Front Dampers

[streetsy]

Having recently bought another midas, looking round it I have noticed it doesn't have any dampers fitted on the front at all, the holes are there in the top arms and the body but no dampers. Looking at metro dampers I can only find standard specification, does anybody know of any others that may fit ie. rear mini dampers. As I have no damper I cannot measure up to compare myself.

[mikeeskriett]

It depends on the spec of car the frame came out of generally speaking if it was a post '84 car the only models fitted with dampers were Turbo, Advantage and Gta the rest had dampers built into the Hydragas displacers.

Off the top of my head standard fitment for Midas's using the non damped displacers was Metro Challenge front shocks...

Part Numbers

MG Turbo/Gta/Advantage - ADU3076EVA
Metro Challenge Front Shock - Spax PSX - G716

Cheers,

Mike

[DavidL]

I knew some Metros didn't use separate front dampers, but I had thought that all Hydragas displacers had built-in damping, and that shock absorbers were optional for extra damping.

How can you tell a damped displacer from a non-damped one?

[streetsy]

The top arms have holes (with bolts and spacers in place) which leads me to believe that dampers should have been in place. The ride however is not really wobbly, not as firm as my mk2 was, but not overly loose. The donor was a 1981 Metro van den plas. If there is a way to tell apart the displaces it would be useful to know so as not to over dampen the ride and end up with incredibly hard suspension.

[Hans Efde]

The high performance versions of the Metro (Mg, Turbo) had extra dampers. When the Gold came out, Spax had developed special dampers for Midas. They can still be ordered. I bought them a few years ago for my Convertible.

[mikeeskriett]

Hi,

Non turbo fronts are NAM4763 Turbo is possibly NAM4283?

Cheers,

mike

[Geoff Butcher]

I've had Halfords' bog-ordinary Metro dampers on mine for years and they seem perfectly OK

[Stuart]

Mini rear dampers fit, not sure how they compare length wise, I have a feeling they're exactly the same, but not certain.

[wolfie]

These will do the trick

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Austin-Met ... 461c36c5fc

[Hans Efde]

I would like to mention that the correct damper length is extremely important. It should never bottom out, during the in or out stroke. If it does, it will destroy the handling of the car and cause damage to the monocoque. If you are going to experiment, make sure the suspension can travel to the up and down stop without the damper interfering.