Rear suspension

Page to track the refurbishment of the rear suspension.

January 2019

Having stripped and rebuilt the front suspension and steering, it is now the turn of the "IRS" Independent Rear Suspension. I've got the car on axle stands and the rear wheels off (for a good clean too). First step is to disconnect the brake lines and remove the rear section of the exhaust.

This is the first of several photos that will show that the rear suspension is due an overhaul! I took this picture to show the exhaust clamp where I need to disconnect it, the brake pipe flexible hose in the middle and the hand brake cable (held out of the way with a spring - though still touching the exhaust..) at the top of the picture.

If the front suspension is anything to go by, the frame will clean up suprisingly well with sandblasting a fresh coat of paint. The rear differential has been leaking oil on some parts of it for a while by the looks if it so that's been helping keep the rust at bay!

Being able to get the car into the air is a real bonus in my current workshop.

Left rear from behind

Right rear from behind

It looks at this stage like it has been dragged out from a swamp. Functionally it all actually works ok but its in obvious need of a total overhaul. I'm confident that it will all clean up nicely, just like the front suspension did.

No brake fluid dripped out when I cut through the flexi hose so I'll have to check that it's getting fluid before connecting up again.

Thursday 3rd January 2019

The rear suspension is off! With a bit of help disconnecting the rusted on big front radius arm bush and grappling with the cradle mounting bolts heads which again due to rust varied in size from 11mm to 7/16 to 12mm it dropped down quite well.

Next step will be to drag it out sideways on some trolleys and start the strip and assessment process.

Saturday 5th January 2019

The suspension strip begins. First I took the four cradle mounts came off, then the four springs and dampers which were all quite easy. I had a real job undoing the hub nuts but after jamming a socket extension bar into one of the universal joints to lock the half shaft I eventually got both of them loosened. Lifting the cast aluminium hub away it is surprisingly light. All cars nowadays have outboard brakes but there was obvious priority to make the unsprung mass of the car as light as possible benefiting bump absorption and ride.

Brake pipe routing

Locking wire on the differential mounting bolts.

Springs out and hubs removed...

On initial inspection the hub fulcrum shaft and the halfshaft splines look in very good condition but the universal joint covers look a bit rusty so are unlikely to be salvageable. I'll need to check the hubs carefully for damage or cracking.

I found this picture on a website from a car restoration company. It'll be interesting to see how close I can get to the rear axle looking like this without going completely overboard and breaking the bank! Also interesting that they have painted the hub carrier silver rather than leave it in the clean aluminium casting state as I don't think that's very original, then again, neither is the powder coated frame or suspension links!

Sunday 6th January 2019

I didn't have long this evening but managed to get the LH half shaft off by undoing the nuts holding it onto the brake disc (which other than some light surface rust look in nearly new condition). I've taken note of the 4 shims which are in good condition so I will clean and re-use them. I've drilled out the rivet and undone the jubilee clip holding on the universal joint covers which are badly corroded but look as though they have been doing their job protecting the UJ.

LH half shaft to check and clean...it will need a lot of work to smarten up to look like the E-Type ones above.

Lower wishbone and fulcrum shaft (which has been well lubricated and is in very good condition).

I'll drift out the needle bearings and clean and check them and decide if they need replacing.

Tuesday 8th January 2019

I got the other half shaft out this evening and am left with the frame and bottom plate on their own so I can get them blasted and sprayed in the same way as the front frame. While those are being done I'll be able to focus on cleaning and refurbishing the shafts and hubs, brakes and differential.

Before...

Half done...

I continue to be surprised at how much of a transformation can be made of wheels that look very old, dirty and corroded. Again I'm finding that what looks like rust is actually hardened on mud and with patience and a Dremel with a lot of brass wire brushes it comes of slowly without damaging the chrome underneath. I'll eventually get new tyres of course and they'll help the car look great.

The suspension frame has been dropped off for sand blasting and painting so I should have that back in the next few days. I'll need to place an order for parts shortly to start the rebuild but need to complete stripping the suspension, hubs, brakes and differential first to complete the parts list!

Having separated the radius arm from the lower wishbone and drifted out of the fulcrum shaft bearings I've been able to start cleaning up the lower wishbone (right).

