Discussion on 1/4 leaf for Bugeye

[mightymidget]

My winter goal is to reinstall the rear suspension on Wife's Bugeye. I have a good handle on the body work.

Give me the scoop on the leaf springs. I have a pair that looks ok. Some surface rust, but not caked. Should I rebuild them? and what do you do to them when you rebuild.

Also I have notice that many restored Bugeyes have a lot of space between top of rear tire and fender opening. Is this proper? I think I would rather have less space in opening.

Will someone please explain how to reverse springs to lower vehicle ride.

Should I just dip them in transmision /actone bucket and reinstall them?

 

[GeeBee1]

PB them now, and let the bolts soak well.

You can lower the rear by removing leaves 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 (counting smallest down.

Pat

 

[Hairyone]

lowering a rear of a frogeye. Take a look at how I did it.
on my website photo 79 lowered rear
Don't know about restoring old ones, as I had some new ones from po.

 

[mightymidget]

PB them now, and let the bolts soak well.

You can lower the rear by removing leaves 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 (counting smallest down.

Pat

Does this bring the body down so spacing above tire is normal?

 

[smaceng]

I received "new" heavy duty springs from the PO. Note that the original springs are no longer available. I installed the new ones. Back end was higher than a kite, like 1 1/2" too high. So I took those out and took out two of the springs (#2 & #4). Still too high. Since I had two of the original springs, I put those in and it evened out the car.
I'm not sure what I would do if I had to put back the "heavy duty" springs.
Note the heavy duty springs are 1/4" thick. Some say the steel on the new springs is so bad that they can not be de-arched, which is the common solution to the problem. I think the new heavy duty springs are made incorrectly, and the vendor should be made aware of it. If someone purchases new springs and they are too high, please let the vendor know, and maybe the manufacturer will fix the problem.
Scott in CA.

 

[mightymidget]

This means that if the springs have been replaced with aftermarket then they will sit high. But if the orignals are used they are not jacked up in the rear?


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This is how my car sat when I first got it. The Bugeye still seems high to me stock

 

[GeeBee1]

That is pretty close to stock, I used the HD springs and actually pulled out three or four leaves and then used a wedge to make the passenger side sit lower that the drivers with no load. If I am alone it levels out and the misses is a few stones less than me anyways.

Can't find a pic here at work, but is about 3/4 to 1" over the tire and a panhard bar made it the cats meow.

Pat

 

[Hairyone]

yes mine was on the heavy duty springs, take three leaves from the top & put them on the bottom. That way the three on the bottom do nothing, but keep the height of the pack of springs the same as standard, so same bolts can be used.
This brought it back down to standard height. Ride is superb.

 

[smaceng]

What size wheels and tires do you have?
someone told me that the sill line under the doors should be level. Mine is within 1/4" with the stock springs front and rear.
Scott.

 

[mightymidget]

I am not going to use the current wheels. I have found a early midget rear end that was wire wheel from the factory and I converting front to disc brakes and wire wheels.

Actually I'm wanting to find out if MGB wire wheels will fit. what ever I do they wil be the largest sidewall/tire I can fit under the car

 

[racingenglishcars]

take three leaves from the top & put them on the bottom. That way the three on the bottom do nothing, but keep the height of the pack of springs the same as standard, so same bolts can be used.

This is a cheaky solution, very inovative, inexpensive, simple. I'm doing that!

 

[nomad]

MGB wire's will fit(not sure on clearance on a BE though) but once you try them ,I think like me, you won't want to fir them. Unsprung weight go'es way up.
As to ride height I think the wedge solution sounds the best. My BE has stock springs and, IMHO they are too soft. I plan on fitting some kind of overload cause my back can't take bottoming out in pot hole's. I'm no that big either.

KA

 

[bugedd]

What about the "rally" spec springs from Moss? Has anyone had any experience with those?

 

[mightymidget]

What about the "rally" spec springs from Moss? Has anyone had any experience with those?

If I remember correctly they are the 15 spring replacement that jacks them up.

 

[mightymidget]

MGB wire's will fit(not sure on clearance on a BE though) but once you try them ,I think like me, you won't want to fir them. Unsprung weight go'es way up.
As to ride height I think the wedge solution sounds the best. My BE has stock springs and, IMHO they are too soft. I plan on fitting some kind of overload cause my back can't take bottoming out in pot hole's. I'm no that big either.

KA

You wouldn't happen to have a photo of the MGB wire wheels on a Bugeye?
The thing I like about the MGB wire wheel is it is 5" wide.

I am planning on about 100 HP so the unsprung weight will not be a big issue as a dailey driver. Plus I am considering tube shock conversion

 

[paulsherman]

I am about to reassemble one set of springs. They are cleaned, blasted etc. and ready to re-assemble. Now my question is about preping befor reassembly and I have been told many answers already. Should I use graphite, graphite grease or something else between leafs? I was told by a spring shop-use nothing. Give me some other options and I will choose one or 2 or more.
Thank you

 

[mightymidget]

"silly question" Why do you take them apart and clean them? is that all you do during rebuild? Still trying to figure out if I need to do anything to mine, other than change the leafs around to lower it a bit.

Are there parts you replace or is it just an inspection process?

 

[nomad]

Did'nt fit them to a BE but to a midget. Have a BE and sure they will fit the hubs and (I think) clear. If I remember correctly there were only 2 hub sizes of the Rudge-Whitworth knock off so hub is'nt a big deal. The bigger wheel is very heavy though. I only had one wheel borrowed from a friend. Planned on running low profile tires since they are 14 inch. Sorry no pic's.

Kurt.

 

[paulsherman]

I took apart (only 1 at a time) to clean and get rid of the rust and crap. Also checking for broken leafs. Will re-place the countersink bolts, spacers etc. that hold the leafs in place as well as the bushings. Not planning on painting anything until re-assembled. Just waiting for an answer on grease, graphite or nothing. Then on to the other spring. This is really a messy and PITA job

 

[racingenglishcars]

I just bought new "heavy duty" springs, which of course will sit too high, so I used Hairyone's solution with shifting three leaves down.

I was surprised that the new springs had so much rust and crud between the leaves. I've rebuilt leaf springs many times before, but not "new" ones.

After cleaning all rust, I give them a good coat of epoxy primer for durability, then cover all contact surfaces with lithium grease. It's waterproof so it doesn't just wash away.

Yeas ago I did my Land Rover springs but used regular bearing grease. The springs are still good but I can see that the grease is gone in some places and rust is appearing. I only did 3 springs at that time (the fourth looked quite good) but to my dismay, the spring I didn't do came back to bite me. It rusted and broke the top leaf. I replaced the whole set with parabolic springs at a reasonably high cost.

If I were to do a quality job like the 50's Rolls and Bentleys, I would afterwards cover them with leather (or several wrappings of a good cloth tape). That would further reduce deterioration from water. But this is most certainly overkill.

But I always use grease between leaves when rebuilding springs.