Topic

Missed this one

I had a long but unattributed conversation yesterday with someone much more experienced than me on this topic.

He's aware of the re-gassing option being offered in the UK. His problem with it is that and old sphere re-gassed is still an old sphere and it's completely unpredictable as to how long it will last.

He likes the Australian kit but thinks it's not suitable for UK roads because of all the salt we use in winter - the totally exposed alloy parts will corrode quickly (still an option I suppose for those summer only users).

He made the well know warning about using harder dampers on the F and was insistent that if you go down that route, you must reinforce the rear upper fixings first.

He was a supporter of Suplex but apparently the German owners have pulled the plug on the MGF kit! Too niche for them it seems. However, the ex-UK manager who was the lead on the kit development hopes to launch an improved version if the copyright issues can be sorted. It will have a medium in the canister to reduce the amplified clunking sounds and to keep the spring in place. He also was keen to say that to get the best out of Suplex you need to change suspension bushes and probably the knuckles which he acknowledged are too expensive for what they are.

It's another opinion of course and don't shoot the messenger but I thought it was worth sharing. I'm hanging in there with my original hydragas for the moment but would certainly look at son of Suplex if it happens.

Richard

I'm going the same route: regasing spheres. So far I have regased 6 spheres: 1 set for my F and 2 rears for a friend's F.

For me, this is a much cheaper route to go than either of the spring conversion kits, especially where I have two Fs in the family.

talkingcars wrote: wrote:

Going option 3 is getting expensive LOL

I bought a scrap TF for £300 three months ago and have been slowly stripping it, then yesterday I spent £200 (not to mention £60 for fuel) on a rear TF subframe that happened to have a recently rebuilt 160 engine in it. I also have a MEMS 3 VVC loom and ECU in the shed that was £60.

Then I'll have to spend a couple of hundred on new mounts and bushes etc........

and £325 on a set of LE500 suspension units.

To make life easier Mike Satur now selles Regassing Nipples that can be mounted without welding !

http://www.mikesatur.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=837

(so I could have done without welding but on the other side I would then have driven a rock for the past summer weeks ....so no regret for having taken the welding route)

The only problem I see with Mike Satur's regasing nipples is that the operating pressure he states is incorrect and might mean that the valve will not handle the actual operating pressures; the nitrogen sphere operates at pressures above 400 psig. How much above depends in the bumps the suspension needs to absorb.

I've opted to get mine regassed as they where meant to be.it was a well tested system for many many years.i did think of tf subframes,but it would lose the magic ride.
I have recently had a lift in a tf and they do bounce a bit.light Car stiff suspension.but its personal choice.

Mark,
From mike's site.
These nipples are a DIY installation. The top part of the sphere requires a hole drilling and the valve has self sealing joint once tightened,once pressurised the pressure helps to seal the valve (not unlike a rubber tyre valve) the fluid has to be de-pressurised to a min 250psi before fitting and re-pressurised afterwards as the fluid pressure (400psi) is higher than the gas pressure (280psi)

I think when you ask people to start drilling holes with high pressure it's open to disaster.

I know David, that's the part that concerns me. The nitrogen portion of the sphere starts out at 240 psig, but once the fluid side is pressurised to 400 psig, the nitrogen side is also at 400 psig. How much higher the pressure in the nitrogen side increases to beyond 400 psig is unknown to me, but given Dunlop design the sphere for a maximum working pressure of 855 psig makes me think that the nitrogen pressure can certainly bypass 500 psig.

Nearly one month on and 1500 miles under the belt, I remain very pleased with the re-gassed spheres done by Ian & Dawn Kennedy (http://www.hydragasandhydrolasticservice.com/). It costs £350 to have removed spheres done and posted back to you (in the UK) or £480 to have the complete job done for you if you take the car to Telford.

Richard

mowog73 wrote: wrote:

I know David, that's the part that concerns me. The nitrogen portion of the sphere starts out at 240 psig, but once the fluid side is pressurised to 400 psig, the nitrogen side is also at 400 psig. How much higher the pressure in the nitrogen side increases to beyond 400 psig is unknown to me, but given Dunlop design the sphere for a maximum working pressure of 855 psig makes me think that the nitrogen pressure can certainly bypass 500 psig.

Delving a little deeper, I found this on Dieter's site in which this type of shraeder valve is welded in and nitrogen recharge is discussed.

Now the displacers can be charged with Nitrogen to the final pressure setting. For the MGF, the original figures supplied by Dr Moulton from the original Dunlop data are 16.55bar +/-1.5 bar at 20 degrees Celcius at an ambient atmospheric pressure of 1 bar (giving a charge volume of 491cm3) front and rear.

16.55 bar is around 243psi.

http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/group2/suspension/hydragas__depressurisation.htm