More Rear Suspension Progress !

The trailing arm brackets are mounted to the frame, and the Nylatron bushings and sleeves are installed in the trailing arms, so let's bolt them up !  Wait a minute not so fast...first I need to measure and fit spacer / washers provided in the Good Parts rear bushing kit.
These special washers/spacers, sized from .010 to .080, are stamped "1" for the .010, "2" for the .020, etc., and go on each side of the sleeve/bushing assembly. They are designed to provide a clearance of  .002 to .012 between the spacer and the bushing...try different combinations until the spacing is correct.  Bobby D has an excellent explanation on his web site.   http://tr6.danielsonfamily.org/TrailingArmBushingInstall.htm

The sleeve fits against the inside of the spacer (on left), and the outside or "top" of the spacer (on right) will tighten against the bracket. (The sleeves slightly extend out beyond the bushings.)

 All buttoned up

I got to admit, getting both trailing arms back on the frame made me feel pretty good !

Well, now that the T/A's are in place, I can think about installing the rear shocks and springs.  Last winter I sent my lever shocks off to Peter Caldwell at World Wide Auto Parts for rebuilding. Peter got good reviews from the 6-Pack gang and rebuilds shocks for many British / European cars...old and new !

Just torque down two new stainless steel bolts on each shock and your done! Oh, from the lessons learned department, be extra careful about the threads on the frame when putting on the POR-15...you would be amazed how hard it is to get the bolts into those threads once the coating has set up !

 Ok, now comes the tough part...getting the new springs back in place.



 I ordered  new stock height springs, urethane packing for them, and two urethane rear link assemblies from TRF.  My spring compressor was again called on to compress the new springs once I had them in place with the new packing.  The rear link assembly is fastened to the shock first, then as the spring is compressed, the T/A comes up high enough for the lower bolt on the link to be fastened in place on the T/A.

Once the fasteners are torqued down, you're ready to move on !