Suspension
Front Hawk cars / Hoyle Engineering front tubular coil over front suspension.
FRONT COIL-OVER
SUSPENSION:
Available for MGA, MGB&BV8
Our replacement double wishbone, coil over front suspension system has been specially designed to overcome some of the criticism of the original or other alternative options. The wishbones are fabricated using high grade tubular steel that improves the structural strength and rigidity, the springs are positioned closer to the wheel enabling a much softer spring to be used, and together with high quality damper units results in a more supple suspension.
The coil-over damper units are specially made ‘click’ adjustable, re-buildable units with adjustable spring seats to enable the ride height of the car to be changed, and are supplied with a 3 year warranty and individual test reports. The springs supplied are a standard 2 ¼” I/D which are used on a variety of special and race cars. These can be obtained in a wide variety of stiffness and lengths.
New anti-roll (sway) bar links are supplied fitted with a spherical joint to provide a more positive reaction. The bottom stub axle bolt is replaced with a special high tensile bolt that has a small flat machined on it which carries 2 snail cams, this enables the camber angle to be adjusted simply and quickly. Several shim washers used at the top end of the stub axle provide a small degree of castor adjustment.
All fabricated parts and springs are black powder coated, the dampers are chemically blacked, and nuts and bolts are bright zinc plated.
Standard MGB lower inboard bushes are utilised for the inboard ends of the new top and bottom wishbones. Polyurethane replacements for normal road use are recommended and can be supplied.
Fitting the kit is straightforward, it replaces some of the components normally fitted, and these are:
The lower wishbone pivots and stub-axle assembly are retained
In order to be able to fit a full size spring/damper unit of this type it is necessary to modify the ends of the front cross-member (chassis outriggers on MGA) to provide clearance. We can do this for you or supply a ready modified powder coated unit on exchange (not MGA). Some customers carry out the modification themselves, which involves cutting off the end of the cross-member and welding in a gusset (supplied in the kit). Also the MGA top trunnion requires modification or alternatively the MGB stub axle assembly can be used.
NB: These kits are suitable for both chrome and rubber bumper MGB. The ride height of a rubber bumper car can be lowered using the spring height adjuster but this will result in a similar amount of bump travel being lost.
Bushings/pads Front: V8 lower A-arm bushings; Poly bushing upper Kingpin bushings; rubber cross member pads.
Coil-over rear shocks I used the QA-1 coil-over springs and shocks rated at 250lb/in. I only ran two coil overs as opposed to the original Jag running four. So my configuration is four shocks, and two springs.
Sway bar At the moment I am running the original 5/8" front bar, mounted with polyurethane bushings. I used two aluminum spacer blocks to drop the bar two inches to clear the radiator hoses and the front pulley. I used the same bolt holes in the chassis but with longer bolts. I have never seen this done before but it is truly the easiest way I can think of and the sway bar still works well. I may switch to a 3/4" bar in the future.
Control Arms I fabricated a set of control bars for the rear axle. I used the existing front mount where the leaf spring went to mount the bar. I connected the arm to the axle using a pivot joint. I used the same rubber bushing that the leaf spring used to bush the control arms.
Steering The entire steering assembly is original. All I did to improve it was to install new tie rod ends and gators.