Girling Shock Absorbers

[Andrew1967]

Does anyone have a Girling shock absorber reference manual and can tell me the correct part number for Pick-up rears please.

I am referring to the original thin grey type.

Thanks in advance

[Andrew1967]

Bump

Or even the correct number for saloon rears so I can use the 'other' ones I have.

[Spider]

The standard Saloon ones are 9-9/16" Compressed and the Van / Pick-up / Big Wheel Moke ones are 10"

I don't know that I'd have Girling Number, but might have an Armstrong one. I'd warn against fitting standard saloon ones in this application as it's asking for a busted trailing arm pin.

I'm also not sure that anyone has new rears of the correct type, the last ones I found were Spax. A mate had 300 sets made, I'm not sure if he has any left. If you do find a stockist, could you let us know?

[Andrew1967]

Are those measurements hole centre to hole centre compressed Spider ?

Interesting point about the potential pin breakages

I have about half a dozen NOS Girling grey shock absorbers here, a mixture of saloon and van, going by the numbers on the plastic sleeves.

I'll dig them out and quote the numbers.

Cheers

Andrew

[Spider]

The rears have a pin on top, the measurement is with the rubbers fitted on the pin, then done up, mid-way between the rubbers to the centre of the eye on the bottom.

Hang on, I've got a drawing somewhere.... here;-

[Spider]

Here's an example pin that I managed to catch right before it was about to break;-





Moral of the Story: Don't fit Saloon Shocks on the back end of a Van, Pick-up, Estate, or Big Wheel Moke.

[Gareth Brandt]

21A 201, 21A 509, 21A 642, 21A 967, 21A 1064, 21A 1238 all "not available; use 21A 1406"

[Andrew1967]

That's a good reason to make sure the correct shocks are fitted Spider

Thanks for the BMC numbers Gareth, but its the 8 digit Girling numbers on the plastic dust cover of the shocks that I was referring to.

I'll list the numbers I have tomorrow evening but may be able to work it out from what I have on my other Mk1's having given it some more thought.

Cheers

Andrew

[Toby]

Andrew, the 1965 Girling catalogue lists them as being 4679 for the front and 4647 for the rear. Now these 4 digits are the same as the last 4 on the grey top part of the damper.

According to the listing the same damper set-up was used on the Countryman, Van and Pick-up

[Andrew1967]

Andrew, the 1965 Girling catalogue lists them as being 4679 for the front and 4647 for the rear. Now these 4 digits are the same as the last 4 on the grey top part of the damper.

According to the listing the same damper set-up was used on the Countryman, Van and Pick-up

Thats interesting Toby. I always assumed they were different like Spider says.

If you don't mind, I'll run past with you the numbers I have.

Cheers

Andrew

[mellowyellow]

Hi Andrew, I've got a number 64054526L written down in my notebook that I used for auto jumbles when I used to trawl them looked for parts for my restoration. Girling shocks were always high on my list as I wanted an original looking shock. Still got quite a few so will check numbers for you when I get a chance, Tim

[mellowyellow]

Sorry Andrew I should have said these are for saloon models

[Andrew1967]

Thanks Tim

As a slight aside, does anyone know if the bushes are available anywhere as a separate item ?

Got a couple of good shocks but the bushes are a bit past it. Thought about repainting the shocks, put new bushes in and saving my new ones for another day.

[Spider]

Bushes;-

http://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/eshop/in ... ts_id=3222

http://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/eshop/in ... ts_id=3323

and don't forget this bit

http://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/eshop/in ... ts_id=3326

[Andrew1967]

Thanks Spider

[Spider]

Thanks Spider

Andrew, you're welcome

[Andrew1967]

Had a look at the rear shocks - I have 7 NOS ones

5 have '----4535' and 2 have '----4526' numbers on them. Someone has written Mini Van on on of the 4535 numbered ones.

I also have one that looks like a Mini rear one numbered 70052977B

Can anyone confirm that the '4535' shocks are van rear ones please

Cheers

Andrew

[Toby]

I have them all listed as saloon ones Andrew, cross referenced with BMC part numbers. Sorry!

[Andrew1967]

I have them all listed as saloon ones Andrew, cross referenced with BMC part numbers. Sorry!

OK, the plot thickens Toby

Right...checked the Unipart numbers on the shocks and...

GSA129 sticker on '4535' - ? van etc
GSA130 sticker on '4526' - ? saloon

The GSA129 / 4535 shocks are about 1 inch longer on full extension.

Andrew

[ianh1968]

I am not understanding the physics behind a "too short" damper
causing a trailing arm pin to fracture like that, as in Spider's picture...

The saloon shocks look to be 7/16" shorter, or about 11mm in French.
If the suspension bottoms out, then surely the stress points would be
the 3/8" diameter bottom shock mount pin and the top rubber mount
going through the wheel arch?

In the normal course of events, yes, there is a load on the trailing-arm
shaft basically because the shaft is used as part of the "geared" linkage
to get the spring horizontal. In a standard system, there will be a rear
to front loading on this shaft assembly. The extremes of angular movement
will depend on the open/closed length of the damper.

Why would a reduction in angular movement, caused by a "too-short"
damper cause the pivot pin to fail?

Looking at Spider's pictures, I am thinking that either the shaft was machined
with too sharp a corner between the 1/2" diameter and the large diameter.
This sharp corner has introduced a stress crack which has caused the
failure.

Or:
The assembly was put together with some of those shims that they supply
in some kits. These are intended to make allowances for wear on the thrust
faces - A "too-short" shaft is supplied and then shimmed out to give the correct
amount of end-float between the main thrust washers.

If the nut works itself loose, these razor sharp shims will cut their own
sharp corner in the shaft, leading to the same problem as above. The
thread on Spider's shaft certainly looks distressed, so to me, this
looks like a contributory factor.

Maybe the nut was just done up too tight in the first place and the damage
was done on assembly? (Because of poor quality of the components).
The threaded section appears to have some kind of double-set in it...

They make these shafts out of cheese these days and often the hardening
is virtually non-existent.


Ian