Thanks Art for all the help you have given me with restoring my recently acquired 1971 MGB back to original condition. I have another question, which may be a little more straight forward than some of my past questions.
A previous owner of my car converted the rear shocks over to the Koni tube-type shocks. Since I know it wasn't the guy I bought the car from, I know the conversion must have been done over 20 years ago, and by the rust on the shocks and mounting plates, it looks it! Anyway, I am going to convert it back to the lever-arm type shocks. It has been quite a while since I have worked on a stock rear suspension, and since I didn't do the conversion originally, I want to make sure I get the new shocks back in as they were originally. The new shocks are on order from Moss, and I expect them any day.
Once I get the new shocks, I think they will be labeled left and right (or I will be able to tell by the part number). It looks like the new shocks will use the same mounting holes as the conversion kit does. Does the shock go on the inside of the frame rail it attaches to (like the conversion kit), or does it go on the outside? Again, I should be able to tell this, once I know left and right. Also, the shock attaches to the frame rail with 2 bolts. On the back of these bolts is a flat washer, a lock washer and a lock nut. Does the flat washer pull up directly against the frame rail, or is there some kind of backing plate through which both of the bolts go, on the opposite side of the frame rail from the shock? The reason I ask is that when I look closely at the frame rail, I can see the outline in the undercoating & road dirt, of where something had pulled up against the frame rail in the past (but is no longer there). Since the rectangular shape of this outline does not appear to be from the shock, I'm thinking they may have used some kind of backing plate on the backside of the frame rail to distribute the load of the 2 bolts coming through the frame rail. Is there anything to this, or am I just seeing things?
I've looked in all of the manuals and I can't find any reference to this kind of part, which leads me to think I may be seeing things. This is pretty hard to explain in a paragraph, so I hope I am making sense. I've seen other cases where a load bearing part is attached to a hollow square tube with more than 1 bolt, where a 'backing plate' is used to help distribute the load across the hollow tube, and away from the bolt holes. Another reason to think there may have been something used in this case.
Thanks in advance for any light you can help shed on this subject.
Jack Wheeler
West End, North Carolina