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MG MGA - Shelley LJ225 'Droop Snout' Identified

Eureka. For some years I have been trying to identify which vehicle was supplied with the Shelley LJ225 'Droop Snout' jack. The reason I am posting here is that many MGA owners have bought this jack for their car, believing it original equipment. Wrong. This variant was never supplied to MGAs.

In an idle moment this afternoon I was reading through the drivers handbook for my wife's Morris Mini Minor that she bought new in 1963 (long since rusted away - the car, not the wife) and there it was on page 37, the droop snout complete with levelling device when jacking the front cross member (see photos below). Even the instructions say "...and raise the vehicle by rotating the jack head ratchet with the tommy-bar"

So there we have it, many MGA owners have spent £100s ($100s) on a Morris Mini-Minor jack.

Steve

Steve Gyles

Steve
The tool kit had long disappeared from mine long before the car came into my possession, so I have never seen original tools, sadly.
BUT
There is a fine picture in Clausager, page 34, showing the King Dick (!) and the orange Shelley, but refers to an earlier black Shelly Jack.
So, I know nothing, but I think I have a King Dick somewhere.
David
D Brown

David

You need to look at my 14 British Jack databases. The MGA is catalogued. Early 1500s had a Shelley LJ23, the bulk of 1500s and 1600s had the King Dick B1077, and from Chassis 93548 it had a version of the Shelley LJ225.

Have a look here: http://www.mgaroadster.co.uk/vehicle_jack_index.htm

Steve
Steve Gyles

Wow!
I shall have a look at the jacks in my garage next week and see if I have any gems.
David
D Brown

Hi Steve, long time no speak, I hope you are well, I don't know if I ever sent you this photo it was supplied to me by a chap in NZ who was selling his car ,pic attached, which he had owned from new I believe and this was the supposed tool kit that it had come with


regards Gordon

g c pugh

Hi again and this is the car of course being a "kit car" I guess they could have just made up a tool kit for it

g c pugh

Gordon

I am pretty sure that's the correct jack for the later cars. From the low resolution photo it's difficult to be certain that there is no strengthening collar round the handle hole, but I think not.

However, my eyes zeroed in on the straight tommy bar. I wonder if that is the original? Probably we will never know. The reason I ask is that when I started the first of my databases (Shelley), I gleaned all the MGA data from Barney with his kind permission. Barney suggests that the end of the tommy bar is cranked 45 degrees; Clausager says it's straight; and the concours expert (Roger Moment) of the other big users of this jack, the big Healeys, notes that the bar is straight. Therefore I have a conflict and am always on the lookout for confirmatory data, one way or the other.

Some people may wonder in amazement why I should be so concerned about one piece of 14.5" to 18" bar. But if you are going to maintain any sort of credibility with open source data you need to get as much of it correct as possible.

Any MGA owners out there with a GUARANTEED original late LJ225 and tommy bar?

Steve
Steve Gyles

Hi Steve I can remember that the chap who owned the car was very sure that the tool kit was as it came with his car and he was the one and only owner from new it also came with a VP hardtop

g c pugh

Steve, this period road test photo of the MkII tool kit shows it as straight too.

Neil McG

Neil

Thanks for that. I did not know the later Mini had the MGA jack. Can you email me a better quality picture of the top left photo? More research required.

Steve
Steve Gyles

This thread was discussed between 13/09/2013 and 15/09/2013

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