Worrying noises

[Alan Chatterton]

Go for Poly. They last forever, don\'t deform and don\'t rot with oil (useful with these cars!!)
Silly not to!
 

[Clifford Pope]

I\'ve just read the notes for dropping the trailing arm to get the springs out, and it says uncouple the drive shaft. Is that really necessary? Wouldn\'t putting on a spring compressor first before lowering be easier? I presume the point is that otherwise the TA won\'t drop far enough before it binds on the drive shaft?

[Umquat]

This is quite bizarre. I was looking at the Haynes at this very section the other night, as I am about to replace my rear subframe bushes.
Incidentally from whats being said, I get the impression that my springs are probably past their best, given that when I did my trailing arm bushes recently I was able to remove them fairly easily once the shock had been disconnected. The Haynes mentioned having to undo the inner drive shaft flange nuts and bolts also.
Regards
Gavin

[Alan Chatterton]

the driveshaft still being connected will stop the arm coming down far enough to remove the spring. (unless you either have seriously lowered springs or they are buggered!)
If you can get the spring out, then do, you don\'t have to remove the driveshaft. But for the 10 minutes it takes to remove it, this allows you to completely remove the arm from the car, and change the bushes in comfort on a bench, rather than wrestling with it under the car. Removing the old bushes will not be easy if it is still on the car.
Up to you, but I would remove the shafts and remove the arm from the car.
 

[Clifford Pope]

You are right Alan. As soon as I started yesterday I saw that the arm would not go quite low enough to release the spring.<br>
I didn\'t realise mine were quite so bad, I merely suspected the back was sagging a bit.<br>
<br>
Before: Height from ground to wing lip 20\".&nbsp; Free spring length 12 1/2\", 11 coils.<br>
<br>
After: Chris Witor standard Mk1 springs: Height 23 \". free length 11 \", 10 coils.<br>
<br>
So the car now rides higher despite having shorter springs with one
fewer coil. The reason must be that the old springs were so weakened
that they simply sagged to the bottom, whereas the new ones, with
slightly increased strength, hold a higher hide despite starting
shorter.<br>
<br>
A curious effect I would never have guessed. It goes to show there is
more to springs than just measuring free length and comparing with the
book.<br>

[Alec]

Hello Cliff, <br><br>for a given wire diameter, the fewer the coils the stiffer the spring by a factor of relative turns. I am surprised at the difference in ride height but suspect that will drop with some initial use?<br><br>Alec<br>

[Clifford Pope]

I wanted just ordinary standard springs, and I got the ones recommended
by Chris Witor. He said these are somewhat stiffer, but not noticeably
uncomfortable, and give the same original ride height. <br>
I am not surprised at the improved ride height, considering mine had
sagged considerably, just surprised that a shorter spring can achieve
that. I suppose that is logical, because a softer spring would have to
start longer in order to achieve the same compressed length for a given
weight.<br>
The ride is actually softer, presumably because the old springs had
sagged so much that there was not much springiness left in them. They
would also be more prone to boinginess, because even small stones would
jamb in the coils. The bottom 2 coils were rusted solid in muck and
stones.<br>
I have now driven the car a few miles, and the height seems to have stabilised at 22 1/2 \".<br>

[Umquat]

Well finally after a waiting for decent weather on a Tuesday, I got round to fitting my new springs at the rear. As I mentioned in a previous post, I thought the old springs had sagged a bit, but not by the amount that it turned out that they had. Once I got the old ones off I measured them. According to the Haynes, they should be somewhere between 315 and 330mm long.. Mine were.... 270mm so the best part of 2 inches - note the swap from metric to imperial!! - short. This is also the reason why I was slightly concerned about the length of the new ones, as they were a good 2 inches longer (correct length) than the old ones.
Anyway I didnt remove the inner drive flanges but removed the drums and half shafts - seeing as I\'d already done this when I fitted the trailing arm bushes. Everything came apart and went back together easily, and now the car sits much higher, doesnt clonk when going over speed bumps, and the ride is a little less harsh at the back. Theres very slight positive camber but once the springs settle in I\'m sure that will disappear.
Another job done. Now just got to do the fronts, get the steering rack greased, the engine tuned, the inner A posts welded, and the exterior cosmetically tidied, and I\'ll be done!
<There speaks the ever optimistic Umquat!>
Regards
Gavin