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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Elvis coulda sung-- got a lot of welding to do 🎵

Before he was a singer. 🤣🤣.

Last week my ar*e end became rather bouncy on the driver's side. I thought my shocks were shagged.

Then yesterday I looked.


Well my la shock's got loose
Just like a long necked goose
And the way it acts
I almost wouldn't know it's there
Now time's a wasting
Before summer is in the making
I gotta get it fixed
Before it's hangin in thin air

Mmmm, I got a lot of weldin' to do
Whole lot of weldin' to do
I gotta get mig gas, before my bracket becomes two
Oh, yes I've, got a lot of weldin' to do
Whole lotta weldin' to do
Well, I'd rather do it now before the whole thing bids adieu. 🎵🎵 😅😅

https://youtu.be/AWq_LHdZA9M?si=Ho1d4NL3DORnDeKQ






anamnesis

Come to think of it, it's a bit like hinge and bracket. 🤣🤣🤣🤣.





anamnesis

That'll keep you out of mischief for a while Anam.
Take it your shockers are ok then?
Jeremy MkIII

Well bless my soul, what's a wrong down there
I'm looking at some rot and it just ain't fair
Gonna need some work to fix my truck
Or when I drive, I'll be all shook up

Ah, haha, ha, hahaha
All shook up!
Bill B

https://youtu.be/I1iw8v-Dnu0?si=EUPnEUhNqS4Z6OGb
Bill B

Yep. Well at least the rears are Jeremy. I still want to get my fronts rebuilt though. Have you got yours back? On?

Brilliant Bill. 😅😅

anamnesis

Plan is to collect them from Bala tomorrow Anam.
Will ask what has been done to them, will post a pic and then fit them.
Let you know if there's an appreciable difference once they're back on.
Thought you had Frontline on the front?
Good luck with the welding.
Jeremy MkIII

Thanks Jeremy. Hopefully yours from the rebuild will be good, then I'll get my fronts done too. As I have a spare pair of rears, I'll have those done too, as they are all a bit uneven.

I had the FL kit on the front, but went back to levers when the FL oilite bushes became worn. Plan is to rebush and refit the FL 'temporarily'. The oilites are very cheap and easy to fit, but the pivot pins are a tad worn too, plus there's endfloat in the arms. Hence the FL refit will be temp'.

So I still want to get a decent pair of front levers for when I take the FL kit off again and refurb it properly.

If only we'd all known how long we'd keep these cars, we'd all stocked up on shocks before bl went belly up. Lol.






anamnesis

Shocks collected.
They've been machined to accept new bushes and the internals checked for wear. Apparently a couple of 'pins' needed replacing along with an external cover which was missing and allowing oil to escape 😕

The proof will be if there is a noticeable improvement when they're fitted but they seem very knowledgeable about lever arms.
V&C will only work on genuine Armstrong dampers so check the casting has Armstrong cast on it before sending anything to them.


Jeremy MkIII

Anam I replaced those triangular brace panels on both my cars as apart from the shocks they pretty well support the whole rear of the car. The steel was quite thick but didn't, AFAIR, have that extra L plate spot welded on.

Its interesting that on your original the extra bit doesnt appear to extend into the spring box like your replacement part does. Its obviously a high stress area but the line your original has sheared along suggests the additional reinforcing has concentrated the stresses rather then solve the problem. Were your rear shocks very stiff, or maybe siezed?
GuyW

My thoughts exactly Guy. Not seized, but definitely stiffer than my originals. And makes me wonder too, on the risks of uprated shocks on standard metal panels. As with uprated roll bars ripping off the standard brackets.

My existing RHS shock' became too 'soft'. I'd bought a used good pair, and I did wonder if they'd been 'uprated', as although my existing LHS shock seemed fine, -- bounce test --, the pair I bought did feel stiffer. I fitted both about 2 years ago.

I think you must be right. The stiffer shock has found a weak point. Too stiff and ripped the panel apart? Maybe.

But rust is a big factor too. That additional plate had acted as a shelf and gap, for moisture to get under the factory paint, and the underseal I've used over the years. You can see it in my pictures.

But the LHS triangle panel is still solid. I scraped off the dirt and underseal and it looks as good as factory new. I'm guessing the driver's side gets more filth and water the passenger side. But is the LHS too being gradually weakened by a stiffer shock? I'll have to keep an eye on it.






anamnesis

My red circle indicates where some of the metal is missing. Rusted away. I hadn't noticed it. 😬.


anamnesis

Can someone please post address & contacts for V & C please that I may pass on to others.
Alan Anstead

Not so easy to spot under the rust, but the extra spot welded plate does extend into my spring box. Rust weakened it at the break point.

It seems to me too, more than a coincidence the horizontal break is along the top of that plate. Even without rust there must be extra stresses. But, it lasted almost 60 years. So perhaps it doesn't matter much; -- as long as the shocks aren't too 'stiff'.

I wonder how much though those triangle panels really add support. Other than holding the shocks, they don't seem man enough to me to do a lot of support, when you look at their thickness and positioning.

Either way, I've got to replace my RHS.

Although, I'm considering leaving the top half in place and using a section of the new one to repair mine; whilst extending that L plate upwards to add add strengh to my join.


Alan.
https://www.vandcengineering.co.uk/

VINTAGE & CLASSIC ENGINEERING Ltd
contact@vandcengineering.co.uk
The Old School,
Llandderfel,
Nr Bala,
Gwynedd
LL23 7HW
07544 596014






anamnesis

Probably the ugliest welding in the world. I doubt you'll ever see uglier. 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

But it works, it'll do for now, and gets my Sprite back on the road, which I need as it's my only car.

I was going to use just the lower section of the new panel, but so much of the existing one has rust damage, I'll have to replace the whole thing I think. That'll take much longer than the few hours I spent in the garage today. And not only do I need the car right now, I don't fancy spending too long in my cold garage either.

So assuming my ugly temp' job holds up, I'm 100% certain it will, I'm going to wait until the warm weather, and when I don't need the car daily as I do at the moment.



anamnesis

I drove 60 miles on our crap pockmarked roads yesterday, -- a very good test of my 'repair'. It held up admirably.

Meanwhile the replacement panel I bought on ebay, an unwanted heritidge part, was delivered.

I'm quite surprised at how heavy it is. It seems far sturdier than the panel on my Sprite suggests it would be. It's a much heavier gauge steel than I expected.

When it's a tad warmer and I have the time, I'll scrape the dirt, underseal, and paint off my panel higher up and investigate the easiest way to replace it. But if it's the same heavy gauge as the replacement and not rust degraded, I may still do a sectional repair.






anamnesis

This thread was discussed between 08/03/2026 and 14/03/2026

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.