Which Shocks??
Discussion
I used to always use SPAX, but have found the quality has dropped. I now really recommend GAZ. They are fully adjustable (bump/rebound) unlike KONI which are only rebound adjustable and have to be removed to adjust as well.
When fitting harder dampers it is worth ensuring that all suspension bushes are in excellent condition.
To fit the rear dampers you don't need to remopve the petrol tank. Just cut a rectangular hole about 4" x 6" in the rear seat-back panel to gain access to the damper top nut and make up an aluminium cover plate sealed with bathroom sealer to cover the hole afterwards.
When fitting harder dampers it is worth ensuring that all suspension bushes are in excellent condition.
To fit the rear dampers you don't need to remopve the petrol tank. Just cut a rectangular hole about 4" x 6" in the rear seat-back panel to gain access to the damper top nut and make up an aluminium cover plate sealed with bathroom sealer to cover the hole afterwards.
I've always found the older the rubber cones the better the handling, so long as the ride height is correct at both ends (fit Hi-Los or washers).
As the rubber ages it hardens and settles which actually improves the ride and handling. New rubber cones tend to give a somewhat 'jumpy' ride until they bed in. My rally car is still on the new cones I fitted back in 1993 when I built it and it has done many events. I've changed the dampers twice, renewed all the bushes as well during that time, but still the cones are the same. They really were a great design all those 50 years ago when you think about it.
As the rubber ages it hardens and settles which actually improves the ride and handling. New rubber cones tend to give a somewhat 'jumpy' ride until they bed in. My rally car is still on the new cones I fitted back in 1993 when I built it and it has done many events. I've changed the dampers twice, renewed all the bushes as well during that time, but still the cones are the same. They really were a great design all those 50 years ago when you think about it.
mmm... Gaz do not get a good write up elsewhere. I've always found it strange that stuff from the lower end of the market seems to be accepted as ok on minis. In the past, I've used bilstein sports, whish are an excellent shock, and are of superior mono-tube design. You get what you pay for with shocks, and whilst the bilsteins are not adjustable (not that many ever actually adjust them) the money has been spent on the internals.
Until recently I had no real experience with GAZ. As some of you may know I have Rover 214Si Endurance Rally car which I prepared two-and-a-half years ago as a replacement for a 1991 Mini Cooper 1275 which turned out to be less competitive than I had hoped for in that branch of rallying. However, I struggled with the suspension for some time after wrecking a set of new SPAX in the first 90 minutes of its first rally, then trying KYB's on the next couple of events. The KYB's were strong, but far too soft even with 220lb front and 170 lb rear springs. SPAX then rebuilt theirs for me for free with much uprated bump settings and I tried them again, but the struts themselves then bent and gave me about 5 degrees of negative camber on the front wheels!
Then I discovered GAZ and they built a set for the Rover. In fact they built several sets for me and my other "St. Albans Rover Centre" team mates and, with the recommended 250/180 lb springs front/rear I can only say they have been absolutely fantastic for us. They won the RAC Revival Rally for the Turner Brothers and have won virtually every round of endurance rallying in the last 18 months. Mine are still the original set and have done 7 rallies without any evident degradation or bending except for notching them up a bit from time to time. The guys at GAZ are most helpful as well.
I can only speak as I find, but IMHO, the value and performance of the GAZ product is really excellent and, on the Rover at any rate, are unbeatable for strength as well.
Then I discovered GAZ and they built a set for the Rover. In fact they built several sets for me and my other "St. Albans Rover Centre" team mates and, with the recommended 250/180 lb springs front/rear I can only say they have been absolutely fantastic for us. They won the RAC Revival Rally for the Turner Brothers and have won virtually every round of endurance rallying in the last 18 months. Mine are still the original set and have done 7 rallies without any evident degradation or bending except for notching them up a bit from time to time. The guys at GAZ are most helpful as well.
