Hydragas regassing (again)

[RobboMC]

Getting the shock/spring assembly in is not easy, although I believe his latest version of the kit has fixed this issue.

NOT

[YMGF1]

Option 1 for me. I've had two cars done by Dawn and Ian, a Trophy and Mpi and both have been absolutely excellent with the rides transformed.
They pressure test the spheres so if yours have failed, (rivet piercing membrane as above usually), they can replace at the time from their stock.

[Tomcatciller]

Hello

Short question. I send a message to mgfhydragas@gmail.com to ask if he still regas Hydragas units.

Anybody knows if he still offer the service? Does he also derust the Spheres from outside and paint them?

Greetings from Germany

TCC

[Rob Bell]

Short answer: I don't know. His facebook page hasn't been very active https://www.facebook.com/groups/MGFHydr ... on/preview - but that may mean nothing.

Send the email and see whether you get a reply - this seems like a good approach to Hydragas re-gassing.

PS I recall that there were 4 good condition hydragas spheres in the classified section?

[talkingcars]

.....PS I recall that there were 4 good condition hydragas spheres in the classified section?

I think they have sold.

[Tomcatciller]

Sadly yes. I just bought a set on German Ebay. But they are in a far worse shape then those offered here.

But you never know whats inside the spheres.

Send an Email to Kevin and try to attend on his Facebook Group. No reply.

[John SS]

Send an Email to Kevin and try to attend on his Facebook Group. No reply.

Try Ian Kennedy.
https://hydragasandhydrolasticservice.com/

[Tomcatciller]

Thank you for the link. Are there more people / shops who offer regasing?

I know CoWaparts/Kevin/IAN Kennedy.

[Bazzajay]

My 1997 MGF suspension has reached the end of its life. It was pumped up to 400 psi and 365mm height five years ago but has now sunk back to 350mm and the ride is dreadful, like a plank on roller skates.

I missed this comment when I originally read the post. It reminds me of the 1940s and the first skateboards. A floorboard from a bombed house and a pair of Jackoskates from a jumble sale was all you needed. Jackoskates were adjustable for length metal skates with leather straps and ball-bearing wheels. You dismantled the skates, flattened the strap mountings and bolted the two pieces on a two foot length of board, so one pair of skates made two boards. A bit different to today's offerings but just as much fun, especially the noise they made, still they did warn people you were there.

[RobboMC]

My 1997 MGF suspension has reached the end of its life. It was pumped up to 400 psi and 365mm height five years ago but has now sunk back to 350mm and the ride is dreadful, like a plank on roller skates.

Once the ride resembles a plank on roller skates you are at the point where the internal rubber diaphram is about to be terminally damaged by the
ceiling of the sphere. Continued driving use at this point will soon result in total failure of a sphere.

I was lucky, after being over 500 miles from home one of my spheres collapsed within 10 miles of home and I was able to struggle back without resorting to a tow truck. When one side collapses you need a tilt tray!

so if you feel like it's a plank of roller skates then NOW is the time to start repairing it before you get stranded.

[John SS]

Thank you for the link. Are there more people / shops who offer regasing?

I got mine from MG Obsession.
http://www.mgobsession.co.uk/index.php? ... uct_id=947

[Parazine]

Just to close this thread out:

I removed the displacer units from the car as they were in better shape than my spare set. I contacted Kevin in Stockport (you can find him on eBay as kevin_hydragas) and dispatched the units, they returned 10 days later and were fitted the next week. Cost wat £125 and Kevin reported that they had virtually zero pressure in them, he was surprised they had survived but the car has done very few miles in the last 10 years. I guess this explains the plank on roller skates feeling that I had last summer.
I had trouble with refilling the fluid system as my pump has no vacuum facility so I filled the displacers off the car and tried not to spill too much when installing them. The pipes were filled with fluid using a syringe. Once connected, I pumped up and down a couple of times to 400 psi then up to 500 and down again. Finally set to 400 psi and 368mm ride height.
The car has been taxed today (1st April) for the summer season - and what a difference! Truly astonishing improvement in ride quality and I don't have to drive like a drunk anymore, avoiding potholes. Well worth doing I have to say.
Next action is to collect another pump I found on eBay, this has the vacuum option so I can finally evacuate and refill the system and be confident there's no air in it.

[John SS]

Great work. As you say regasing makes an incredible transformation in ride quality.

[Rob Bell]

Re-gassing really is transformative in terms of ride and handling. Same on my car - really looking forward to putting some miles on the car again! I had been rather avoiding driving her because the ride had started to become so crashy...

[Tomcatciller]

Hello Guys,

I managed to buy a used regassed hydragas set in the uk and get it shipped to Germany.

Can somebody tell who regassed these units by checking the picture? As far as I can see the two front units have 4,5 cm long copper tubes.

Maybe even someone know which car that was that get scrapped by mgliving.ltd?

"MGF reconditioned hydrogas sphere set front And Back Incl Powder Coated Mounts. Hardly used fitted in 2019 covered less than 1k miles."

Another question is, if there is any cover for the spheres connector not to leak fluid while stored? I want to fill them up with fluid and prevent them from rusting inside.

At the moment I have 12 spare units and 8 installed in my 2 MGFs. Regassed are only the used ones on Top. But one of my MGF is a Trophy so I have to negotiate if someone accept to change Trophy regassed Units for normal used units.

Who is this team which offers regassing on Ebay?

Greetings from Germany

[Rob Bell]

Not sure who did those particular 'spheres and I am afraid not sure who is the ebay company is? Perhaps contact them to find out more details?

Regarding the car that had these originally, I can't seem to find any information on this on the store, but perhaps I am missing something? Surprised to see a set of Bilstein shocks though - back in the day these were largely fitted by Tech-Speed motorsport (that's where I got mine for) - so if there are any pictures of the car that was broken (and assuming that the shocks came from the same source) then we may be able to identify a bit more history.

Storage covers/caps for the hydraulic link fitting - I am not sure? But I have seen ear plugs used for this purpose before!

[Charless]

Hi Tom,
I have had a set of those regassable spheres fitted to one of mine for more than a year. The ride isn't as good as the Kennedy's ones. I think they were the earliest commercially available version of regassables and look a bit prototype - probably silver soldering cunifer brake pipe to bring the rear filler valves into a more accessible position. I found them on a wrecked VVC that I bought 'for the wiper motor' (it yielded loads of other parts for several cars). I had a feeling that a famous MGF specialist supplied them quite a few years back and would also be interested to find the source. Here's hoping someone can ID them,
Charles