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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Frontline Developments

Has anyone had experience of Frontline Developments suspension and brake upgrades? I'm particularly interested in the rear suspension kit available for my Frogeye. They claim that by fitting their kit together with new springs or the original ones retempered that the ride is vastly improved and as good as the MKll Sprite and midget.
John Stephens

How long have you got?

Lots of people have experience with their stuff. Some is fine, some is not, and some is a long way off.

I've only got one new thing from them, double hubs, and I've not found any issues with them so far, but again, others have. I also have an rtl (second hand) and although it works very well it's a bit lightweight for my liking.

I'm sure others will be along soon with various opinions :)
Rob Armstrong

On my Mk3 Midget I've had front and rear damper conversions with new springs and the 5-speed g/box conversion, all supplied and fitted by FL. I strongly recommend that if you buy their goods that you get them from another supplier and either fit them yourself or get someone else to fit them.

I have been to them at Batheaston and later Steventon.

They are excellent at PR, marketing and sales and making claims.

A possible alternative for the brakes depending on what you want may be JLH, the products look well made and Jonathon is more than reasonable to deal with, I've seen the stuff in the metal and spoken with him at his workshop, he used to post on here.

http://www.jlhmorrisminors.co.uk/



Nigel Atkins

Im in the usa

ive purchased the front suspension system from FL... but have yet to install it ...the service was excellent and the people seem very helpful and knowledgeable and they alwwys returned emails in a reasonable time considering we are half a world apart... but you better have some cash... they aint cheap ...but the kit looks very smart

that said... definatly look into JLH ... i completely back nigel

jlh is not cheap ... but he is cutting edge and probably the best new devoloper in spridget related modifications... and he is a good man from what i can see from the threads...his parts are well thought out and real world experianced before there ever released to the public...i seriously dont think you can go wrong with jlh


remember this... if you invest in his parts... you wont remember the sticker investment 3 mknths later when your enjoying your car with his parts

prop

Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Is it just me or does anyone else have trouble with the JLH website. When I click on Nigel's link above I see the Midget products but if I click on anything else the age is blank.
Chris Hasluck

My experience of them is positive, and going on the comments about the LE50 & Abingdon models they produce must be doing something right.
If I were to start on another build I would probably not go for a full kit straight away, perhaps starting at the back so I can be more positive about how different the car feels, before deciding to change the front.
But on the whole I am pleased, it seems with other alternatives available you for consideration though so do report back when you have made your choice.

The web link was the same blank pages for me too.
P Bentley

JLH site seems to work for me but you do need to have scripting turned on.
David Billington

JLH site works OK for me (Win7HP + Firefox), I wouldn't know if I have scripting turned on!
David Smith

It seems I can see the JLH site if I use Firefox but not if I use Explorer. No idea why but problem solved (sort of).
Chris Hasluck

Well... i can pull up the JLH site on my phone but when i click onto any links on the site ... errr my phone... it crashes

so somethings a miss....my guess is a bad lucas condenser in his windows 10 OS ( :

prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

We've had a pair of JLH alloy front hubs on the rally midget for 5000 miles, no problems at all and very well made.

David
d brenchley

Hmmm,

Didn't know I had a problem, until I tried the JLH website just now.

Went in and all looked fine, could navigate to go anywhere, then - - - - - nothing!

The menus are all there, but nothing shows when a selection is made.

Win 10, Explorer 11 and scripting was already 'ON'.

Think JLH need to sort out their website pronto.

Richard
Richard Wale

Works fine for me - XP and Firefox on this machine.
richard boobier

What browser are you using Prop? It works perfectly for me using Chrome on a tablet running Android 4.2.1. Also on my phone on Android 6.0.1.
Greybeard

JLH link works perfectly on my Samsung Galaxy tab S 10.5 tablet and I can access all the catalogue links.
Bernie Higginson

Apparently the JLH website is not fully accessible using Internet Explorer, but is fine with Chrome or Firefox, which explains the varying experiences above.

Still think they need to get it sorted!

