Mk1a rear suspension to mk1b conversion

[snowtigger]

As per title what bits need changing from mk1a to mk1b is it just a matter of unbolting both and swopping every thing over or is there some specific components that also need modifying on the mk1a to fit the b rear shocks?.

[nikwills]

There is an old thread somewhere that covers this, but there are several mods required I bought a set of mk1b's off Nik, cos I was gonna build a spare set up with koni's, either the front or rear is a straight swap, but I only have my driveway to work on so I haven't bothered yet as it looks reasonabley time consuming....... On the end that is different the top cap has 4 studs instead of 3 and the drop links mounts are in a different position so possibley you need different drop links. Now I have a set for the mk1b I can't see any advantage to swapping to them especially as the new mk1b struts are now sealed and welded units ie they don't have the nut allowing you to change the inserts.

[snowtigger]

If you're uprating the rears to better shocks and can get hold of the mk1b with a removable nut then plus I'm putting an uprated mk2 arb on the back as I don't have much faith in the chicken wire mk1a rear arb.

[samsite999]

I have the two sets sitting in my shed at the moment.

The rears will swp over with ease. The only problem being the rear ARB is very different on the mk1a to the mk1b the b version is much thinker and a different shape...hence the drop links being smaller (I think)
Any how, holding the two rear ARB's up to the chase, the b version will mount back more requiring two new holes to be drilled. Mine also fouls the rear subframe a little.

The actual rear arms are a direct swp. the front arms are 3 stud on the mk1a and 4 stud on the mk1b Im going to see if its possible to use them tomorrow by drilling a extra hole

I know this because im currently taking a mk1a to bits and refreshing it using mk1b polybushed bits

www.mr2mk1.org

if your interested in my slow progress

[Paul Woods]

On the end that is different the top cap has 4 studs instead of 3

This is front suspension only, the rear topmounts are all the same mka or b.


The rears will swp over with ease

Not true i'm afraid, you cannot fit B shocks to an A hub, the space on the hub attachment is not wide enough.Also you can't fit a B hub onto A bottom arms.Lastly you can't fit B arms onto A mounting triangles (subframes)...... well you can but your geometry will be all to fuck.

The only way to fit B rear suspension to an A is to swap over the suspension triangles as well to B spec, then and only then can you use everything from the B.

On the front topmount no need to drill the extra B hole, just chop the stud off the topmount, that will make it the same as an A topmount.

Hope that helps clarify chaps.

[samsite999]

Hmmm, ok i have a mk1b setup next to a mk1a at the moment, the tie bars, balljoints, rear tie bar all are exactly the same.
I have them next to each other and there the same length and thickness

The arms them self (im talking about the rear here on the outside look exactly the same. the drop link mounts in the same location. So your saying it will not fit on a mk1a hub? dam!!!!

Ill go and check that not because thats a big big spanner in the works

and the mk1b shock can not be used in the mk1a? (early mk1b)

The dona car was a very very early mk1b

[samsite999]

well thats me confused....I just went in to the workshop, picked up the mkb spring and shock arm and bolted it to the hub assembly with no issues at all

[OlberJ]

what's a Mk2b? a Rev2 Mk2?

[samsite999]

corrected, sorry, brain is not in gear, and my hands are cold now!

[Paul Woods]

Sam i have no idea what you have in front of you but i can assure you Mk1a arms are longer than mk1b ones, you just can't fit B suspension onto A subframes bud or the geometry is all to hell.... i think you must already have Mk1B subframes on that car fitted by someone else

[samsite999]

No Paul, I completely agree with you on that one.

Ill show you whats going on, the subfraim has got to me a mk1a because the mk1b ARB simply will not fit

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k68/samsite999/DSC_8462.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k68/samsite999/DSC_8463.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k68/samsite999/DSC_8464.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k68/samsite999/DSC_8465.jpg

[samsite999]

just to also note, I'm getting some very confusing information here?

http://forums.twobrutal.com/showthread.php?t=16128

Well, all I can say is time will tell as the new bits arrive tomorrow :S expect harsh language from my workshop

[Paul Woods]

Ill show you whats going on, the subfraim has got to me a mk1a because the mk1b ARB simply will not fit


No i am afraid no matter what subframes the car has fitted the mk1a ARB will not fit the B suspension, because the ARB is on the chassis, not the subframe.

From the pictures you do have mk1a and mk1b struts there, have you been driving the car with the mk1a suspension on it? did it drive ok? Just trying to establish if it has always had A subframes or not to help you out.

[samsite999]

Thanks for your time Paul, I'm a little worried now that I have just peed unessery money up the wall on the say so of others that are now telling me they are in fact not that knowledgeable and shouldn't have taken there advice :(

The car was running on the mk1a stuff, thats more than a little tired. I have oil leakage out of every shock on the mk1a and can compress the arms my hand (and im not heman)

The cars handling was frankly disappointing. There was no banging or crashing but it felt sloppy and almost like I was driving a plate of jelly down the road

All I have done is unbolt the a arms from the hub and other bits, place the b arm up against the hub and it fitted with out question

I also have all the tiebars, which connect the hub and arms to the chases, These are all exactly the same between the a and b setup. In fact the only difference I have found is the arb and the droplinks

I can see you know your stuff but looking at the arms in front of me, there is no physical difference in there dimensions length wise. I can see the cup is of slightly different design and the shocks look generally bigger in the mkb

This morning I have £200 worth of now completely useless bits arriving :(

Any how, Thanks Paul for your time. With 13k of posts and suspecting you operate a garage dedicated to mk1 stuff, I suspect your going to be much more in the know than I am.

How can I get out of this mess?

[snowtigger]

From Reading your post why can't you change the mounting triangles of mk1a then fit the mk1b donnor triangles hubs arms in other words the complete mk1b back suspension. as paul has posted

[samsite999]

looks like its a route im going to have to take ST so ill be having a look around the mk1b breaking section

live and learn! Not the end of the world as they say

[Jim-SR]

Thanks for your time Paul, I'm a little worried now that I have just peed unessery money up the wall on the say so of others that are now telling me they are in fact not that knowledgeable and shouldn't have taken there advice :(

generally speaking, where the internet is concerned, you should always assume that anyway! you wouldnt take the word of some bloke in the street whos walking past as youre working on your car as being the truth unless he had some credibility. never spend money until youve done a proper amount of research. its as much on you to do the research as it is on other people giving bad information. tbh i didnt see any bad information, per se, nobody quoted anything as gospel, especially not in enough detail for you to go straight out and spend a load of money. plus you said you already had the parts, all advice was given in an "if youve got both sets, use the mk1b" scenario. not a "go out and spend £200 on mk1b bits, theyll 100% fit straight on" scenario. id always fit something like that for myself before spending money refreshing parts, better to be safe than sorry.

i think its a little off tbh to then be as critical as youve been in this situation of what is free advice on a very informative internet forum. if youd been sold £200 of parts by a company that told you they would fit, well thats a different story. im yet to find an internet forum where there is nothing but 100% fact all of the time. this one usually comes fairly close, youve just got to acquire as much information as you can before making choices, rather than making snap decisions on the first information that anyone posts. the same applies to anything you read on the internet really. but as you say, you live and you learn.