Cleaning up parts properly takes time with the equipment I have, in this case via a combination of a carborundum strip disc on an angle grinder followed by some sand blasting. I'm sure an industrial sand blasting setup would take a lot less time but would also cost a lot of money. I'm condident that this once fully cleaned, prepped and painted with gloss black POR-15 will look almost as good as the one in the picture further up the page. It'll be the same story with the half shafts.

Tuesday 22nd January 2019

I spent some time this evening with the polisher again cleaning up one half of the rear section of the exhausts as they have had to come off as they run through the rear frame. As with a lot of parts on the car, they have been looking their age but again, after a long session with the drill, mops and various blocks of compound it is shining up nicely and will look great from behind as well as underneath the car. Why have new suspension and a filthy exhaust after all?

Wednesday 23rd January 2019

Back onto the rear suspension refurbishment again, I have finally got all of the universal joints apart and I'm sand blasting the upper wishbones/halfshafts. It takes a while to do this thoroughly but it's necessary in order to get the surface prepared for a good POR-15 paint finish. There are several more parts to do yet.

I'm having to bin the old radius arms as they're beyond saving.

Wednesday 6th February 2019

Over the last couple of weeks I have continued to strip and clean more of the rear suspension components. The pictures below show part of the hub carrier and fulcrum shaft before and after clean up.

These shims are fitted between the spacer tubes in the lower wishbone fulcrum shaft inside the hub carrier.

The above shows from left to right - fulcrum shaft tube - lower wishbone fulcrum shaft bearing - felt oil seal retainer, shim, felt seal - nut.

I've had to improvise to pull the hub out from the bearings. Looks very Heath Robinson but worked really well.

Took quite a while to clean up but looking much better for it!

Before:

The clean up is needed not only to look good but to assess for damage or fatigue cracks.

After:

A close inspection shows no signs of stress cracking or damage.

Tuesday 19th February 2019

Having spent ages sandblasting each of the rear suspension links I've finally got to the point where I can repaint them. I'm using POR-15 (Paint Over Rust) which I've used in the past and if applied properly looks great and is very durable. It requires each part to be thoroughly degreased, then priming with a phosphoric acid etch before painting on the top coat. I'm using glass black. The stuff stains hands and clothes easily and dries so hard it sticks the lid completely solidly onto the tin if you're not careful. I think these are going to look great and very similar to the powder coated E-Type links in the picture further up the page.

Hanging the links from poles was an easy way to brush paint each part in one go.

Looking forward to seeing them shiny and dry!

Above: I've carefully cleaned any excess paint and dirt/grease from the inside of each part ready for new or refurbished universal joints to be refitted. Looking good I think!

The rear frame is back having been sand blasted and sprayed in black zinc-phosphate paint. I like the finish so will probably leave it like this rather than top coat.

Saturday 2nd March 2019

I've been able to save 3 of the 4 rear universal joints (left). One had some internal scoring and there was some damage so it'll have to be replaced. I've carefully stripped, cleaned and reassembled the remaining three and they just need a good grease before I start to reassemble them into the shafts/joints.

As you can see below, I've done a bit of a stock check which shows that I've cleaned and refurbished most of the suspension, just the springs and dampers to sort at the back. I'm going to sand blast and repaint the springs as they're in good condition and I've got new dampers ready to fit.

That leaves the differential and brakes. The diff is going to get a good oil change and new seals both for the pinion and the shafts and a repaint. The brake discs are nearly new with no sign of scoring or ridges so it's mainly about cleaning and servicing the calipers and hand brake levers.

Sunday 3rd March 2019

Got a handy new tool this weekend to make the disassembly of the springs and dampers much easier and safer! Didn't take long to construct and massively simplified the process of removing the collets holding the springs in place. These all get replaced with the new dampers anyway so fewer parts to refurbish which makes a change! I've just kept the distance pieces for the bottom bolts.

Next step is to sand blast and repaint the springs. Might be a bit of a pain getting to the middle of the spring with the blaster but they are good enough to make it worth giving it a try.

Wednesday 6th March 2019

Inside the green box are two of the rear springs being rust stripped. I'm using electrolysis to remove the rust and then I'll see what the state of the springs really is. I tried stripping one of them in the sand blaster and it was taking ages. This method takes longer but I can set it up and walk away.

