11 replies to this topic

[nzminiman]

Hi all.

new to this forum, hope you can help.

I bought a 65' 998 english cooper today in chch new zealand. the front end was real low (touching the top of the wheels) so I took it to a garage and had them pump up the hydro. It looked slightly better but real high at the rear. The guy said that would settle and the front would come up.

I got my new baby home and off the trailer.. it is still lowish on the front (less then a inch clearance from tyre to arch) but the back end is still high.

Has anyone else had experience with this? Any ideas what could be causing it? Many thanks for advise.

attached a pic to view.

if anyone is interested, this car should be almond green with white roof! they have changed the interior to grey / red also!

has anyone got some nice pics of a mk1 almond green mini for me? I need insperation! many thanks

 63600280_full.jpg   59.17K   13 downloads

Edited by nzminiman, 08 August 2008 - 11:42 AM.

[taffy1967]

It's possible that the front displacers have failed and that's why the ride height is so low?

[minimanclive]

There should be springs at the back where the dampers would be on a normal Mini.
The front and rear hydro units are linked on each side. It's not uncommon to see them go lopsided if the system loses pressure. But as yours is down at the front on both sides, i'd have to agree with taffy on a hydo displacer fault, unless something has been done to the front to rear pipes.

[Ethel]

tired or missing helper springs on the back wouldn't, erm, help

Jack up the front to take some weight off the wheels.

[mk1leg]

Hi..If you have difficulty finding new displacers try Austin 1100-1300, or perhaps early metro as they used hydro units............if no luck PM me and I might have a spare set .............and I do know your in New Zealand so postage might be a problem........................

[Ethel]

Metros are no good - hydrogas. Not sure 1300/1100s fit either, the subframes are certainly a lot different in that area.

[minimender]

I would guess that the nylon cups have worn through in the front suspension so new knuckle joints will lift it a little.
The sixties coopers did run a little low at the front in my experience, the manual should give the ride heights though.

[62S]

1100 displacers won't fit, they are much too big. It looks low all round, have you tried getting it pumped up?

[nzminiman]

I had it pumped up while it was on the trailer still but the trailer was uneven! The side in the pic does actually look a bit better now but the driver side is sitting on the bump stop at the front

[partsguy1]

Nice color choice!

[nzminiman]

update.

have my engine out at the moment. Just wondering.. If it is a displacer problem do I need the engine out to remove those, or can I do it with engine in?

thanks for any help

[maddogmcg]

you can remove the hydro unit with the engine in situ , obviously you will need to empty the hydro fluid from the side you are going to remove then follow instructions in the manual ( you might !!!! find a complete haynes manual on piratebay for download) . the unit unscrews from the subframe ,not connected with a full thread ,it has four lugs on the displacer that engage into the subframe .