Which front suspension bushings?

[tomshobby]

I am getting ready to start assembling the front suspension in my '74 Midget. I am wondering what kind of bushings I should use?

I am not excited about putting rubber bushings back in. Two reasons, I think it would be better to be a little stiffer and I have little faith in any repro rubber parts, especially where they are so important to safety.

 

[mrsprite]

I have poly bushings on my Bugeye and like them very much. They stifffen things up very nicely without being too harsh (at least to me). I have also used delrin bushings, which are a bit harder than poly.....still not all that harsh to me though, but then again.....I've never driven a Spridget with stock bushings!

I say go with the poly bushings.

 

[Dug]

I'm a rubber vote, which means nothing. Repo rubber? if your able to buy QH then the compound is most likely the same as original.
If you go with poly then seek and take the advise of "brand" that someone here and other sites gives.
I'd want to make sure that they have had them in for more than 5 years with alot of drive time.
Poly bushes are so easy to make that the same factor comes into play. A bad mix of chemicals and poor degasing during manufacturing can make for a bad bushing. I'm not sure if most bushings are 70 durometer or 90. If brands give this information then 90 is the harder of the two.

Dug

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Ask Peter C. what he suggests.

 

[tomshobby]

I plan on calling World Wide Auto Parts tomorrow for a pair of shocks. If they have them in stock I will run down and get them and check on bushings while I am there.

The need to get the Midget on it's feet has gotten more important. Saturday we were on a trip and 200 miles from home when the clutch fork pin in our TR6 went. But we continued further north finished our trip and got back home today. Who says you need a clutch to drive one of these cars!

 

[Hairyone]

quality poly bushes, is what I've fitted recently (SuperPro Polyurethane ). Easy to fit, all came with a sachet of the correct grease. Now it handles like it's on rails. Runs nice and straight & very little bump steer. Though I am comparing them to knackered rubber ones. I saw the difference at a motorsport show between new Rover rubber & the same joint using poly. There was also almost no movement side to side.
I don't think the rubber of today is as good as it was when we had an Empire & UK had the Indian rubber company.

 

[tomshobby]

Talked with Peter C today. He will have a pair of shocks ready for me tomorrow. I asked him what I should use for bushings and for the type of use I will have for this car he recommended the standard rubber bushings. He said that the poly bushings do improve the handling but they also tend to cause premature failures in other suspension parts because of the increased stiffness. And since I only plan on easy driving it makes sense to me.

So I pulled the right front suspension apart and have both shocks ready to take along for cores. One thing about this size car, it is easy to work with.

 

[spritenut]

I have done an all poly suspension on a 59 Bugeye some years back.
It was too much, too hard, and I just did not like it.
Now I run poly A arm and sway bar bushings on my street bugeye but rubber trunnion bushings. Sort of a nice combo but that car rides hard.
Now my stock 67 has all QH rubber from Peter and it's just a sweet driving/riding car. We now use that for anything longer than a 2 hour drive because the wife complains if we take the bugeye with it's harder ride.

 

[tomshobby]

spritenut, and all of you guys,

I really appreciate the comments and information. Getting this Midget back together would be very difficult without you and the help you provide. By the time I get finished you will probably be tired of my questions. On my own I am not sure what I might end up with because this is kind of like a box full of a mixture of Lego's and Erector set parts. Actually a dozen or so boxes.

 

[Midget78]

Nylock Bushings I used and have been great. They are self lubricating and because of the material will last way longer then anything else. The Winners circle can get them for you. I think they were $7 a piece.

 

[bill_young]

I have nylatron bushings in both the lower A arms and the upper trunion with poly bushings on the sway bar. The nylatron are harsh and unforgiving to the ride, but the handling is very precise. They last forever so I shouldn't have to replace them, but if I did I'd probably use polyurethane bushings from Moss. I used those in the rear springs and like them very much. Tightened up the rear suspension without making the ride too harsh. If you want a smoother less harsh ride then I'd advise rubber in the A arms and poly trunion bushings since they are under so much stress the rubber ones don't last long at all.
Buy the way, the front bushings have been in the car for 10 years now, the rears just a couple of months but have around 2500 miles on them already.

 

[jlaird]

Bill you just a driveing darn fool

 

[bill_young]

Jack, I felt like a bit of an old fool after driving from KC to Durham,NC for the British V8 meet. My Midget was the only one there amid dozens of MGBs and TRs but we upheld the honor of the Spridgets well and kept right up with the big boys on the runs. Managed to get it weighed on the race scales and it tipped in a 2010 pounds with a full tank of gas and my spare tools and parts still in the boot. What's Miss Agatha's weight for comparison. My Haynes manual lists the weight of a Bugeye at 1860 but I don't know how accurate that is.
LOTO, got the T shirt, I'm planning on Midget 50 in Elkhart Lake, 2011.

 

[Sarastro]

I don't know where that 1860 pound number originated, but I've seen it before. I have a copy of the original owner's manual, and it gives the "approximate weight" as 13 cwt. "cwt" is a "hundredweight" so the weight has often been given as 1300 pounds, which I have seen occasionally as well. Problem is, a cwt in the old British system is actually 112 pounds. That gives us 1450 pounds. The manual gives the weight in kg too (660) and this is consistent with the 1450 number.

I remember having to memorize all this stuff when I was about 9 years old, in British elementary school. Along with a stone, peck, bushel, and all that wonderful stuff. Just more of the charm of our cars' heritage.

 

[kcbugeye1275]

Drove my BE on a scale at Heartland park a couple yrs ago. 1530 lbs. I think it had al least half a tank of gas. Glad to hear you had a good trip Bill.

 

[scoutll]

I read somewhere that the 1860 sometimes quoted is actually "loaded" or gross weight including passengers and fuel. I could be wrong, but that sounds logical. The title on my Midget said 1500. Of course, we know all about those folks down at the MV Office, don't we John-Peter.