I worked on the car last night from 10:30 until around 12:45. This will be the last time (well probably) for a couple of weeks as I am off to Africa on business.
So I really wanted to do something different last night and after a couple of minutes thinking about it, I decided to fit the rear suspension arms and coilover springs.
Strictly speaking this is jumping ahead a fair bit in the build order but after consideration, I decided that doing so would not hinder any other bits still needed and would provide a cool final thing to do before my trip as it seems like a big step forward.
The rear suspension assembly consists of a top and bottom wishbone, a central carrier which will support the wheel hub and drive shafts and a ‘coilover’ spring / dampener that connects from the top of the top wishbone, to the top of the chassis.
Fitting the lower and upper wishbones involves fitting bushes in to the ends of the wishbones and then bolting them in place in the chassis.
This is easier said then done as the fitting is very tight (as it should be) and required a lot of effort and a little copper grease to get them in place.
Once I had the lower wishbone in place, I attached the hob carrier using the same bush arrangement but this time with a single long bolt running through the hub carrier.
Next I fitted the upper wishbone to the chassis (which was again a pig to do but got it eventually by getting one side in and then exerting a lot of pressure on the other side).
I then connected them all together using another set of bushes and M12 bolts.
The final stage was to fit the ‘coilover’ spring from the top of the hub carrier to the top of the chassis.
This was attached top and bottom using M12 bolts and some spacing washers.
At this stage I have not tightened the bolts as I am not 100% sure that they will not need to come off again later but I think it looks good and was pleased with the results. I did decide to leave the drivers side for another day as this took over an hour to do.
I also decided to start practicing with the brake flaring kit to workout how it all works.
The kit did not come with any instructions so I had a little trial and error to work it all out.
Basically, you make sure the pipe has a clean cut (my kit included a pipe cutter which was worth the extra £3). Then clamp the pipe in the metal bar thing. I found around 4mm sticking out the top was enough. Next place the appropriate die in to the end of the pipe (little black metal thing with a spindle on it). Finally, hook the press over the metal clamp thing and turn the handle such that the shaft pushes down on to the die.
You end up with a bulbous end to the pipe. This is called a single flare.
Apparently, you can take the die out at this stage and continue to turn the press handle to fold the top section of the flare in on it’s self. This is called a double flare and will be needed for the front brake pipes where they meet the flexible brake pipes.
I had a go on the car but in a section where I had plenty of pipe to cut back if needed.
Remember to put the fitting on the pipe before you flare the end.
The pipe above actually needs a double flare but it as too late to take it any further.
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