Last Update -
I have seen many
Websites with pictures of other peoples cars on them, and I have often thought
that it would nice to show-off my handy work in bringing this 1974 1275cc RWA
Midget back to life.
Of course she was not a scrapper when I first purchased her in March 2000, but
she had seen many years of neglect after a rebuild, and she had some dubious
accident repairs to the front off-side suspension. So after 6 months of fair
weather driving, of which there was not much in the Welsh summer of 2000,
and a gearbox change, I had sussed out what was required to make the car run and
drive well again.
The front suspension was
identified as the first area of the car that would need work in order to make
the car more driveable. Having no previous experience of Midgets I was unsure
what to expect, I have always owned Mini's, but I was surprised
what a simple set-up it was. All the component parts were stripped down,
cleaned, and then assessed for wear or damage. Surprisingly the Kingpins, Hubs,
and top Trunions were in good condition and could be reused, however the same
could not be said for the Lower Wishbones, the Fulcrum Pins, and the Dampers.
The whole lot was re-assembled using new Rubber bushes and new fasteners.
I also took this opportunity to change the Brake Discs and Pads, and fit new
brake pipes and Braided Flexible brake hoses.
Rear Suspension - After
driving around in the car for a year I noticed it had developed the typical
Midget stance of sitting low on the drivers side at the rear, so a change of
springs, and
mounting
rubbers was planned. This proved to be a straight forward job, and has
tightened-up the rear end of the car.
During the assembly of the bushes I used 'Vaseline' to lubricate them, NEVER do
this as the bushes lasted about 18 months before they needed replacement!!!
In
addition I also added lowering blocks to the Rear Springs to give the car a
sportier feel, I still don't know if this is an improvement. I have also lowered
the Spring Pans on the Front Suspension, but the new springs I've fitted make
the front end sit quite high even with the Spring pans lowered. I am hoping that
the springs will bed-in and settle back to a normal level soon, or I will be
sourcing some lowered springs.
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