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Gents, 

bodies off my TR6 now, so I have a rolling chassis, I’ve lifted the engines, so diff and suspension to be removed before blasting.. chassis looks pretty good at this point, fingers crossed hopefully blasting doesn’t reveal horrors.. 

so im pondering, I’m not looking to race, but thinking that if there are upgrades to improve ride, handling and braking id probably regret not doing them now. I’ve seen some suspension and brake upgrades, but I am looking for some advise from anyone that’s done some upgrades as to which are best and where best to source them from.  Is there anything else I should be considering at this stage.? 

Regards

David 

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David, there is a lot that you can do to the rear end, particularly the front and rear diff bridges to strengthen them. They were flimsy to start with and just got worse with rust and stress. You can buy some kits that have the sheet metal pre-cut to box in the front diff mounts but I have not seen anything for the rear bridge. It is all simple stuff to fabricate and weld in especially if you have a bare frame.

If you are tempted by some of the so-called upgrades, tell us what you have in mind as some of them do more harm than good.

Stan

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15 hours ago, foster461 said:

 You can buy some kits that have the sheet metal pre-cut to box in the front diff mounts but I have not seen anything for the rear bridge. It is all simple stuff to fabricate and weld in especially if you have a bare frame.

Stan

David.

As mentioned by Stan above, boxing in the front bridge diff mount pins and welding top reinforcing plates on them is an easy fix giving security against the often found O/S diff pin mount cracking in the bridge and eventually pulling through in extreme conditions. Not easy to fix with the body shell in place.

The rear diff mounting bridge was originally a thin gauge pressed steel open inverted U shaped channel which is quite flimsy. You can press the bottom of the 2 flanges together with relatively modest hand pressure. Apart from providing mounts for the diff, the rear shock absorbers are also mounted on this bridge. The bridge stiffness benefits from welding a plate across the bottom of these 2 flanges to make it into a closed box. Brand new chassis from CTM come with this modification as standard. Also the means by which this rear bridge was attached to the main chassis side rails is worthy of inspection. The original factory welding can be a bit hit and miss but is easily rectified if needed when you have a bare chassis.

At the front end check to see if your chassis has the reinforcing plates on all bottom wishbone brackets. Available from all the usual TR parts suppliers, either separately or in a kit if you need them all.

With regard to suspension upgrades it all depends what you want from the car. There are a variety of opinions about whether changes improve a car or detract from it.

I'm a firm believer in poly bushes in all suspension items, other disagree.

Coil springs - Moss have a choice of 6 or 7 for front and back ranging from standard to full race, with incrementally increased spring rates and reduced heights. See page 111 of Moss 2018 catalogue. Some years ago I fitted slightly lowered and increased rate springs all round to my TR5 (can't find record of exactly which items they were.) The car handling improved greatly, i.e. it cornered very well. However, on anything other than good quality smooth trunk roads, the ride was awful, banging and clattering on even minor ripples on side roads. You pays your money and takes your choice.

Brakes - You could fit a full system of 4 pot calipers with vented discs but these are expensive. Sticking with standard brakes you can fit harder front pads and rear linings but, depending on how extreme you go, be aware that they may take a second or two to reach optimum temperature after you apply them. I have in the past fitted Rover P6 3500 V8 calipers which fit standard mounts, take a bigger pad and bigger disc and are a definite improvement. However, I cannot remember for the life in me where I got the discs from.

PM me if you want to discuss anything else.

Dave McD 

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