Removing rear suspension

[trunt]

I just need to remove the rear suspension and I can get this shell up on the rotisserie.
Some will say put it on the rotisserie and take it off then but I'm not sure about all that extra weight sitting on the two bumper bolts, I would rather just lift the shell alone up to the rotisserie.

So I was eyeing it up today and cant decide how to do it. I can do it the conventional way, blocks under the rear seat pan or at the rear jacking points lower it down, but could I remove the shocks, brake lines and 4 main securing bolts with the car on the floor and simply lift the body off the subframe, wheels and all?

I can't decide what would happen if the car was on its rear wheels with the mounting bolts removed, would the front drop? the rear (diff) drop or would it just sit on the 4 mounts until I lifted the bodyshell??



.

[sujitroy]

When I removed my rear end to replace the bushes, I supported the bottom of the diff as that's where the weight was centered. The rear wheels were off and I had supported the rear of the car from the seat pans. I don't recall the front dropping.

I would if I had enough room , to get under the car to undo the bolts, support the diff and lift off the body.
Sujit

[richardthestag]

when I did mine I supported the back end on stands under the rear of the sill.

positioned a jack under the nose of the diff. seemed to be a reasonable balance point.

undid two subframe mounts and two nuts on diff carrier and lowered the whole lot to the floor.

reasonably stable but keep out of the way of it as you lower for safety reasons etc

reassembly, I lifted this back under the car using the trolley jack on the front off the diff but not on the diff nose extension.

edited to add - remove each damper before undoing anything. use the trolley jack under each trailing arm to lower it and release the tension from the road spring, then remove it. the drive shaft may seperate

[davidf]

I've never tried this - I have always supported the car and lowered the sub-frame.
I think the action of the springs would push the front of the sub-frame down to the ground. Maybe, if you put supporting blocks under the outer ends of the sub-frame arms (near the front attachments), it might all stay in alignment while you lift off the body. I am not going to experiment with mine !!

[davidf]

This shows where the balance point was for the jack to lower the sub-frame and roll it out from under the car

WP_20160507_15_26_16_Pro.jpg

[Goldstar]

when I did mine I supported the back end on stands under the rear of the sill.

positioned a jack under the nose of the diff. seemed to be a reasonable balance point.

undid two subframe mounts and two nuts on diff carrier and lowered the whole lot to the floor.

reasonably stable but keep out of the way of it as you lower for safety reasons etc

reassembly, I lifted this back under the car using the trolley jack on the front off the diff but not on the diff nose extension.

edited to add - remove each damper before undoing anything. use the trolley jack under each trailing arm to lower it and release the tension from the road spring, then remove it. the drive shaft may seperate

That's how I did it as well. I think I used a piece of 4x2 or similar on the jack to spread the load/balance as the subframe came down

Paul

[rwdstag]

Don’t worry it’s really quite simple
I put mine on ramps with large bits of wood spreading the weight placed right at the back of the rear seat foot well
the front up on axle stands again with big lumps of wood spreading the weight
then undo all the bolts from prop shaft etc
once everything else is undone you can get to the last 4 bolts being the diff carrier and the subframe outer bolts
once undone place a jack as described in previous and lower
ooooo and don’t forget the break lines as I almost did

[trunt]

Thanks everybody,

in the end I did it the conventional way, I decided I’m not ready to put it up on the rotisserie yet anyway and is so easy that way. The pics were invaluable if only to hit that balance point first time. It only took 30 mins or so as most of the stuff was already off.

Surprised how heavy the rear suspension is, and how light the body shell is, I can actually easily lift it. So my method of getting it on the rotisserie will be to con 4 mates over with promises of beer and pizza, and get them to lift it!!

terry

[trunt]

vioala!

filedata/fetch?id=758983&d=1526053874&type=thumb

This 1000 quid car keeps surprising me with its nice condition, Diff is fantastic, Drums have no wear, even had some Boge shocks on it that seem pretty new. all the mounts are in OK condition. I have some decisions to make on what (not?) to replace!

[rwdstag]

[rwdstag]

Bits of wood and finding the pivot point