Richard
Richard Wale

Indeed. There are a lot of people who only use IE.
Dave O'Neill 2

As this thread has been somewhat hijacked onto the topic of 'difficult websites', I've always found PBW (Birmingham) a difficult website to use. I think it only works using Internet Explorer. (I assume PBW is still trading, I haven't visited for some years). http://www.pbw-mg-ah.co.uk/Location.html
Andy Hock

Ref the original post - I would say that it depends what you want to do. If you wish to go haring around a track, then Frontline may be the way to go. If however you wish simply to improve the car and drive a little more spiritedly on the road, then polybushing, reconditioning the original LA dampers, and perhaps simply replacing the rear springs with like for like may be the way to go. The latter is perhaps considerably more cost effective - if the labour is free of course.
Mark Ogden

Apologies for the hijack, but an update on JLH.

I email Jonathon at JLH, and after suggesting that I change my browser to suit their website, he is now looking at changing the website to suit IE users' browser. Good move!

Richard
Richard Wale

I am a big fan of telescopics over levers, from personal experience. And I'm probably a bigger fan of triangulation of the front end, particularly from the point of view of stopping bits wearing out.

An alternative to the FL kit that keeps the LA dampers at the front is Peter May's top link kit, which I took inspiration from for my own front end.

I think you can also get rose jointed radius arms for the back of the frog eye, but that's probably a bit extreme for a road car.

there are a few (cheaper) rear end alternatives around - ClassicConverts is one that springs to mind.
Rob Armstrong

Just a quick message re the JLH website. We appologise for the inconvenience that some maybe experiencing re access to our website and all of its pages. Efforts are being taken to increase its visibility, but we are informed that there are specific issues with IE. Ms Edge and customer settings on their browser. Apparently issues are with normal / benign scripts which are blocked by default in those browser settings. We have raised these issues with the shopping cart provider,and hopefully the problems will be resolved soon.

We are currently building a new website which will be more comprehensive
in terms product range, but in itself we are informed ,will not be able to cure the issues with IE and MS Edge.

MS Edge users,should try turning on 'SmartScreen' in the browser settings.
IE versions before 11 are not supported by MS since Jan 2016.

We will keep you updated on a seperate thread.
If you need specific info on any of our products but cannot view the website please email me on info@jlhmorrisminors.co.uk, or call me on 01926 817890 anytime from 9.00am to 5.30pm mon to friday


Thankyou for your patience and kind comments re my business.
J L HEAP

Brilliant response Jonathan.
Greybeard

To be fair to JLH I'm running a script blocker in Firefox and had to allow their scripts to run to see the items on the pages but then I installed the script blocker add on so I know this may be an issue. I installed the script blocker as I found certain websites such as ebay getting so slow and clunky due to the high level of 3rd party advertising scripts dragging down the browser that it became a necessity, just allowing the various ebay sites for scripts get things back to an acceptable response level.
David Billington

Depending on which statistics you read IE is the 2nd or 3rd most popular browser (Chrome being top, but I'm guessing that has a lot to do with Android devices)so it would appear odd to not make a website which works on it ... Almost without exception (I certainly cannot think of any at the moment), every other website I visit does and they are all no less useable or attractive.
I don't know who provides the shopping cart but there are plenty of alternative that work across all browsers. I did click on the Secure Shopping Lean More logo in the bottom right corner, but that does not appear to work even in Chrome?
G Hawkins

For information

Website should not be compatible with all browsers. If you still experience issues please let me know directly on info@jlhmorrisminors.co.uk or call 01926 817890


Many thanks and apologies for any inconvenience.


Jonathon
JLH.
J L HEAP

Jonathon

Do you mean 'should not be' or 'should now be'?
Dave O'Neill 2

OOPs I meant 'should now be ", always check spelling :(
J L HEAP

Jonathon,

All looks good - thanks!

