Topic

hi regarding the springs.they are progressive springs that are soft when driving but on braking or cornering get stiffer.they sit in a tube that simply clamps into the hydro pod bracket.so d iy fitting is easy.
as a small company we only have so much time and money to put into projects,and we have 5 differant project running three where dropped.we have had the springs tested on a metro and a mgf and they work well.how ever we have red tape to wade through,then marketing and packaging to worry about.and this believe it on not takes time and money.
we hope to have the paperwork sorted out we can then start selling some.we dont want to post photos as we dont have protection against copying at the moment

What's important when pumping up the hydragas units is to check not only the ride height, but the fluid pressure as well. Really hard, with lots of fluid pressure, and not very high suggests low nitrogen pressure. I would put money on nearly every single hydragas unit having lost significant nitrogen pressure given their age. Dad and a friend of ours have been working on them a bit lately, and every sphere they've opened has been down less to less than 50% of the original pressure, with NOS items that've never been fitted being the worst - some as low as 10%. However, these NOS spheres are the most likely to have good membranes.

It is possible to modify the hydragas units to adjust the nitrogen pressure, basically by sticking a schraeder valve in and pumping them up, in a similar way that you do with the fluid level. The change in the cars which have had this done is impressive, and watching a standard car with proper pressure vs a car with the oz setup round a grass track is quite interesting. The standard car was significantly smoother and quicker. Dad's friend has since modified a number of spheres for a number of people, and all are very happy with them. Only problem for most on here is that he's in Auckland.

dazlightyear wrote: wrote:

hi regarding the springs.they are progressive springs that are soft when driving but on braking or cornering get stiffer.they sit in a tube that simply clamps into the hydro pod bracket.so d iy fitting is easy.

Sounds great!
I'm waiting in anticipation to hear more when (hopefully soon) they get the official go and are for sale.

MG mad wrote: wrote:

What's important when pumping up the hydragas units is to check not only the ride height, but the fluid pressure as well. Really hard, with lots of fluid pressure, and not very high suggests low nitrogen pressure. I would put money on nearly every single hydragas unit having lost significant nitrogen pressure given their age. Dad and a friend of ours have been working on them a bit lately, and every sphere they've opened has been down less to less than 50% of the original pressure, with NOS items that've never been fitted being the worst - some as low as 10%. However, these NOS spheres are the most likely to have good membranes.

It is possible to modify the hydragas units to adjust the nitrogen pressure, basically by sticking a schraeder valve in and pumping them up, in a similar way that you do with the fluid level. The change in the cars which have had this done is impressive, and watching a standard car with proper pressure vs a car with the oz setup round a grass track is quite interesting. The standard car was significantly smoother and quicker. Dad's friend has since modified a number of spheres for a number of people, and all are very happy with them. Only problem for most on here is that he's in Auckland.

In hindsight i would've wished to know up to what pressure they needed to go to lift the MGF to standard height, but as this was done by the garage soon after i got the car and i knew next to nothing about it then...

If only the spheres were fitted with both valves as stock, then yes i'd guess purchasing NOS ones today would be pretty sensible and somewhat sure. As is, to pay the silly prices that is asked for them only to get them modified so as to be sure that they are working correctly... sigh. Madness.

For sure i would prefer to replace as much as possible the original elements with identical new ones, but with the suspension i just don't see how it would be possible. Even with adding the second valve, i guess in the end there's just no way of knowing in what condition the membrane is (new or old, dried up or used to death).

Anybody doing the "second valve" modding in europe? With a reasonable price, that could be at least a "temporary" (1/2/3 years?) fix for used spheres while waiting for viable new and long-term replacement solutions.

To be fair there is little reason that a refilled displacer couldn't last 10 years or more. Most often the nitrogen leaks very slowly over a period of 10-15 years.

Have a look at http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/austin/maxi/tech-recharging-maxi-spheres/

I know that it relates to Maxi displacers however the way the system works is the same.

Invalid or non-existent item ID.I have for sale 2 sets of these for anyone interested

i did surgest to my mother that she baked some mgf hydro pods in her bread making machine.the bread that she makes would hold the wieght of a mgf easy.
and it would be very cheap to make

Did your Mum bean you in the head with one of these loaves as you quickly left the kitchen after that suggestion?

my mother managed to keep the house hold staff when my father died so cooking is done by someone else,she cooked once if i can remember and nearly burnt the house down.

Well I'm watching this thread in anticipation. Hope Daryl gets his springs sorted as I think my system needs looking at. Did the bounce test this morning there is some travel bounce on the front but not much on the rear. Need to check the ride height as the rear tyres seem to sit up into the wheel arch at the moment.

cjmillsnun wrote: wrote:

To be fair there is little reason that a refilled displacer couldn't last 10 years or more. Most often the nitrogen leaks very slowly over a period of 10-15 years.

Have a look at http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/austin/maxi/tech-recharging-maxi-spheres/

I know that it relates to Maxi displacers however the way the system works is the same.

That was very interesting, thanks!

Having read some more again, the rubber membranes dying is not the most quoted reason for failing hydragas units; it's indeed just the nitrogen seeping out and subsequently the liquid replacing the space it occupied.

This would indicate that were there a way to refill the nitrogen in a lot of cases that would rejuvenate the pods. Except that there's no way to do that without some heavy modding it would seem.

In the article above they say that you wouldn't be able to use the exact same placement for mgf and that one would even need to make space for the valves in the bodywork before they would fit back. This alone takes this to a whole another level, as it would mean that even if someone would provide the valve-fitted/refilled units it still wouldn't be just a simple matter of replacing them.

Forgot to check the ride height today as Ive been out shopping, but I did notice a nice V Reg MGF in car part at the Fort today, and my ride height is a lot lower than that one

Think I may look at getting it serviced and get Hyrogas refilled while its being done, at least that way I will get an idea of the rest of the cars issues.

sebastian wrote: wrote:

cjmillsnun wrote: wrote:

To be fair there is little reason that a refilled displacer couldn't last 10 years or more. Most often the nitrogen leaks very slowly over a period of 10-15 years.

Have a look at http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/austin/maxi/tech-recharging-maxi-spheres/

I know that it relates to Maxi displacers however the way the system works is the same.

That was very interesting, thanks!

Having read some more again, the rubber membranes dying is not the most quoted reason for failing hydragas units; it's indeed just the nitrogen seeping out and subsequently the liquid replacing the space it occupied.

This would indicate that were there a way to refill the nitrogen in a lot of cases that would rejuvenate the pods. Except that there's no way to do that without some heavy modding it would seem.

In the article above they say that you wouldn't be able to use the exact same placement for mgf and that one would even need to make space for the valves in the bodywork before they would fit back. This alone takes this to a whole another level, as it would mean that even if someone would provide the valve-fitted/refilled units it still wouldn't be just a simple matter of replacing them.

You're right that placement of the valves is important, but I do know there are a handful of MGFs that have had this done to them in Auckland - unfortunately I don't know if any spacers were used, but I don't believe so.