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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - King Pin Reamer

I need to replace my kingpins (1979 midget 1500) and I am looking for a reamer. I found one on Moss Motors, but, the cost is prohibitive for a one time project. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks
Lynda Milne

Normal practice is to buy exchange stub axles which come with the king pin and the bushes already reamed.
Jeremy Cogman

That being said, I ordered a king pin kit which did not include the stub axles. That option would make the repair cost prohibitive. This car is my daily driver. I wish it could be my hobby car. I need a way to install them without access to a reamer.
Lynda Milne

Dunno bout round you, but here it is fairly common for a local car club to have one that they loan out. Unfortunately, my local car club only has the one for the MGB ;-(
David "not being reamed" Lieb
David Lieb

Will your supplier let your return the king pins and get the assembly instead? Over here very few people ream their own stub axles and the exchange route is very cost effective.
Jeremy Cogman

As Jeremy said, king pin may be had as either a single item, or an exchange unit or a whole stubb axle including pin, reamed bushes and trunnions, all nicely assembled ready to bolt on with 2 bolts.

The top trunnion bolt is a pain to remove, and the lever arm upper linkage bolt (trunnion side) must be removed as there it has a locking system built into the trunnin bolt (repost to me if this makes no sense!! a haynes manual will be better!!)

Where dids you get it from? seems like advice could have been better!! If you get no luck with swappinh them, I recommend Watford classic cars. Heard bad press about Welsh MG for stubb axles, so maybe give them a miss.

the exchage units realy arent that expensive - £4o a side, on an exchange basis - you send them your old units back!! (ie a fraction of the cost of the reamer but still not wildly cheap!!)

Why are the reamers so flipping expensive? surely no-one can afford one to do a once in a while job like that!

BC
B Cavagan

BC - Lynda is in the USA where there do not seem to be many/any suppliers who sell the complete exchange units, unlike the UK.
David Smith

bricks, I guessed she was in the UK! how do you know that from the info??

In which case, scrap my suggestions, they wont apply, sorry.

So is exchange parts a british thing then??

Do Moss USA not have the ability to do exchange?

Or you coul dpay for postage across the pond (wont be cheap, but heck, thats the bother with having a british car outside of Britain!!!)


BC
B Cavagan

Have you tried joining the Spridgets list and finding someone local who has the reamer?
Daniel Thirteen-Twelve

BC, Lynda's a regular on here, I recently made similar mistake, knew it wasn't UK, guessed Halifax Nova Scotia which is wrong too! IIRC it's N Carolina.
David Smith

Thanks all for the suggestions! I did just join the Central Virginia British Car Club. As soon as my membership fee is posted, I will ask the members if they have a loaner. what concerns me more is that it is perhaps the springs too. I have to keep the car on the road until my next vacation!
Lynda Milne

Heck, Lynda looks British from here, too. Must be that Spridget she's wearing ;-)
David "near-sighted" Lieb
David Lieb

If you haven't access to an original reamer, the job can be done with adjustable reamers and a pilot.
Do one end at a time, locating the pilot in the other end to ensure alignment. Most engineering shops have the kit to do this.
Paul Walbran

HAHA I guessed she worked at Halifax bank and used that email!!! Just joking, I thought Halifax as In UK!!

Never Mind. If you need suspension springs, they are very easy to fit using two 5 inch m10 bilts to replace the spring pan bolts and removing the other two. I had to get a manual to fully understand this method but very easy!!

As for kingpins, I would keep checking to see if any USA places do exchange.

Sorry for the confusion, as David said, it must be the spridget that made you look Brit!!

BC
B Cavagan

Lynda, I think Moss or Victoria British offer complete assemblies.

As for springs, those are easy and can be done right in your driveway. You just need some long bolts to pull everything together. I used some lengths of threaded rod.

Clive Reddin 76 Midget

Lynda. Most machine shops in the US do not have the tooling to ream the bushings correctly. Bob and Gil Schaulin, in Phoenix, Arizona, have the correct reamer for the Midget and MGB. You, also, need to remove the old bushings and insert the new bushings prior to reaming. This should be done using the proper piloted bushing driver (one for each end) and a hydraulic press.

You might want to contact Bob or Gil at 602-415-1846 to see if they can do anything to assist you. They have all of the equipment to do the job correctly. With "express" shipping, you should be able to ship them the parts, have the work done, and get the parts back in less than a week. Not ideal, but the alternative is to purchase the rebuilt assemblies from whomever may have them available.

Mention my name if you contact Bob or Gil.

Les
Les Bengtson

Peter C at Worldwide Auto Parts will also do them.
(800) 362-1025 Madison WI.
Trevor-Jessie

Hey lydia,


Find a good machine / faberication shop, its cheap and fast....My machine shop charged me $30 - $50 for both sides


usally someone that does heads, bores blocks...if they dont..al ways ask for a referal of someone that will


prop
Prop

Oh great, someone had to bring up the dreaded "long bolts" method of changin the springs ;-) Much easier and quicker with a jack!
David "jackin around" Lieb
David Lieb

David, I only used them because I felt comfortable using them. I have seen a compressed spring "let go" but fortunately a safety chain was in place.
Clive Reddin 76 Midget

If you don't find someone local, I can do them for you. E mail me for details. They will fit in a flat rate USPS box.
J Bubela

Clive, couldnt agree more. I used the bolty method too due to the sagfety factor. I have never seen a spring quickly decompress itself and didnt want to see it happed on my car!!!

I agree with David though, the jack on the springpan method would be a lot quicker and less tedious, but safety is more important than speed IMHO.

The long bolt menthod is better for a first timer or anyone with even slight reservations about the job in the first instance.

BC
Ben Cavagan

Yeah,

You have to be careful with those springs, if they get loose on yeah, they will murder your children, rape your dog, burn your house down then come back and break both your arms......

PLEASE!!! this is the biggiest con job ever, When I replaced my springs several years ago, I read the haynes manual and thought OMG...this is going to be horriable dangerous....and wouldnt yeah know it, one of the springs got loose on me and ""dribbled"" out and touched my arm....having closed my eyes during this tramic experiance and now opening them and looking down expecting to see my arm severed off at the elbow ....what did I see, just a minor grease spot....So yes they are dangerous, cause you might have to use some soap and water to clean the grease off afterwards.......OH the horror soap and water....the inhumanity...where is god when you need him,...lol.

prop
Prop

Found these on ebay. Good luck.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Competition-Swivel-Axle-Set-MG-Midget-AH-Sprite_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1075Q7c39Q3a1Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14Q2el1318QQhashZitem140254870289QQitemZ140254870289

CJCharvet

To All:

Thanks for the great tips. We put my car up on the lift today and I am ordering the springs tomorrow. I will replace both the kingpins and springs at the same time. I did find an MG mechanic in Goode, VA. He restores and races MGs and comes highly recommended. He offered to ream the kingpins for me. Now, I just need to hitch a ride from my garage to his :)

For the good news: the "Goose" made it to VA Beach and back last week. First unnecessary trip for her. My daughter and I rode the 240 mile excursion together and the ride was smooth as glass. I will be taking that trip more often now that I know she can do it!
Lynda Milne

prop, hahaha, that was actually quite funny.
robnrrugby

This thread was discussed between 06/08/2008 and 08/08/2008

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