I have money but i just dont have the guts to buy a $110 cone conpressor, i know i can make one, i am a fabricator remember? I can fabricate everything , the only thing i can't fabricate are stories.
i have a picture of the compressor im still studying its components and how it works, i just confused, apart from the compressor itself, why are there 2other long shafts with pointed end and threaded end, sir dan said it is used to center the cone , but Why is it threaded???????? Bizarre design.

No chance Dave. Remember the throttle cable scenario with the $90 scooter cable conversion that he found in the back of the garage and bragged about, well that theory/idea is shot to hell due to resting on the exhaust manifold and water pump due to being too long and now he won't even pony up $15 for the correct part just wants to keep on greasing (which makes things worse) it.

Wow.
This is complete madness.
Sir Dan, as you appear to be the only one he listens to, can you just make a very clear statement telling him to "buy a spring compressor" ? That is about all we can do. Cheapskates have been trying to avoid buying the tool for the past 45 years, every time, the tool ended up looking like a good deal in the end. 

You've got that right bluebox.

Thanks for posting John, i figured they were expensive and not for his budget.

tb, don't you think that the people who make coil overs have tested them and their mounts ? You want to question them and yet you are the one throwing pieces of junk at your Mini and think that (in your eyes) everything is and should be ok.
All this over a rented spring compressor

And we go down the rabbit hole again.. This is madness.

Hahaha -

//www.minimania.com/part/CK17/Coil-over-Kit-Spax 

JUST GET NEW CONES.

The only thing i need to find is a front coil over that can carry 333 lbs weight of the front of the mini. Thats according to J.T.  
But the picture shows that the upper mount is only welded on the metal sheet,, i mean who in the right mind will weld a mount on the metal sheet that will carry 333 lbs amd more on bumps. Gosh!! Bad design. He needs to have somehow welded the mount on the solid  frame, i mean not permanent but detachable or bolted on. 

Knowing your budget you will stop liking it soon. I know of someone who used motorcycle coil over shocks on the front of his Mini off ebay for around $10 a piece, no spring compressor required lol.

Gosh! I just saw this now on google!!!

WHY DIDN'T YOU GUYS TELL ME this is possible????!! This is by far the most neat set up.. I like it..

Thats one of the many disadvantages of hydrolastic , aside from being so pricey, if it burst the car is totally disabled because the tire will touch the arches and gets stuck!  I saw one on ebay and 2 front costs $1500, gosh dumb is the person who buys that thing.Lol
if i can really get my way to design an upper mount for coil over shocks itll be the best deal.  The lower part of the shock absorber is bolted in the upper arm(as orig design) now the mount can be fabricated and welded on the frame where the cone is enclosed in. That metal is sturdy enough to get welded on. And there are a lot of skinny ATV coil over shocks available on ebay, heavy duty. Im surpised nobody has done this,,, im gonna do it. ,, next project!!

I laughed when I saw this... Back in the day it was pretty much the standard solution for getting to the dealer for a pump up after working on the hydro system.  

The factory manual states that you could drive a fully collapsed hydro Mini at something like 30 mph for a sort distance if required ..... When I tried it I found the tyres fouled the wheel arches - probably because of non standard wheels and tired bump stops.  I seem to remember a small piece of thick plywood under each bump  stop gave enough clearance....

Cheers, Ian

I think he is referring to the bump stops jeg.
If he did shorten them i can only imagine the discussion here when he gets around to replacing them (how do you get to the bolt) lol but it may well come to that if he keeps driving around on collapsed cones.
And so the saga continues.

Jeg:  I did say minis don't "need" them.

I'd take you up on that offer, but it is a long way to your place. How about we meet half-way?
Seriously though, it I did try your car, I KNOW I'd want them.

Dan, come over some day and give mine a thrash around the block.  You might just want one yourself...

Here's a thought - since I assumed you were talking about the rebound buffer and not the bump stop above the arm...

You could always just shorten the bump stop by about 1/4".  It won't solve your problem, but it'll make life a tad more comfortable until you get proper tools and new parts.

Oh boy...


No - the upper arm only contacts the rebound buffer (2A4267) on full suspension droop - when the wheel travels downward, for example when going over a hole or the vehicle is airborn.  

Minis used for rally, autograss or minis using lots of negative camber will either install taller rebound buffers (2A4267C) or as the Special Tuning manuals suggested, a 3mm thick plate inserted under the rebound buffer.  This reduced distance between the upper arm and rebound buffer helps prevent the lower ball joint from breaking off.

Inserting a 3/16" washer between the knuckle joint and aluminium strut/trumpet as Mal suggests will effectively raise your suspension by .56" - you knew this of course, as you've read the tech articles on this site and have already used the well-known 3:1 front suspension lowering ratio which can be used for calculating how much is needed to raise the ride height.     

 

I'll s'plain this in plain old English:  Assuming the washer to be used is ³/₁₆" = 0.1875" thick.

If inserted between the knuckle joint and the aluminium strut/trumpet, it will raise the suspension three times as much (three to one ratio here, rembember?)  So, 0.1875" x 3 = 0.5625" raised front suspension.  

For the purposes of illustrating and simplifying the example, to lower the front suspension, you'd remove 0.1875" from the aluminum strut/trumpet to lower the car 0.5625".  It's normally accepted to use ½" or multiples thereof as a goal in either example, and add or remove material from the strut/knuckle joint (lengthening or shortening) height as necessary.

Your logic is flawed and dangerous.  ersonally, I really don't care in which manner you decide to kill yourself, but engulfing innocent strangers in your barnyard engineered duct tape fireball simply isn't acceptable.

The most likely reason your rubber suspension cones are causing the vehicle to ride too low is that they're likely old and collapsed.  The other possibility, and it's been mentioned before, is that occasionally, due to lack of proper maintenance and/or proper lubrication, is that the knuckle joints can wear through their nylon cups.  As I s'plained earlier, the rebound buffer has absolutely zero influence on ride height.

Trying to do any of this work without a proper cone compressor is going to prove enormously frustrating, as you'll have the new cone flopping around in the tower as you try to balance the strut/trumpet on the waggling knuckle joint when re-installing the upper arm.

My suggestion, not unlike the others and merely echoing what's been stated previously:


Use a healthy smear of copper grease on the knuckle joint shaft into the strut/trumpet and another healthy smear in the rubber cone's cup where the strut/trumpet seats.

Reminds me of a Mini owner that stopped by my place and had a 3 inch long 1" x 2" piece of lumber strapped with cable ties to his upper arm between the bump stop and upper arm as his new aftermarket cheapest he could find front cones had collapsed, got him home.

What Malsal warns is true. You will expose yourself to serious injury and liability by jamming scraps of tire into your suspension. It would be right up there with the dumb lawnmower cut-away idea.

If your current suspension is near or touching the bump stops it is time for NEW CONES. Nothing else.

There is no logic with your solution. It is dangerous and if you don't value your own life at least value other road users and pedestrians who will be around you and in the line of fire when it all goes tits up.
That cone compressor and new donuts will seem cheap by comparison when the insurance company denies your claim and the ambulance chaser lawyers get a hold of you while you are sitting in a jail cell .