GT rear suspension stiffening kit
01-28-2008, 10:41 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
GT rear suspension stiffening kit
Alright, if assist in Jay's attempt to get some more traffic here, I'll post a picture of the OTHER work I'm doing on my 914 (remember, I'm rebuilding the engine - and I'm faced with a tough "money" decision on that...)
Anyhow, the whole reason I took the engine out was to allow myself better access to the chassis to do a little rust repair and install a GT stiffening kit.
It's been a fun process so far. The first step (after removing the engine)was to remove the rear control arms. This also was very easy - just undo the brake lines, pop off the parking brake cable, undo the top shock bolt, undo the inner control arm bolt, then take out the three bolts that hold the outer control arm adjustment block, and the arm is off!
Of course this means I'll need a new alignment once it's all together, but so it goes.
Now I had to remove that 34 year old undercoating. Luckily it was very cold in my garage (about 20F) - this made it brittle enough I was able to just scrape it off with a 1" putty knife (sometimes with the aid of a hammer - like using a chisel).
The stuff broke up and flaked right off leaving nice clean paint behind!
With a wire wheel on my grinder I took of a bunch of the paint and then welded the steel pieces on. I started by welding where the steel was touching the body, then I'd hammernear my weld to get another part close. Weld that and do more hammering! It was a noisy process, but yielded good results (and it looks strong). In a few places, I had to heat up the stiffening parts with an oxy-acetelene torch to aid in hammering them to a complex shape.
Anyhow, I've finished the passenger side and I hope to work on the driver's side in the next few weeks.
Anyhow, the whole reason I took the engine out was to allow myself better access to the chassis to do a little rust repair and install a GT stiffening kit.
It's been a fun process so far. The first step (after removing the engine)was to remove the rear control arms. This also was very easy - just undo the brake lines, pop off the parking brake cable, undo the top shock bolt, undo the inner control arm bolt, then take out the three bolts that hold the outer control arm adjustment block, and the arm is off!
Of course this means I'll need a new alignment once it's all together, but so it goes.
Now I had to remove that 34 year old undercoating. Luckily it was very cold in my garage (about 20F) - this made it brittle enough I was able to just scrape it off with a 1" putty knife (sometimes with the aid of a hammer - like using a chisel).
The stuff broke up and flaked right off leaving nice clean paint behind!
With a wire wheel on my grinder I took of a bunch of the paint and then welded the steel pieces on. I started by welding where the steel was touching the body, then I'd hammernear my weld to get another part close. Weld that and do more hammering! It was a noisy process, but yielded good results (and it looks strong). In a few places, I had to heat up the stiffening parts with an oxy-acetelene torch to aid in hammering them to a complex shape.
Anyhow, I've finished the passenger side and I hope to work on the driver's side in the next few weeks.
Last edited by Van; 01-28-2008 at 10:45 PM. Reason: adding picture
