18 replies to this topic

[Great White Northern Mini]

Would any of you fine folks be able to share the specs (free length, wire diameter, number of coils, inner diameter) for the blue, soft ride coil spring conversion springs?

I only ask so I can have them made, as where I live it would cost a fortune to have them shipped.

Also, I know there are plenty of people that don't like them, but I am not one of them so don't worry about trying to change mind. I'm in love.

Cheers

[nicklouse]

sure it is called Rubber.

 

imagine giving the requirements to a spring maker and they come back saying have you thought about rubber as it cant be done with steel.

 

they are not compatible. they do not have enough travel for the needs and go coil bound and things break.

Edited by nicklouse, 11 March 2019 - 08:27 PM.

[nicklouse]

[nicklouse]

this quote taken from this thread http://www.theminifo...-versus-spring/

 

 

Ethal, regarding the coil springs and how they are wound, yes, your thinking is sound and right, however, in the case of springs for these cars, there's no room for little more than one and a half turns, some have about two, so there's just not enough turns in there to get some with higher pitching.

Going to a smaller wire size would help in this regards, however then the overall rate will be way too soft.

I spent around 3 months, every day, working with a Spring Engineer in their R & D Dept (Better Springs), with all the bells, whistles, tables (as it was then) and tricks in the book to get a conventional spring to work and take the place of the Donut, at the end of the period, the Engineer asked me one morning "Ever thought of using rubber?" (Mind you, we had many cones laying about - it was just that given the overall picture, he could clearly see and drew the same conclusion as Dr. Moulton did in the day).
 

I forgot to ask. Was this just the rubber donut or with a standard trumpet?

I'll double check later, but I'm pretty sure that figures are using the stock front trumpet.

 

[DeadSquare]

Could you cut a bit off a longer spring?.  It would be a lot cheaper than having them made.

[unburntfuelinthemorning]

The photo of the separation of the top of the subframe tower from the rest of the subframe is a nice selling point.

[grizzler73]

I think the pictures answer all the questions you may have!

[Bobbins]

I've sometimes wondered whether a series of small springs, say valve spring size, encapsulated in a doughnut shape would work well ... then I remind myself that rubber will do the same job, if not better.

[Cooperman]

One thing I never understand is why someone who wants a classic car with a soft ride would buy a classic Mini.

Why buy a Mini which is sort-of famous for its ground-breaking rubber cone suspension and then fit it with dangerous coil springs to get a 'softer' ride?

This has been discussed and the engineering aspects explained many times.

[Spider]

Would any of you fine folks be able to share the specs (free length, wire diameter, number of coils, inner diameter) for the blue, soft ride coil spring conversion springs?

I only ask so I can have them made, as where I live it would cost a fortune to have them shipped.

Also, I know there are plenty of people that don't like them, but I am not one of them so don't worry about trying to change mind. I'm in love.

Cheers

 

I respect that you seem to have your mind made up here, but honestly, they are totally the wrong tool for the job, as is evidenced in the photos above.

 

It's the equivalent of putting square wheels on your Mini.

 

      Will it go ? - yes.

      Is it right ? - no.

      Will they do damage ? - likely.

[Great White Northern Mini]

I have had them in my car before and they were fantastic. Again, I am only asking for specifications, not reasons to be discouraged. They were on my car for 40k and never had an issue. Also, I am a journeyman mechanic and fully understand the operation of a vehicle's suspension so if you have nothing helpful to add, please don't add anything.

[Retroman]

I would say most of the above posts should be helpful, as they are all based on real experience from some of the most experienced Mini folk in the world. Even with special spec / test graphs showing why coils are not as good as they should be.You have clearly been quite lucky with them before.

  Even if you had free length, wire diameter, number of coils, inner diameter, What spec of metal ? Heat treatment ? Surface finish ? Are they going to be progressive ?

You are trying to re-invent the wheel and it could be very costly as prototypes always are, they are not replacing just any old spring and the chances of getting it right first or second time are slim. The shipping cost may be peanuts in compared to the possible ramifications of collapsed suspension which may or may not happen either way. Trust me I have been behind the wheel at speed with a colapse, I just missed a 2 ton concrete block and left skidmarks 140 yards long round a corner, zero fun. Very luckily I didn't hit anyone or anything...my mate was seriously pale.

If you want softer suspension drill some holes in the rubber donuts, if its not soft enough drill a few more

[nicklouse]

 Also, I am a journeyman mechanic and fully understand the operation of a vehicle's suspension so if you have nothing helpful to add, please don't add anything.

so why do you want to replace an naturally dampened rising rate spring with an undamped linear spring?

[DeadSquare]

 

 

 

Vorsprung durch Technik.

 

 

As the English delight to say   ...............................   When something is "kaput".

[Alice Dooper]

Brace yourself for much much abuse!!

I got it for fitting them, but we love them and they’re still nice 3 years later with fast road use and a few navigation jobs on a fairly heavy Mini with a load of luxuries and sound deadening.

They do need good dampers. Minitastic recommends GAZ which I fitted and run quite soft normally.

Try contacting Minitastic. He made up mine. A lot of springs out there don’t seem to be great resulting in the breakages etc...