Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing How to: Replacing leaf springs.

I started this job on this thread:
http://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/205745/Re_Todays_jobs_preparing_for_t#Post205745

I figured that a relaxed approach by preparing everything else first was a good way, hence the thread above.
You need to remove the seats and the spare wheel. Access to the rear shackles is through the spare wheel hole, and I really can't see how you could do this job with a Sport model without a spare wheel hole. Grovelling down behind the seats may be possible, but it would be unpleasant.

First a few observations:
Even the guides on line are rather sketchy on the best way to do this job, so it's very much suck it and see.

The rear shackle has to be lifted from the chassis with spring attached, because the spring bolt wont come out until the shackle is released. Access under the rear compartment is tight although the bolt head is on the outside of the chassis. There are two thick washers - one each side of the shackle between it and the chassis. They drop into the chassis on removal and are very, very difficult to replace. On the nearside, both washers were on the inside.......

The U bolts - the inner pair are easy to get off and unwind easily. Mulfab told me that I could re-use the 7/8" U bolts.
The outer pair are much harder to access, an open ender is essential, and most of the fasteners on this job are 5/8"AF.

Anyway, on with the story......................
First a shot of Bumble's naked interior. I had selected a set of stainless screws to replace the mixed bag of fasteners which MMC provide to hold down the spring covers.
The body number is 4133.


Here's the Denso Tape - worth a punt I thought and used by Land Rover owners.


Here's the inside of the head restraint hole. It's a funny angle but you can just see a neoprene strip which acts as a holder.


This is my oddment box of seatbelt fasteners. I wanted to smarten up the lower fastener which goes into the chassis and found a couple of chrome bling bolts.


These are the new springs. Note that the camber is slightly different, so the higher one will go onto the offside - extra weight of exhaust plus me.


Part number - 4 seater.


I left them overnight to soak up the oil.......
One had some damage to the centre through bolt, so I swopped it for one off the old springs.


First side was the offside.
This is the rear shackle bolt head.


Here's the other end with nut removed.


Once the shackle was released, I removed the U bolts, using small blocks of wood to hold the spring above the chassis rail for access.
Next was the front shackle. I used two G clamps as follows:


The bolt came out easily, but to be honest, the springs were so flat that there wasn't much tension.
Note the two captive bolts for the exhaust bracket to the left of the first spring keeper.


Here is the position with clamps removed. Not even pressing upwards on the body.


Here it is against the new wrapped spring - note the camber difference!




More to follow.................

I lifted the new spring into place from underneath. First slot forward, then back, with shackle attached. The rear shackle was about 2" above the chassis mounting point and there's no room to lever, and no room to fit those two washers. What followed was a period of intense frustration, as first I came to grips with how to push the new spring down far enough to locate the through bolt, The centre of the spring was touching the chassis and the front was hard up against the body. A solution proved very difficult. In the end I went for cable ties (of all things!). Using cable ties I could hold the shackle down, but then fitting the two washers was frustration after frustration. Eventually I managed it............


This is why it was so hard:


The U bolts on this side almost fell into place - all you have to do is to keep enough clearance to get the nuts started, and manipulate the axle height using a jack.
So next came the front fastener - much more of a challenge!
Compare this with the old spring in this position.


So I had to be much more careful with the G clamps.


In no time at all..........


Job done.........(one side anyway).


More to follow...........

Day 2 and side 2 - nearside. This time I was more optimistic, having learned a few tricks on day 1.
This is how I did the wrapping with Denso tape.....


This is the difference between the nearside old and new springs.




I've added some neoprene sheet to act as a buffer in case the spring gets near the body. This is offside.


The rear nearside shackle was easier to sort, but those washers were a pain to get right.


The U bolts on this side took longer as I couldn't line up the spigot on the spring with the axle. Here it is, partly located with wooden blocks assisting.


Once the U bolts were properly tightened down - on to the G clamps.


The front fastener was much harder to locate than the offside which went straight in. This one needed some persuasion. Note the neoprene gasket over which fits the spring cover.


And that was it. Two days of hard graft, but worth it!
On this side I fed the spring in from above and it was a bit easier to handle.
I'll post some before and after dimensions once Bumble is back on the floor. And now for another snooze.

Great read, thanks for sharing

I am exhausted just reading this. WELL DONE, again Dave.

great account of the work involved Dave.

Brilliant post DaveW, thank you

Wow that’s quite a difference regarding the camber between the new pair. It would be nice to be able to spec that way. Will come in very useful in the long run.

Nice work.

+1

Very informative Dave and great photos as usual. I like the use of the Denso tape. Surprised that the whole job seemed pretty straightforward...I was expecting you'd need to apply a lot more force to fit the front of the springs.