19 replies to this topic

[psoutzis]

Hey , i just bought a spring conversion Kit for my Austin mini 1000 to replace rubber cones. Also with Hi-Los
What is the procedure to fit them ? Can i do it my self ? Some pictures will be helpfull, thank you !

[psoutzis]

???

[Tamworthbay]

As with your other thread, a bit of patience goes a long way! They fit in relatively easily. The old ones needs compressing to get out. The upper arm pin needs to come out to get clearance. The brake splitter can get in the way but once its half way out you can rotate it and slide the upper arm off. To refit, make sure the Hilo is at its shortest, then build it all back up and adjust to the height you want. Look through the project pages - there are loads with photos of this.

[psoutzis]

Hmm thank you ! !
Could you Link me to those project pages ?

[Jordie]

Rears are easy.

 

Unbolt the fuel tank and move into centre of boot.

Undo both shock absorbers from inside the boot.

Jack up using the subframe with some support, axle stands on the flat part of the subframe.

The radius arms should have dropped right down at this point.

 

With the arms fully lowered, you can work loose the old rubber cone and trumpet. Id replace the knuckle joint whilst you are there.

 

After fitting spring and hi lo etc. Use the jack under the brake hub to lift the radius arm into position. You will need to guide the stud at top of the shocker through the hole and also watch to make sure the spring/hi-lo/knuckle are seated whilst jacking up. Now bolt the shocker up from inside the car, remove the jack. Check and adjust hi lo as required. Do next side.

[xrocketengineer]

This might give you some insight how to do it. It is From the FAQ's section. The only thing not covered is the removal of the front cones that might require removing the upper suspension arms.

 

http://www.theminifo...-fitting-guide/

 

However, the coil springs are much smaller than the cones and they will fit easily with the suspension arms in place.

The hard trick is to pull the old cone out. It requires cutting two flat spots on the outer metal retainer of the cone to "reduce the diameter" and apply plenty of grease inside of the subframe to be able to "lever" out the cone. I used a Dremel tool to cut the flats.

 

 

[psoutzis]

Ok thank you very much ! ;)
Another question... i will replace my old cones with SOFT spring Kit, do i have to replace my shock absorbers too ? , i have some old shock absorbers, would it be a problem ?

[xrocketengineer]

You do not have to replace the shocks. However, the coil springs do not provide any "built in" dampening characteristics like the rubber cones do so it is probably smart to use upgraded shocks.

[tiger99]

The best advice is not  to fit coil springs at all, and definitely not the soft ones. Unless you carry the same load in the car at all times, the suspension will either be hitting the bump stops or the rebound stops, and when it hammers the stops into oblivion, the ball joints will run out of travel and fracture. With short travel suspension like the Mini, there are only two real options for road use, springs with rapidly rising rate i.e. rubber cones, or a self-levelling hydropneumatic system like certain Citroens.

 

But if you really must ruin the handling and compromise the safety, you MUST use dampers that are much stiffer than standard, to try to reduce the suspension travel. It will neither ride nor hold the road well. A lot of people here are sadly deluded by "snake oil" like coil springs, which are worse than useless, but in a limited set of circumstances may seem, without proper measurements, to be an improvement.

 

Be sure to tell your insurance company exactly what you have done, and how you have reduced the dynamic working load range of the suspension very significantly....

[psoutzis]

Okay thank you for your answer...
I have already purchased the Soft Coil Springs set with Hi-Lo kit, and my mechanic is fitting them now, Friday should be ready... although i have some old Shock absorbers on my Mini and i am worried about that...  i am planning to put some weight in the car now, Leather seats and some sound deadening-proofing, and i only carrie one person as a passenger. would that be a problem ? If yes,, if i replace my shock absorers with some good gas shocks ? ill be good to go ? 
Please answer as i am too worried right now and i think i made i BIG BIG mistake...    

[tiger99]

You have indeed made a big mistake. Gas dampers will not help what is basically the need for proper rising rate springs.

[Carlos W]

Have a read of this

 

http://www.theminifo...-daily-use-log/

[psoutzis]

Okay i understand...what are you suggesting to do now ? I have payed a lot for this springs and Hi-Lo kits and i cant afford to buy new ones now..
You mean that i will have a problem with my mini now ? Hows that possible. I bought them off MINI Spares UK !

[Carlos W]

The bloke who wrote the above reckons they're great!

He was using fast road ones tho

[miniman24]

Im the one who made the log above :) I have the fast road Minitastic springs and they are brilliant. I regularly carry 4 people in the car plus shopping for all 4 and have never had any problems with bottoming out. On the usage log that Carlos posted above you can see the ride height Im running - standard height. In fact, I have lowered it about 0.5cm all round since then and still have no problems. The ride comfort is much improved (and the cones I swapped out were only 2 years or so old) and there is no skipping around bumps on corners, car is planted and handles very nicely and predictably. I drive over some very bad roads with 4 people in and I never worry about carrying too much weight. I also have Gaz adjustable shockers and usually have them set to 3 click up front and 1 on the rear, hardly super stiff.

 

That said, this is my experience on Minitastic fast road springs (done around 7k miles on them now). My old Mini had cheap springs installed from PL Minis I think, they were genuinely terrible with all the issues described by Tiger above. I would only ever recommend the Minitastic springs. Hopefully the Minispares ones are similar.