Changing front suspension
Have a question about the front suspension from Fast Cars [www.fastcarsinc.com]. I have in my 1980 MGB Pete Mantels conversion 302 V8 and looking to upgrade it. Any thoughts? Will the 302 engine mounts line up or will the engine have to be moved? I am sure a have a lot more questions…..
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ex-tyke Graham Creswick Chatham, Ontario, Canada (1165 posts) Registered: 10/25/2007 11:17AM Main British Car: 1976 MGB Ford 302 |
Re: Changing front suspension
I can't imagine that there would be a significant disparity in location between Pete's and Ted's engine location - the 302 pretty well seeks it's own location in the space available. If you decide to buy Ted's suspension, then the engine location will be well thought out.
Give Pete a call - he's familiar with both setups. |
Re: Changing front suspension
I’m still batting around if I want to spend all that money and pull the engine to install the front suspension from Fast Cars. I did find this in the Moss catalog has any one used this before?
Thanks [www.mossmotors.com] |
mstemp Mike Stemp Calgary, Canada (223 posts) Registered: 11/25/2009 07:18AM Main British Car: 1980 MGB Rover 4.6L |
Re: Changing front suspension
Installing my Moss kit right now with a set of Dropped spindles from John Tagett. Too soon for me to comment on anything except the installation. I do hope it ends up being worth the effort. If you go this route I would also try one of the caster reduction kits. As far as installation goes ignore the mutiple holes moss tell you to drill and use a 1 3/4" hole saw. Makes for a nice clean cut and takes less time. I chose to drop the whole sub frame but that was not so smart after all. I figured would be easier to drill and assmble but to get the front sub frame bolts done up again you cant have te coil over in place. So effectivly I had to reinstall the bare subframe and then reassemble the new suspension in situe. PIA.
If you also want big brakes you might get more cost/bennifit from the complete front end kits of Fast Cars or Classic Conversion. As I already had 4 piston calipers I went the Moss route. Also needed new lower control arms, inner pivots and finally a kingpin set so I savde very little in the proccess besides the cost of brakes. If you go with the moss kit keep Moss UK in mind as they had 20% off last fall and shipping was less than $100 for 22kg via air from UK! Arrived in 2 days also. Curtis has also used this setup, maybe he will be able to give greater feedback on how the car handles now. |
Moderator Curtis Jacobson Portland Oregon (4577 posts) Registered: 10/12/2007 02:16AM Main British Car: 71 MGBGT, Buick 215 |
Re: Changing front suspension
Yes, it's on a number of cars in the gallery and if you poke around you'll find we've discussed it previously on this message board a couple times.
I used the Moss coilover kit from about 1991 through 2011, which is probably about as long as anyone. It's robust enough. The shocks and springs are good quality. You can easily change springs to get whatever rate you prefer. You can easily fine tune ride height. If you use the kit to change ride height very dramatically, you'll cause an increase in bump steer (just as you would by fitting shortened front springs). What the Moss kit doesn't do is alter the suspension's fundamental geometry or significantly reduce the suspension's weight (sprung or unsprung.) By 2012, my shock absorbers were well worn out so I needed to make a change. I kept the lower spring pans and ordered new shock absorbers from Moss UK. I ordered new springs from Eibach. At the top, I discarded the Moss kit's mounting blocks and upper control arm in favor of reworked Armstrong lever shocks with gutted internals. I installed dropped spindles from Targett Motorsport to lower the car while raising the front suspension's roll center. I installed modified steering arms to dramatically reduce bump steer. IMHO, in combination, those changes dramatically improved how well the Moss kit works on my car. At this time, I'm completing the job by fitting a Wilwood big brake kit from Classic Conversions. (The MGB iron brake calipers are rather heavy.) |
ex-tyke Graham Creswick Chatham, Ontario, Canada (1165 posts) Registered: 10/25/2007 11:17AM Main British Car: 1976 MGB Ford 302 |
Re: Changing front suspension
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ex-tyke Graham Creswick Chatham, Ontario, Canada (1165 posts) Registered: 10/25/2007 11:17AM Main British Car: 1976 MGB Ford 302 |
Re: Changing front suspension
Quote: Unless things have changed with Bill's front suspension design options, the aluminum hub wasn't going to have a 4 x 4.5" bolt pattern available - just Ford (5 x 4.5") and Chevy (5 x 5.75") Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2013 08:39AM by ex-tyke. |
NCtim Tim Shumbera Western North Carolina (239 posts) Registered: 01/19/2012 04:35PM Main British Car: |
Re: Changing front suspension
What spring rates are you all using. I know Curtis' car is set up for track events, what about leisurely, Sunday twisty road trips with a wife on board?