While that's going it means I can turn my attention to the rear brakes and differential.

The differential and brakes are a very heavy lump and there is very little play in it and no noises that concern me so I'm not planning on replacing the bearings inside the diff. There is an oil leak from the pinion seal and the whole lot is filthy so I'm going to give it a good service by changing the oil and the pinion seal and a good clean and repaint .

First I'm going to remove the handbrake lever shown here before moving onto the caliper.

I knocked back the tabs on the locking washer and pulled the bolts away.

Remove split pin and pivot...

...remove the screw...

..lift the cover to reveal the adjuster...

..disconnect the lever from the spring.

Hand brake pads and casting before clean up

Parts after sand blasting

Removing the brake disc and taking note of the shim underneath which must be there to centre the disc in the calipers. Further disassembly required to remove the splined shaft from the diff.

First I need to get the pads out ready to refurb the caliper.

I started with some wire brushing to get the off before taking the caliper apart, removing the pistons and sand blasting each half ready to repaint. Fortunately I have a socket that fits snugly into the piston seal to prevent sand getting in.

Sand blasted parts ready to repaint

Two halves of the calipers after some silver VHT paint

With the calipers repainted I've given the piston chamber a good clean and am not ready to fit the new seals.

I've also repainted the handbrake components and cleaned and re-greased the adjustment mechanism.

It took quite a while to reconstruct the brakes and handbrake mechanisms correctly but the effort was worth it. New pads, seals and a thorough check over means I'll have full confidence that they'll be working properly.

I had an issue with the seals as the S-Type set I'd ordered from SNG Barratt didn't match the ones I'd removed and and in the process worked out (with the help of SNG's Technical department) that I have XJ Series 1 rear calipers (which makes sense as the fronts are XJ S1 too).

Next...the differential cleanup, repaint, oil and seals change.

The bracket the calipers mount to in my hand on the left cost over £60 each to replace but I'm sure this will clean up well in the sand blaster. Each one of the bolts are locking wired to each other. The caliper mount bolts are lock wired too. Additionally the bottom differential mounting brackets are lock wired and the set screws on the top are too!

Removing the oily old diff mounting bracket...note the shims

Various sand blasted parts including the caliper and diff mounting brackets

I had a real job removing the pinion seal as it's an interference fit into the casing and there's nothing to grab hold of it with.

With a new gasket fitted the new pinion seal can go in.

Then the splined drive flange.

Here I've taken the cover off the rear of the diff to clean and repaint it and upended the casing so I can clean and repaint it all at once.

The differential mounting brackets freshly repainted with POR-15

I took the differential cover off, blasted and repainted it. With a new gasket, set screws and fill plug and the breather cleaned up it's really beginning to look good. I think black works better than the original red oxide! After I'd got to this stage and sealed the diff back up I took off each of the splined shafts into the diff and cleaned and repainted them before bolting back on and lock wiring.

Filling with fresh oil...

..right up to the plug level. About 1.5 litres needed.

Refitting the refurbished brakes next , I still have to make new bridging pipes for the calipers.

I'll then be able to start bolting the differential and brakes assembly to the frame ready for fitting the half-shafts and hubs.

New bridging pipes made from kunifer..(took a few attempts to get right..)

Just the handbrake pads to fit before reattaching the diff to the frame.

The frame only just clears the diff and brakes and I've bolted on top first..

..as I need the bottom plate off the frame to refit the lower link fulcrum shaft.

Left - fitting the new springs to the new dampers took just a few minutes.

Right - the rear frame is now very heavy and getting the suspension to droop to fit the new springs/dampers meant chocking up the middle of the frame.

Lining up the hub carrier fulcrum shaft components ready to reassemble (just need the felt seals still..).

I've given the hubs a good clean too. Understandably they were greased but over time that collects lots of dirt too. The top one has been done, the lower one is still to do.

Nearly time to stand back and enjoy. Just a few jobs left to finish..

Brand new spinners will go on when its back on the car.

The only jobs left are making and fitting new brake pipes and the handbrake lever springs. It has taken several months but I'm pleased with the result.

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