I can only speak as I find, but IMHO, the value and performance of the GAZ product is really excellent and, on the Rover at any rate, are unbeatable for strength as well.
wooooody said:
mmm... Gaz do not get a good write up elsewhere. I've always found it strange that stuff from the lower end of the market seems to be accepted as ok on minis.
Gaz are used only many Seven replicas with no major problems, they are certainly better built than modern Spax shocks. I think that shocks in a mini are possibly less critical than on conventionally sprung cars simply because the rubber cones have a high degree of damping built in. Even with thoroughly knackered shocks you can't usually tell just by bouncing a corner of the car.Protech have a good reputation with 7 and Elise owners. They are also very light weight and the owner of the company is very helpful.
i've used Gaz shocks on my mini Jem and found them very good. we then used them on the front of my mates hillclimb car, replacing the spax that were already on there. the Gaz were quite a bit harder by comparison to the spax, but responded well when tweaked for different conditions/hills.
we also used AVO shocks on the rear with very good results for the price, but these were coilovers.
we also used AVO shocks on the rear with very good results for the price, but these were coilovers.
Though I dont run one at the moment, i've had five different mini's, some with standard shocks and others with aftermarket so I have had some basis for comparison.
By far the best set up was on a '98 cooper mpi I had. That had been fitted with a Moulton smootha ride set up which was just superb. It still went round roundabouts on 3 wheels and put a smile on my face but when you were just pottering around it rode much more like a big modern car, no crashing over potholes or speed humps and a total lack of that space hopper bouncing sensation on undulating roads.
I had a look on the minispeed website and they still sell them as a complete kit for around £206, link below.
http://www.minisport.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPA...
See if you can hook up with anyone in one of your local clubs that has this fitted and ask them to take you for a spin before you commit to any brand.
happy new year
By far the best set up was on a '98 cooper mpi I had. That had been fitted with a Moulton smootha ride set up which was just superb. It still went round roundabouts on 3 wheels and put a smile on my face but when you were just pottering around it rode much more like a big modern car, no crashing over potholes or speed humps and a total lack of that space hopper bouncing sensation on undulating roads.
I had a look on the minispeed website and they still sell them as a complete kit for around £206, link below.
http://www.minisport.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPA...
See if you can hook up with anyone in one of your local clubs that has this fitted and ask them to take you for a spin before you commit to any brand.
happy new year
Mr2Mike said:
wooooody said:
mmm... Gaz do not get a good write up elsewhere. I've always found it strange that stuff from the lower end of the market seems to be accepted as ok on minis.
Gaz are used only many Seven replicas with no major problems, they are certainly better built than modern Spax shocks. I think that shocks in a mini are possibly less critical than on conventionally sprung cars simply because the rubber cones have a high degree of damping built in. Even with thoroughly knackered shocks you can't usually tell just by bouncing a corner of the car.Protech have a good reputation with 7 and Elise owners. They are also very light weight and the owner of the company is very helpful.
wooooody said:
One of the guys on scottishelises has just found a bit of a problem with his front protechs. As full a story as there is yet is here: http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?...
Yes, that is pretty nasty I agree, it looks like a fatigue failure. That said the history of these particular units seems to be unknown, and the bushes aren't the same as the current dampers.Mr2Mike said:
wooooody said:
One of the guys on scottishelises has just found a bit of a problem with his front protechs. As full a story as there is yet is here: http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?...
Yes, that is pretty nasty I agree, it looks like a fatigue failure. That said the history of these particular units seems to be unknown, and the bushes aren't the same as the current dampers.wooooody said:
but where is it stated or shown that 'the bushes arenn't the same as the current dampers?'.
I stated it 
The dampers that I saw on the Protech stand at Exeter, and all the ones shown on their website show poly type bushes rather than the bonded metalastic type that the failed dampers have fitted. I'm not saying they aren't original, just that the design appears to have been changed. Just wondering if the steel outer of the metalistic bush has started to corrode with the alloy and the resulting expansion has cracked the alloy housing...Edited by Mr2Mike on Friday 4th January 23:36
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