MG Sports Cars

I see many articles on engine or trans installation and gratefully that parts done, I purchased the postal jeep rear end after seeing others had installed, if anyone has done this installation themselves please share what you can, from what I can tell redrilling the four lug pattern will be pretty tough as its awful close to the center flange of the axel, that measures about 4 inches that two may be a problem as the raised flange is not going to fit in the back of the wheels it looks like thats closer to three inches, Parking brake looks pretty tough as I dont have any parking brake cables as of yet, it also looks like the MGB spring pallets are 37 inches wide and that may be where the axel housing begins to flare out, brake lines should be easy though as I am useing an adjustable proportioning valve and a chevy master cyl. also I wonder if there is a cross over joint that might fit the rear end flange as well as a stock mg sized shaft in the other direction. So if you have done this swap and remember the pitfalls maybe you could let me know at jim_h_m_m@yahoo.com I would sure appriciate the help, if you know of an article I did not find that too would help.

Thanks
Jim

I'm doing one now. First off, do you have the correct axle? If it doesn't measure exactly 44.5 inches from backing plate to backing plate it won't work.

If you do have the correct one you'll want to cut all of the mounting brackets off and start over using the proper pieces. I'm installing stock MGB drum brakes on mine to keep costs down. It requires some machine work but isn't too bad.

The ends of the axles, well, just read these articles.


[www.britishv8.org]

[www.britishv8.org]

So if you switch to one of these rear ends chevy aftermarket wheels can be used. Nice. But what about springs? Can the old ones from your original MG be used?

The bolt pattern is 5 X 5.5. That's not a common bolt pattern outside of trucks and Jeeps. The info in the article was wrong. Chevy's are 5 X 5. Yes, you use the stock springs after replacing the perches.

Most Chevy 5 lug cars are 5x4.75. Most Fords are 5x4.5.

[resources.coker.com]

[www.teufert.net]

So if the bolt holes measure 5 X 5.5 that would leave Ford for most choices of rims to use. Thanks for the links Dave, that is some good info to know.

Jim, I used this axle on my '67. I'm very pleased with it. It's been awhile, but as I recall, I took the axles to machine shop after plugging one or two of the existing stud holes to have them redrill the flange to MG 4-bole specs and reduce the center of the flange to mount a standard wheel. I used Wilwood disc brake kit for a Mustang that had to be modified of fit the tube flange. I ground off the jeep spring perches and welded on a set that I purpose built from square tube. I also welded on a mount for the brake lines and e-brake cable. I was able to use a stock MGB parking brake cable by modifying the lever on the brake housing and making a new pivot that mounted on the top of the Jeep axle differential cover. I used a 3.31 gear and I running 24.1" tires. Remember that the Dana axle tubes are 2.75" diameter and save the u-bolts from the jeep. The pumpkin will leave you with just enough room to slip a 1" diameter panhard rod between the axle and the fuel tank. You can use the MG spring locators by egging out the smaller holes in the appropriate places, but I ended up making my own when I added a anti-tramp bar.

Great thread guys. Can anyone point me to a correlation between Jeep DJ years and axle widths?

Specifically I'd like to put a 49.25" wide version under my '66 Minx and it would be immensely helpful to know what year DJ's came with these. Anyone have this info or know where I can find it?

Mike, my axle came from a '76 AM General manufactured DJ5. The guy I bought it from had several of the same in his yard. While looking for the axle I found several earlier Jeep manufactured DJ5's that had narrow axles, but the pumpkin was not properly centered. (The pumpkin is actually located .430 to the left of center, which is not really a problem in that it gives a little more clearance for the parking brake) Lagrou's article talks about machining .080" off the brake caliper mounting flange, but I found this can be removed from the axle itself in a lathe. cj



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2009 04:47PM by 67MGBV8.

I would be curious as to the year range also. Last weekend I went down and picked up a rover engine from a friend in the car club who is currently doing this conversion for his car. He couldn't remember which year it was because he got it from a fella who runs an MG shop in Zanesville, OH. I know he was planning to weld on brackets to use the stock springs I believe, the mechanic was guiding him through it as he had done it several times on cars in his shop.

Well I picked one up. It's actually 49" flange to flange (outside). I'm having the bolt pattern changed the pilot dia reduced as well as the overall flange OD's reduced. For what it's worth this one came from a 1970 DJ-5. It's 3.73 with Trac-Lok.

So we know 1970 had a 49". Searching on car-part.com I see that the 1972-1978 appear to be interchangeable (at least according to their database). I'd bet that's the one the article points to for MGs. Hopefully someone will confirm for ya.

-Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2009 01:37AM by Frizzle Fry.

Quote:

...from a fella who runs an MG shop in Zanesville, OH

If this is who I think it is, steer clear. There are much, much more reputable people to do business with.

I wanted to say thank you to all for your help, I was off the prodject for a long while due to other duties, I found a machine shop in south san fran and they cut the center of the axels down from a truck size to a car size (I had this cut for mustang 2 X 11 drums for more stopping power) decreasing the size of the center hub also made fitting the four lug patern no problem, the weekend after this I plan on pallitizing the rear end as I purchased a set of mg pallets and then I will reinstall my axels, still working on the park brake ideas but I will drop back in.

Thanks Again

Jim