Richard
Richard Wale

Oh no, it works!
Now I can see all the tempting bits!!!
G Hawkins

To go back to the original question - I believe from others' comments that Frontline are now alot better - but always, they would be below Peter May or, where possible, Magic Midget, both of whom have not only sales as their main purpose in life :)
rachmacb

For interest we are testing our new front double wishbone coil over kit and rear 6 link kits over the next few month. These will be in our 170bhp Zetec powered Midget allied to our 4 pot 260mm brakes up front. The car has a host of bespoke alloy parts, ie EFI tank, combi header/washer tank, catch tanks, radiators and cowl to name but a few. These will arrear on the website leading up to Xmas.
J L HEAP

Arrear or appear in time for Christmas ;-)

Maybe you need to start a new thread with JLH in the heading rather than Frontline and copy some of this thread into it. Someday in the future a search for JLH Developments as a topic wouldn't pick this lot up!
GuyW

Appear.........and yes maybe, but its better for me to offer examples of our work to questions raised ,rather than me blatantly going on he hard sell, (which I try hard not to do) :)
J L HEAP

God I which I had the money to build a proper sorted midget like that!
Karl Bielby

I have an older frontline system fitted to a 1293 midget which I use for classic rallying, I also have a 1275 midget with the standard lever arms. Both are good on the road under normal driving conditions but the adjustables are far superior on a rough bumpy forest section and make the car feel more precise on the road when pushing on a bit. I have them set at 4 or 5 which is quite stiff for a light car, I think the chap from Frontline suggested 3 or 4 but we all go our own way I suppose. The top link may be getting a bit worn as it clatters on rough ground but not on the road. The older frontlines have a grease nipple whereas I think the newer ones are sealed?
Attached a pic of it in action over the weekend---event won by a midget (not ours!) over mark one and two escorts etc. As you will see the suspension does get a proper work out!
John S


J Sloan

Grease nipples aren't just for grease, they can be used for oil as well. My Bridgeport milling machine has numerous grease fittings, Zerk fittings, but none are intended for grease as it can plug the fine clearances. I fitted grease nipples to the original units I designed which Tim Fenna copied but as mine has seals to hold the oil in I found it easier to just fill the annular space between the bushes with oil when servicing the units which worked fine. Oilites are intended to be oil lubricated as grease plugs up the pores in the oilites.
David Billington

Where do you get your dampers from John?
Karl Bielby

John, good to see it getting a proper work-out, Midgets at their best :-)
Paul Walbran

"I am a big fan of telescopics over levers, from personal experience."
With a surname like yours Rob, have you fallen out with the family business?

Good tip for the ClassicConverts site, have you experience of using their kits?

Thanks
J Tickle

Karl, the shockers come with the frontline kit and are AVOs. Quite a lot about them on the site....

Earlier today I came across a fantastic thread from March 2012 about the frontline kit (much of the info from Lawrence Slater).I was so impressed that I went out and turned the top link bolt to try to reduce the clanking over small bumps. Could only do one side as the other locknut was fixed somewhat firmly in place. I think it helped but will need to run it over a bit rougher ground. Did anyone ever get around to making new top bushes for the old frontlines, fitted with grease nipples?

Not sure that I can endure the mechanical clatter but will do one more rally before the season ends and then have a bit of a strip down and look see----these are new to me this year so not sure how noisy they should get. The odd thing is that there is hardly any clatter on ordinary roads but once the car goes onto rough ground the clatter intensifies.

John S

PS Added another pic of the midget 'workout' showing the stresses put on the front steering and suspension.




J Sloan

John,

Turning the bolt won't necessarily do any good as it's really the internal sleeve that the bushes run on that you need to rotate not the bolt. That really means pulling the bolt and lifting the arm and partly pushing out the sleeve so you can grip it and rotate it 90 degrees to get to a largely unworn section of the sleeve. I think I know the thread you are referring to as I had some input into it with reference to the original design.
David Billington

Ahhh I thought you were on LA's still! I'm in 2 minds with the conversion... I think the LA,'s are a pretty poor design and the telescopic conversion should work loads better. But I like that it's original, plus there are many race categories that state they must not be modified, so people race with LA's ... I'm not going to be pushing mine as much as they are!
Karl Bielby

Karl, see if somebody local at a meeting orso will let you drive their converted spridget and see how you like it.
I my self am very pleased with the effect of the Frontlinekit.
Arie

This thread was discussed between 04/09/2016 and 22/09/2016

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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