sounds like reverting back to original. I always thought this looks too high Imo.

What year is your convertible? The earlier cars had 7-leaf rear springs and the later are 5-leaf. With the earlier 7-leaf springs you can take the spring apart and use the bottom, shortest spring turned upside down and reassembled on the top of the remaining 6 leaves.

The result is lower by about the same 1.5", but with a slightly softer ride, which with the original 7-leaf springs was a bit harsh.

Do you have the bump stops in place? They must still be on top of the spring, but shortened and reshaped to work with the lowered suspension. What wheels are you using? Is the rubbing on the wing or the inner wheel arch? What size tyres are fitted?

If you look at the picture of our Minor, that has the mod done to the 7-leaf springs and works with 5.5" x 13 wheels, with 187/70 x 13 tyres without any rubbing. This was first done in 1970 (165/80 x 13 tyres then), and has been basically the same ever since then!

Hi Richard, my convertible is a 1970 and I fitted 175 65 14 tyres on banded wheels. I did previously have 165 55 14 tyres which were fine with passengers and I would prefer to keep to these tyres if I Am able to rectify the problem as they are a new matching set of tyres.
Would the leaf spring modification rectify the problem and would I still use the lowering blocks please?

A 1970 Minor convertible has the later, 5-leaf rear springs, so the modification described is not applicable. The 175/65x14 tyres are virtually identical in rolling radius to the standard 145/80x14 tyres, so apart for a bit more cross-sectional width, they should fit without rubbing IF the wheel offset is correct.

Where does the rubbing occur? Against the inner wheel arch or the return lip on the inside of rear wing? If it is against the wheel arch, then fitting some thin (1/4" - 3/8") wheel spacers may help (if you do fit some, make sure that the wheel studs have enough thread for full nut engagement).

If it is against the wing return lip, then apart from relieving the lip (not a good idea, because the stiffness is reduced/lost and the wing can very easily lose its shape), there is not much that can be done other than a size or more smaller tyres, which you found with the 165/55x14 tyres do not cause a problem. They are narrower and ~9% smaller radius, so the speedo and odometer will be rather optimistic!

Hi Richard
The rubbing occurs on the inner wheel arch lip so Im not sure if anything can be done other than a tyre swap.
Im wondering how much of a gap would be present if I was to put the car back to standard height now that I have the wider tyres although I do love the way that the car sits with the lowered front and rear.
best Alan

In my attachment picture the height looks perfect for me IMO and I do drive my car without rear passengers more often than not, however when my grandchildren want to ride in it with the roof down is when my rubbing occurs.
PS. I know I have winter tyres

If the tyres only rub with the roof down keep the roof up

philthehill wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2019 7:13 am If the tyres only rub with the roof down keep the roof up

I didn't think of that

philthehill wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2019 7:13 am If the tyres only rub with the roof down keep the roof up

That's a genius fix!

Lateral thinking at its very best...