Lowering (and raising) 82 SC

[blpetry]

I'm about to embark on a project to get the ride height sorted out on my 82 SC. A PO lowered the front way too much and left the rear at factory height. My intent is to get it to Euro height. I've done a lot of reading about lowering the rear and understand the geometry of it (torsion bar inner and outer spline counts and spring plate angles and what have you) but I have a couple questions about the process.

1. Do the rocker covers need to be removed for the process?
And
2. What is the procedure for freeing the spring plate/radius arm? Do you disconnect where it connects to the trailing arm (and I guess totally lose the camber and toe settings) or do you just remove the eccentric and hold down bolts from the spring plate and leave the radius arm attached? I think I've seen images and descriptions of doing it both ways.

Any help greatly appreciated
Brian Petry
Springboro OH

[Discseven]

Brian... Suggestion: before you think about reindexing the torsion bars... you may find that adjusting the spring plate will give you the rear height you want. This path is much easier than the torsion bar route. I forgot exactly what bolts on the plate do what but is easy to find out. (Scribe lines on the plate before loosening and adjusting for prior reference.)

[blpetry]

Originally Posted by Discseven

Brian... Suggestion: before you think about reindexing the torsion bars... you may find that adjusting the spring plate will give you the rear height you want. This path is much easier than the torsion bar route. I forgot exactly what bolts on the plate do what but is easy to find out. (Scribe lines on the plate before loosening and adjusting for prior reference.)

Thanks for the reply, it appears the PO lowered the rear as much as he could with the eccentric.

[Lyle O]

Yes, free it from the trailing arm. When you change your ride height, you will need to corner balance and re-align anyhow (in that order). Tip: set your ride height with the eccentric adjuster right in the middle, so that when all is reassembled and you are doing the corner balance, you have some room to move up or down.

On my car ('87 with G-50) you have to remove the torsion bar hole cover from the rocker, but not necessarily the rockers I think (though it has been a few years since I did this, and took the full rockers off to address some other issues at the time). It depends on whether the torsion bar is stuck in the spring plate (if it is, you will need all the room you can get). In your case, since the torsion tubes on the spring plate are much shorter on 915 cars, you may be OK without removing the rocker.

Also, there is quite a bit of adjustment available on the front torsion bars, so, in case you were wondering, you should not have to re-index them (unless a PO had done that already).

Get yourself a Bentley Manual; the write-up instructions for doing this are great in there.

One last point: the torques required to tighten everything up at the end are pretty big, so have an appropriate torque wrench available.

Good luck.

[gomezoneill]

yes the rockers have to come off. The biggest pain about that is the rubber trim. The calipers have to come off also. Mark the eccentric bolt heads on the plate carefully so you keep your current alignment I use a center punch. Buy a digital level to read the plate angle. And scribe a line on the body tight to the plate after you remove the bottom bolt and spacer. Be careful because the plate will be loaded. Support it with a jack or the like.

[blpetry]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I think I have a plan.

[Ayles]

To remove the rear calipers you will need a shallow socket (19mm if I recall). And since I am clumsy, I'd recommend having a spare hard brake line coming out the caliper in case you accidentally kink it.

[gomezoneill]

Originally Posted by Ayles

To remove the rear calipers you will need a shallow socket (19mm if I recall). And since I am clumsy, I'd recommend having a spare hard brake line coming out the caliper in case you accidentally kink it.

I use a offset double box wrench 17/19mm. Works very well.

[porscheboy1]

When re-installing the rocker panels I lubricate the rubber trim with undiluted dish detergent and slide it in from the front end. When the going gets tough I have a large rasp file blade and, using gloves, place the blade against the rubber trim and push the rubber strip into place. It does not hurt the rubber at all.


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