progress - t/bars and bushes install
 

ok finally took the plunge and started unbolting everything. toms got a great write up on his website that i am not attempting to repeat, just wanted to post my experiences - its not a very technical write up!

first the left rear bar. notice that although wood is not ideal for jack stand pads, i do have the rear wheel under there for insurance!

first problem was removing the wheel which i posted about in another thread.

2nd was removing the rubber rocker panel trim strip. having failed for about 15 mins to figure it out, i got the bently manual out!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1069597026.jpg

it just pulled off, leaving the screws exposed to enable removal of the rocker panels.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1069597114.jpg

i thought it would be a pita to remove the caliper and disk so next i removed the shock bottom bolt, with the jack supporting the hub.

then with jack still taking the weight i removed all the radius arm to banana arm bolts/nuts. also time to remove the t/bar cover plate bolt/spacer (bottom right out of view) that normally would take the strain of an unsupported radius arm.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1069597324.jpg

with the jack lowered i unbolted the t/bar cover plate and removed it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1069597541.jpg

removed from the car it is obvious how worn the bushes are.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1069597633.jpg

now the t/bar is exposed (it looks new!).

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1069597689.jpg

it took alot of wriggling to remove it but finally it moved.

here it is compared with the replacement.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1069597743.jpg

and thats it. alot more straight forward than i thought. i didnt have to move the caliper/disk. removal took 1 1/2 hours because of said problems (not reading manual) - should be done in an hour on the other side. next job to remove old bushes and reassemble.

cheers.

I'm right behind you, I already have removed, cleaned, & sand blasted my entire front suspension. Hope I can remember how it goes back together.:eek: I started the rear last night, but opted to hold up & read the Bentley before proceeding. It's a bit more involved than the front. I plan to take off the banana arms & CV joints, & found I needed a 29mm socket for the rear hub that I didn't have. I need to take some pics to post. Good luck & keep us posted.

I'm also redoing the rear suspension! I admire your self control! I started to do some undercarriage detail then decided to redo the suspension. Then I thought I'd better fix the oil leak at the tank so I took it all the way out!! I've had thoughts of taking the engine out :-) Where does it stop? I keep thinking, while I'm here I should.....

BTW what bushings are you going use on your spring plates? Great action photos! Thanks

Great progress! You'll want to paint those new tbars, then coat with grease to prevent corrosion.

Keep us posted.

i am a strictly in and out guy! none of this cleaning everything up and painting nonsense!;)

chuck, are you serious about painting the bars? what paint? i was gonna just coat in grease, isnt that enough?

cheers for the comments guys, and good luck with yours!

Yes, I'm serious about painting. Any good enamel should be fine, be sure to clean them first for good adhesion.

chuck,

thanks, i'll get some.

Chuck, I don't mean to disagree with you ('cause you know a heck of a lot more about these things than I EVER will), but when I mentioned putting a coat of POR-15 on my torsion bars, Steve Weiner talked me out of it (and I realize that some bars come painted). Steve said (and I'm paraphrasing here) that since the bars 'twist', the outside layer of paint would not necessarily remain intact. I therefore simply put a good coat of grease on mine (Sanders t-bars), and installed. I will say that both the front and rear t-bar tubes looked 'like new' inside (as did the original bars), so I'm not at all worried about moisture, corrosion, etc. in my car. I just wanted to throw this info out here for discussion (I'm sure the paint wouldn't hurt anything, but does it help)...

ps. Chuck's (Elephant Racing) poly/bronze control arm & spring plate bearings are extremely nice...HIGHLY recommended from my perspective!

keith,

what did occur to me (and i value chucks opinion ;) ) was that if paint did come off it would leave the surface unprotected, but if it was all greased to start with...........

craig,

sorry, forgot to say, i'm gonna use neatrix.

I see reasonable arguments for both approaches.

However, paint will flex some without breaking off. The factory bars come painted, and so do all aftermarket bars - except Sander.

The coat of grease encapsulates the paint and will protect against any micro cracks that might develop. I can't imagine a quality paint properly applied flaking off in big chunks.

I have handled used Sander bars that had been painted. They showed no evidence of paint flaking, cracking or rust.

Lastly, its pretty hard to install them without scraping off some of the grease as the bar slides through the torsion tube hole. I like to know there is a coat of paint anyplace the grease is wiped away.

YMMV.

Keith, glad the bearings are working out for you.

i have to say that on the bar that came out the black paint is unbroken - it looks new.

Here are my front strut mounts, pretty ugly,but still gonna use them.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1069625181.jpg
removed A/C & cruise controlhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1069625324.jpg
now all I need to do is bach date my heater.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1069625393.jpg

and so it continues...............

first job was to remove the old bushes and clean up the springplates, it took about 1 1/2 hours with a blowtorch and i went through two wire brushes - not much fun there!:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070103718.jpg

next loosen clamp and adjuster and recentre the ride height adjustment:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070103769.jpg

then used my fav. lube to install new bushes, there thats much better:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070103815.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070103826.jpg

then in went the well greased new t/bar:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070103929.jpg

check angle of car front to rear - mine was 1.5 degrees:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070103980.jpg

as i wanted to shoot for 24" ride height according to will's calculator i needed 17 degrees spring plate angle. take the 1.5 away from that and i needed to install the spring plate at 15.5 degrees - got it first shot!:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070104123.jpg

the cover was installed next and was a pita. with the new bushes it required a fair amount of brute force (helped by a carefully applied club hammer), and fiddling to get it on and the bolt holes lined up (i think others have used longer bolts to get it on initially):
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070104424.jpg

then with the help of a jack bolt the spring plate to the banana arm:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070104471.jpg

a bit more use of the jack to get the shock bolt in:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070104514.jpg

wheel goes back on and then the best moment, dropping the car for the first time:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070104644.jpg

looks good. got to within less than 1/4 inch of 24" - not bad! and i guess it will move towards 24" when i do the other side. thanks will:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070104754.jpg

i love the look of the lower ride height, especially with 15" wheels, and i am tempted to leave the rockers off!!!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070104821.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1070104836.jpg

so one corner down, three to go. i didnt paint the t/bar on the advice of my supplier. also i just found out i got hollow bars - i didnt realise!!!

Richard
So did you just remove one spring plate at a time? If so, will this affect the ride height once both are done? Is the place you put your jackstands in the pics above the best way to do it? I'm guessing the wheel was still on the other side make it quite stable.

I'm trying to get as much info as possible before I go through this myself.

Oh, and where did you end up getting the angle finder thingy?

.....and when are those 930 brakes getting bolted up?

Nice work Richard!!

Well done for taking pics on the way!

Cheers,

Tim.