At last Mildred has had her new front spring fitted.
Having fitted her new rear springs about 3 years ago, her front sprint has languished in the workshop. Finally I decided that I had delayed for too long and so volunteered her for a workshop day.
12 keen Austin 7 owners assembled for a 4 hour session, where her old saggy spring was replaced with a nice new firm spring.
In this first picture you can see the old worn spring behind the nice new one, wrapped in denso tape to protect it from road grime and grit.
The spring is held in place by two U bolt clamps in the middle and then by shackles at the ends, secured to the hubs.
Much fiddling was required to get to the nuts on the U bolts, as you can see from the assembled crowd leaning in, over and under Mildred.
However, fuelled by tea and cake, we succeeded. Mildred’s spring was safely secured. She now sits about an inch higher than before and with a firmer ride, so she no longer rubs her tyre on the inside of the front wing when braking and taking a sharp turn.
She also looks much happier with her new springs all round and gleaming shackles.