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ex-tyke Graham Creswick Chatham, Ontario, Canada (1165 posts) Registered: 10/25/2007 11:17AM Main British Car: 1976 MGB Ford 302 |
Re: Changing front suspension
Mine are the same as Curtis' ........ 525# rated front springs with the Moss suspension kit.
Haven't had the opportunity to try them out yet..... |
mstemp Mike Stemp Calgary, Canada (223 posts) Registered: 11/25/2009 07:18AM Main British Car: 1980 MGB Rover 4.6L |
Re: Changing front suspension
I went with the base 475# ones from Moss. Also have yet to drive it. Maybe this weekend if the snow and rain stop!
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Re: Changing front suspension
Ok guys when you get them on the road can you report back and tell me how it handles? My car has a ford 302 not sure what everybody else is running.
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Moderator Curtis Jacobson Portland Oregon (4577 posts) Registered: 10/12/2007 02:16AM Main British Car: 71 MGBGT, Buick 215 |
Re: Changing front suspension
Today I bolted on one of Bill Guzman's big brake kits - 11.75" vented rotors and 4 piston Wilwood calipers!
While I had the car up on jackstands, I adjusted ride height again. Springs settle over time. Coilovers make it easy to lift the suspension back up to desired ride height. The GAZ shocks in the Moss kit have adjustment knobs on them. The knob on one shock turns properly. The knob on the other shock is all bound up. I haven't figured out how much that bothers me, but I'll work on getting it loose. From my point of view, it would have been preferable if Moss had optimized dampening rates and then had them built into non-adjustable shocks. Adjustable valves increase the likelihood of problems. |
DiDueColpi Fred Key West coast - Canada (1365 posts) Registered: 05/14/2010 03:06AM Main British Car: I really thought that I'd be an action figure by now! |
Re: Changing front suspension
But not having those little knobs would remove the "fiddle factor".
It's no fun to hop into your car and just drive away without adjusting something! Cheers Fred |
NCtim Tim Shumbera Western North Carolina (239 posts) Registered: 01/19/2012 04:35PM Main British Car: |
Re: Changing front suspension
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mstemp Mike Stemp Calgary, Canada (223 posts) Registered: 11/25/2009 07:18AM Main British Car: 1980 MGB Rover 4.6L |
Re: Changing front suspension
Just drove my Moss Coilover for the first time and it was definatly worth the $$ and time! With the poor roads in my town a smother ride was my main objective. I also installed the FrontLine caster wedges and Dick's raised stub axles. This combination has given me exactly what I wanted,lighter steering effort, smoother ride and no more bump steer.
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Re: Changing front suspension
Mike what engine setup are you running? I am trying to determine the spring rate to use, I have a ford 302 crate engine with aluminum heads not sure what the spring rate to use.
Thanks |
mstemp Mike Stemp Calgary, Canada (223 posts) Registered: 11/25/2009 07:18AM Main British Car: 1980 MGB Rover 4.6L |
Re: Changing front suspension
Abe,
Rover 4.6L with Ford T5. I understand you would be 50 lb or so heavier. Do you have rubber or chrome bumpers as those make more of a diff than the 302 likely. Nice thing with the Coilover is springs are cheap and plentiful should you go too stiff. How are your roads? Maybe go one step up from the base Moss spring of 475 lb. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2013 10:41AM by mstemp. |
Re: Changing front suspension
I was looking at a few blogs on the net and on this web site and some mention that the cross member needs to be modified, is that for an old version of the Moss coil over or is it a direct bolt on?
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