London Roadster Gets a Lift

[Edward Davidson]

well folks,

my new to me roadster will be going up on my lift, tomorrow evening, after dinner.

hope to get some good pictures underneath, and, see just what all needs fixing.

finally got my B to the point of being back on the floor.

plan to drive it some, soon, now that the cooling system is back in correct order.

[edward ericson]

Good on ya. I’d love to see some beauty shots of the hot rod B

[Edward Davidson]

workin on that.

 still have to put the console, and stereo back in, but, that’s inside stuff, and, hope to get that in this evening, too.

I was happy just to get it off the lift. been sitting there for 2 months.

[Edward Davidson]

well,

it took a little doing, but, I finally got it up on the lift, and, immediately found all the allen bolts in both axles loose, so, I tightened those back up, and, hooked the heater tubes back up.

had some company to stop in, so, the pictures will have to come tomorrow.

lots to do under there.

[secretagentcat]

I find that when company arrives thats the time to pass the tools around for free help. Remember Huck Fin and the white wash paint? Who doesnt want a chance to spend some time with an exotic car? Pass out beer with the tools and call it a party!

[Edward Davidson]

he drove over, and, I wouldn’t want to get anyone in trouble, especially on a week night.

I’m trying to keep my week night sessions to 1 to 1 1/2 hours, so, time was running short, when he stopped by. we just kinda poked around under it a little, then went over to his car, and, poked around a little more.

might be a bit more serious tinkering going on this weekend.

[john barry]

if
you get the front and rear shock absorbers model #s let me know please 

thanks

[secretagentcat]

Great plan! I started out the same way. Over the years Ive spent many late nights just tinkering under the hood. When shes running shes my daily driver rain or shine so it pays to keep up the routine maintainance. The more I replace the old with high quality new parts the more time I get to spend doing the fun stuff like adding cool Bond gadgets.

[Edward Davidson]

they were tough to get a good look at.

 I will be getting pictures tomorrow evening, and, will be getting lots of them, to use for reference notes.

[secretagentcat]

I dont know how to load pictures here but if you do then wed love to see them.

[Edward Davidson]

it’s a little tricky, sometimes, but, I should be able to get some up.

[john barry]

[Edward Davidson]

here’s some of the underside, and, still haven’t figured out what brand the rear shocks are.

[Edward Davidson]

well folks, I’m even on my cars. had a grand tied up between 2 cars that a total of 15,000 was paid for the 2, but, now, I have 0 dollars invested in both.

shopping trip coming for parts.

[secretagentcat]

Looks nice. Cant wait to see the picts with her off the rack and some scenic background.

[Edward Davidson]

yea,

me too.

[Edward Davidson]

ok, finally was able to get 1 shock/ spring assembly out. that was tough. now, for the real issue.

the PO had installed the wrong shocks, evidently, due to grinding down the bottom mount to fit inside the metal cup that the coil spring centers on, and cut 2 notches in it to allow 2 bolts to go down through to the bottom of the spring mount.

there is a 7/8″ center hole in the top and bottom spring mount that, I figure, is for the shock to mount into. plus, the top shock stud had been cut off some..

I figure that the shock that is supposed to go there has a stud mount on both ends.

can someone verify this for me?

I measured the total distance from top to bottom, and, came up with 14″, and, the spring measured 13 1/2″.

correct?

[Edward Davidson]

I also found that the rear hubs lean in a little at the top, the driver’s side leans in a little more than the passenger’s side.

bearings?

[KentT]

Is there any slop in the bearings? Can you wiggle the wheel by grabbing the tire top and bottom. The rear carrier/wheel bearings are not frequent failure items, and often last hundreds of thousands of miles.

The rear axles have likely been decambered one (or more) teeth on the splines of the rear torsion bars, in order to lower the rear ride height with the lighter weight of the fiberglass body. This can cause the tires to lean in, though not as much on the IRS rear suspension as on the swing-axle type. You can adjust this back higher in 3/16″ increments, though it’s not a simple/easy procedure. You can also buy adjustable end caps/plates that can be used to fine tune it even more. Here’s the procedure:

http://www.airheadparts.com/vw-rear-height-adjustment

Some people (including Roy on his TDr) use coil-over shocks and adjust them to address one side sagging….KentT2015-02-17 20:38:48

Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...

[Edward Davidson]

I currently have the wheels, coils, and shocks off, and want to fix my rear sagging issue, along with this wheel leaning issue. the driver’s side has more lean than the passenger’s side, but, the car sits level from side to side.

mine has the stock drum set up, not the disc type shown in the picture.

[KentT]

Doh! My bad! Totally forgot that you have the aftermarket rear suspension also. 😡 Sounds like the trailing arms are not aligned the same, side-to-side. Your options are likely shimming the carrier or heating/twisting the trailing arm in question.

Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...

[Edward Davidson]

i’ll know more, later today, when I get the wheels back on to test the bearings.

[Richard Shear]

The stock rear shocks have a stud mount top and bottom.

[john barry]

dick whats the part # on your stock shocks and front?

thanxz

[Edward Davidson]

I can get adjustable coil over shocks cheaper than the replacement shocks alone. wouldn’t that be a better replacement?

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