Section VI Fitting the Rear Suspension

Warning:- Before carrying out any modifications to the standard design seek written approval from the Kit Designer. Use only high quality materials and fasteners and lock all threads. This applies particularly to Safety Critical items such as Brakes, Steering & Suspension Components.

The chassis has to be upside down in order to fit the floor pan and on the assumption that your rear axle is stripped to its component parts, this must be fitted at the same time. The Tubular Rear Axle is fitted to the chassis with no less than 8 bolts, which means that 6 holes have to be drilled by the builder. This is at best a tricky operation as it is difficult to drill large holes in thin sheet metal. An Allen key operated punch is the best idea, if you have one. As regards the 4 at the Outer Swinging Arms the best way is to mount the whole lot in a vertical miller and drill the holes as per the attached sketch. Using a Socket head screw will mean a smaller access hole (20mm) and this can be usefully offset by 4mm. A Starret hole saw will do just as good a job. Pilot hole and drill. Clean off all burrs, paint any bare surfaces and then squirt some Waxoyl into the cavity. Temporarily assemble the Sub Frame and fit the Differential to the Tube with the 2 through bolts and 2 studs. Replace any shims taken off at the strip down. What shims !! Use Nylock nuts and Threadlock as appropriate. Taking extreme care mark of the position of the two rear holes in the chassis bracket and drill through. Swing the Differential clear as you drill.

Before fitting the Differential it is a good idea to run a plug tap down the 2 threads and select a bolt that will not bind at the bottom of the hole. Using 2 flange headed bolts apply Threadlock and torque up securely. See Note (1)

Position the floor pan (note the rear edge of the pan passes over the inner Swinging arm brackets) and mark off the two extra holes. Cut out these holes and final assemble using large washers on the top face and keep the bolt shanks as short as possible. At this stage the two Swinging arms can be loose fitted with the nuts to the outside of the car. Do not fully tighten the Swinging arm pivot nuts until the car is fully laden, this avoids any stress in the rubber torsion bushes. Note also that the Differential has no oil in as yet.

The Rear wheels have a tendency to lean inwards, ie: negative camber. Taper plates are available through the NWRHOCaR group to bring the wheels more or less vertical. These are best fitted at the same time as the brake back plates and half shafts, although it is not difficult to fit them later. There is a copy of this drawing in Appendix II Link to AutoCAD Drawings It is essential that these tapered plates are fitted between the brake backplates and the mounting flange on the swinging arms, the thicker edge of the taper goes to the top, if fitted incorrectly the brake shoes will not be in alignment with the drums. Check that the rear hubs will be equally spaced in from the side rails. You will see why when you come to fit the rear mudguards. It is almost certain that taper plates cannot be used with standard width rear mudguards. See Section XXVI Front and Rear Mudguards & Conclusions & Problems to Date.

For some unexplained reason the offside rear wheel appears to sit further out from the chassis than the nearside. This is not a one off, as many 2B builders have the same problem. At some point you may decide to fit a set of new rear wheel studs on the nearside only in conjunction with a suitable spacer plate. The studs can be fitted to the hub before the half shaft is assembled but it is best done once you have seen the relationship of the wheel to the nearside mudguard and the degree of offset required. Later builds may have corrected this fault. See Section XXVI Front and Rear Mudguards

Jacking Points

With the chassis is inverted now is a good time to consider jacking points. The front end is OK as the square cross member is ideal for this purpose. The rear is not so easy as there is no convenient chassis to get a safe grip on. However the outer ends of the Sierra rear suspension are ideal, as all the lifting stress is passed directly into the Sierra rear sub frame, but they rather an odd shape, an inverted/tapered hollow. Not very suitable as a safe lifting point as the jack tends to slip off. A short piece of 12 x 12mm angle or tee double welded across the outer ends will replicate the normal body "sill" and give an ideal location for a standard Ford jack. You need a jack with a very low closed height, scrap yards ( or as they are now known "Environmemtally safe end of life motor vehicle rehabilitation and disposal centers" ) usually have some lying around. Round off the ends of the angle as much as possible for the SVA. These projecting suspension ends have given some builders problems with the SVA, although my tester made no comment. However "designated jacking points" are exempt. By turning these ends into jacking points we kill two birds with one stone. ( Take your jack to the SVA to show how it fits )

Re-build the Brake Back plates using the line drawing in the Haynes Manual. It would be much easier if the Handbrake cables could be fitted at this point but they will need to come off to be shortened. See Section XIV Handbrake, Seat and Harness assembly. Refit c/w half shafts, note the large hub nuts are Left and Right Handed. New Ford bolts are recommended for securing the Hub/Backplate assembly, again torque up to the recommended Haynes or Ford values. Slip the Brake Drums on. With the chassis inverted it would be nice to fit other items such as the Handbrake Angle, Outer Cable/Seat Mtg. Angle, drill the Gearbox mounting holes and also the Upper wishbones. The Upper wishbones are not a problem but location of the other items is a bit problematical.

Do not turn the chassis over yet. The Coil overs will be fitted when the car is turned over.

Note:- It has been suggested that the SVA look for lock washers at this point. ( No comment was made at my SVA )

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© Colin Usher 2005