Ride height/reindexing project gone wrong.
 

I just finished a four jackstand, all wheels off the ground reindexing torsions bars, Neatrix bushing repalcement project on my 78SC. I had my front bar caps in the center position, and my rear plates were at 32 degrees (I used the calculator: 2650 lbs, 24.1 mm bars).

Problem 1: I noticed unequal tosion bar penetration. My passenger bar is approx. 3/8" in from the end of the tube. Driver side is flush. I checked everything, it looks perfect on both sides.

Problem 2: My rear track is now uneven by quite a bit maybe 1/2". My driver side tire is almost flush with the fender. Passenegr side, the one with less penetration, looks about right. ???

WTF! I really took my time with this over the course of 3 days.

Unfortunately my year of 911 ownership has been full of projects like this. Something always went wrong. It's not the car, I just don't seem to have any mechanical talent.

Just venting sorry.

Ulrich

Welcome to the DIY lowering job club, Ulrich.
I spent days doing my lowering job a couple of years ago. Even with the help here and in the 101 Projects book it still was a PIA for me.

The best thing to do now is to get it aligned by a pro shop that deals with these cars or at least high end vehicles.
Maybe post pictures of what you mean and we can help diagnose.

BTW-The wheels look great on my SC. I can't wait to get the engine and trans installed in a few weeks.

Ulrich,

Did you put any anti-sieze compound on the torsion bar splines? A 3/8" offset is a lot for a trailing arm on one side ... but that wouldn't translate to 1/2" change in rear track! You may want to take off that side's cover and put anti-sieze on the inner splines of the trailing arm and whack with a large mallet with a piece of 2 x 6 over the arm cap.

Have you driven the car, yet? If not, the do so before making any judgements about appearance. The car will do some settling after driving a few miles. I have serious doubts that the rear track could shift by any more than 1/8" - 1/4" ... after bushings have settled and trailing arms found their natural center between the bushings.

You just can't count on the static settings, like centering the adjusters on the front caps. That's just a starting point, like adjusting ignition points on an early car. After you drive it as Warren says, you need to weigh it at all four wheels.

As Wayne says, maybe just have it done at this point. The alignment shops just don't charge that much. You've done all the hard work.

Also, don't expect these cars to be symmetrical. They're close, but not perfect right from the factory. Certainly don't use the body as a reference for accurate alignment. Also, don't forget to measure the rocker panel for level when it's up on the jacks, and include the value in the calculation for the spring plate angle.

Thanks for the responses guys. My main problem right now is the uneven torsion bar penetration. I measured the torsion bars sticking out of the tube and they were equal. Whatever is wrong is in the spring plate or cover.

Ulrich

We need pics of that.

Ulrich; I had my first spring plate, tosion bar experience just last spring in my 71', I had them on and off a few times and due to rust particles and just really tight fitting splines, I had a slight off-set issue as well. Before I put the spring plates on I tapped the torsion bars in with a rubber mallet, I used a 1/2" drive with a rubber grip to ease the schock and to fit through the torsion bar access hole. Remember the torsion tube passes all the way through so if something is blocking or corroded your situation could happen. Make sure that the splines are well lubed and free of rust and pitting, on the bars and in the tube. If the spring plates and bushings go all the way on, your torsion bars will line up. Try to be patient, I don't learn if I don't do something wrong. It's only February, David

Did you grease the rod well before putting in back together?

btw I would never put anti-seize on them, they can be a bear to remove with just grease . . . the bushings stick etc . . .

Ian

I did. Tomorrow I am going to swap spring plates left to right. I know not to swap torsion bars.

Ulrich

LOL. They all go wrong the first time. Welcome to the club ;)

you have to watch if you put too much grease or anti grease at the end it some times builds an air pocket which keeps you from pushing it in all the way .the grease compresses air at the end of the torshion bar which traps air unless you remove will not release ....but that only my 2 cents

I had a nasty time taking out one of my torsion bars from the tube splines this past summer when I was reindexing. Once out, I cleaned it up and tried putting it back in. It just would not fit. I tried the t-bar from the other side just to see if it would fit and it did just fine. That made me think that the t-bar that did not fit was a little larger than the other one...so I filed it down just a wee bit until it fit snuggly.

I did'nt really want to do this but I could not see any other way to fit the bar in other than maybe to freeze it and then try but I am glad I filed it because I had to take the bar out a couple of times to get the ride height the way I wanted it.

When you tighten the bolts on the spring plate cover they suck everything in. Its tight if you used new bushings and you have to take your time working around the cover to get everything to tighten square.

what size rims due you have in the rear. I would think if they are stock size they would be one half inch in from the lip of the fenders. I think I recall that you can knock the torsion bars all the way thru on the torsion bar tubes on the car. but if you tighten the covers all the way they should be perfect. they butt up next to one another in the middle. I would try taking the one out that is sticking out to far. Look at the cover to the spring plate does it look crooked or not tightened evenlly

Ok, partially solved mystery. I get only partial torsion bar penetration in one swing plate and my track has widened on the other side.

It seems that one side has a damaged swing plate or torsion bar and when it can't penetrate any further (assume the splines are damaged) it pushes the other torsion bar out. I tried it again today, and sure enought when I wa done with one side the torsion bar on the opposite side hadcome out about 3/8". I assume this had a subtle effect on the trailing arm position which would explain the change in track width.

Now, to get a new "used" spring plate ot torsion bar (24.1mm)?

Ulrich

This can be a very difficult project, particularly if you haven't done it before. I think the last time I had this done, I just took it to my buddy at the alignment shop (Alex Wong), and told him to lower it. Cost is about $600. It can be easy, or it can be SUPER difficult depending upon the condition of the components. I remember Alex mentioning once that he had to cut the torsion bar end off to get the spring plate cover off.

Anyways, with all of the components off, you need to drive the car, and then see how it sits. Then put it on corner balance scales and check the left/right distribution. Make no mistake - this is not a super-easy project - it takes patience, and understanding that you will go back and adjust everything quite a few times.

If you have patience, then the results will be wonderful!

-Wayne

Inspect both the spring plate and the torsion bar (it's usually either dirt in the spring plate, or boogered threads on the torsion bar). You may be able to use a small reamer to clean the threads up, if there is only very slight damage from dirt or sand...

-Wayne

Thanks Wayne. I had actually done it before but the partial spline penetration one one side and track widening on the other threw me for a loop this time around.

Ulrich

Do you guys remove the toe adjuster bolt when you separate the spring plate from the trailing arm? I usually don't. Any thoughts.

Ulrich