Was just reading Vizard's HTMYM, and he says you can lower hydrolastic suspension by machining up to 0.200" off the front knuckle or displacer piston, and up to 0.300" off the rear strut Anyone ever lowered a wet suspended mini this way? Wonder if it's better or worse than reducing the fluid pressure

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Who's MadMax?

These days with everybody's hydro displacers (including mine) are at least 33 years old, and the `rubber spring' part of them sagged upwards, most people are more inclined to RAISE the struts than shorten them..

Yeah it may have had merit back then, with NEW parts.. but I wouldn't do it now..

I just let mine down to `2-3 fingers' between front tyre and arch.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Yeah, I guess - didn't think of it that way
Mine's sitting way up in the arse end so I'm open to any lowering suggestions.

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Who's MadMax?

Actually they are supposed to sit `a bit high' in the back unless the tanks are full, or the back seat is full of `large' people...

Find some better helper springs for the rear. They are there to hold the arse down. If they get weak with old age, the arse goes up, which makes the front drop (fluid transfer) and people think that's where the problem is...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

hmm interesting. How can you tell if the back springs are worn then kev? is there a standard measurement etc? Is it a simple job to replace the springs or are we talking letting down the hydro fluid?

I'd say nearly all original hydro cars would suffer this wear problem as nearly all of them sit high in the rear end

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

The other thing that Vizard reccomends is to shorten the helper springs by about 3/8". Not quite sure how you'd go about doing that, but it might help to pull the back end down a little.
Dave

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Who's MadMax?

if your hydro car sits up at the back, it means the front displacers are stuffed - no matter how much pressure you put in the system the fluid always goes to the back. My Cooper S used to do that - the front end always sat on the bump stops, I ended up converting it to dry suspension...

the 'old time' solution is to swap the displacers from front to rear - since the rears get so little work they stay in good condition, another alternative is to get the rears off another car and put them in the front of yours... that's if you want to stick with hydro - converting to dry isn't as complex or time consuming as you might think

I was going to convert to dry suspension after one of the front bags ruptured - got hold a dry front subframe to start the conversion and all. That was until I checked out a thread on here by advocates of wet suspension saying how well their cars handled after a few mods to the wet suspension, so I'm having a change of heart and giving the hydro another chance.

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Who's MadMax?

Naaah I'm sticking with wet on this car. I think it's what makes my car my car. I think they go just as hard and are much better for road, ask the doc!

My car's current lowered wet setup is about as good as i need it, esp with bridgestones which I think is my weakest link at this point in time. I will have to try Yokos later and take it from there...

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

YEah, wet suspension rocks, the front is to low on my car compared to the back... the solution im going to take is to put a washer in with the knuckle and raise the front a little, then drop the suspension a little

having said that my car used to be a lot lower, and after pumping it up i realised that my car handled better (and didn't scrape every speed hump)

G

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--Insert legal disclaimer here--

I haven't had that problem yet, but now that I think about it, I better be really careful as the sump is sitting REALLY low to the ground now...

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

You think that's low! Good thing its not a 'matic.... they had a built-in front shovel, aka `sumpguard'...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.