Refitting IRS question

[mach2andy]

It's my understanding that refitting the IRS is easier with 2 of the mounts fitted to the IRS, and 2 mounts fitted to the car? So, has anyone found that one of the combos works better than the other. i.e. fronts on the car and rears on the IRS or vice versa? And has anyone tried bleeding as much air as poss out of the rear brakes before refitting the IRS?
Thanks in advance for any input.
ATB
Andy

[MSM]

Andy

As per the WSM fit the rear mounts to the car and tighten the fixings and fit the front mounts to the IRS. Can't comment on pre bleeding but remote bleeders are good.

[abowie]

The rear mounts are installed because it is very difficult to get the bolts in and tightened otherwise because the is no room.
There is no harm in prebleeding the brakes.

[AshM]

Hi Andy

Would strongly recommend the Fosseway remote bleeding kit. Fitted one to mine before putting the IRS back in and it makes rear bleeding such an easy job.

My only tips for fitting would be to get yourself a set of pointed pry bars which help align the holes. I also used old bolts to tap through to line up holes and then put new ones in once aligned.

The car needs to be back on its wheel on the ground for the radius arm to line up to the mountings.

Finally, get some muscular help. It’s good to have people working on both sides at the same time and you work up a sweat.

Good luck - let us know how you get on.


Cheers
Ash

[cactusman]

Fosseway bleed kit is brilliant! and I don't work for them btw!

[abowie]

Remote bleeders are OK. I've got them fitted on one of my cars, and had them on my (now sold) first car. But given how infrequently you actually need to bleed the rear brakes, and given that all you need to do to do it easily is remove the 2 front shocks, which takes 5 minutes, I wouldn't say they were a necessity.

A tapered punch or a couple of large Phillips screwdrivers are very helpful. You should be able to do it all with the IRS on top of a suitable sized piece of wood balanced on a trolley jack. If you need burly assistants you are doing it wrong; it's about thought and finesse not brute strength. Just go slowly and carefully.

To get the radius arms in you may need to drop the car down on it's wheels and use the weight of a burly assistant in the boot. Don't forget to put never seize on the cups prior to bolting it all up.

[politeperson]

I find the radius arms slip onto the cups very easily if you attach them before you fit the lower shock mounts.

This allows you to jack the IRS up further than normal, closing the gap just enough.

[AshM]

That is a great idea James. Definitely one for the notes diary.

Andy, my apologies if my post misinformed. I am not advocating that you need a team of weight-lifters to refit the IRS but it’s a big lump and even when well balanced on a jack some ‘firm hands’ on either side are useful at the moments of gentle alignment.

If my post indicated a desire for some form of rough force then it was not intended.

We shall leave that for Japan in September. 󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Cheers
Ash

[johnetype]

When it comes to refitting the radius arms on their cups if you just move whatever you've been supporting the IRS with forwards to the front of the frame and raise the car at that point the cups will slip straight over.
No need to have the car on the ground or burly folks in the boot.

[abowie]

When it comes to refitting the radius arms on their cups if you just move whatever you've been supporting the IRS with forwards to the front of the frame and raise the car at that point the cups will slip straight over.
No need to have the car on the ground or burly folks in the boot.

This works too. Tilt the front of the IRS up a bit.

[mach2andy]

Thanks for all of your input men. I've picked up a 600 kg capacity motorcycle lift on Gumtree which I think should be useful as it has quite a big platform for the IRS to sit on. And it was quite useful when I fitted the gearbox as well.
Ash - Yes I've already fitted the remote bleeding kit.
And how lovely was it to trial fit the silencers standing up!!

[AshM]

Looking great Andy.

Regarding the scissor jack, completely agree - a very useful addition to the workshop too for me this year. Used it to put the engine back in and probably the easiest I have ever done it.

Will be on the road soon...

Cheers
Ash

[mach2andy]

Just a quick update on my IRS which went back in very easily. The motorcycle lift was a godsend. It's one drawback is that it is designed to move in the fore and aft plane with rollers rather than castors at one end, and this was going to be an issue. So from the picture you should be able to see that I put the lift on top of a trolley with 4 castors, and then put the IRS on top of the whole shebang. I lifted the car high enough to push the IRS into position, then dropped the car down so that I only had to lift the IRS about 6 inches, and 3 hrs later working on my own it was back in. I think that my car was probably very straight to start with which probably helped. The radius arms slipped very easily back onto the cups as well. My car needed new floor sections which rather surprisingly came with the cups already installed. To make sure that the cups ended up in the correct position, once my IRS subframe had been powder coated, I partially reassembled it with lower wishbones and radius arms, and bolted it back in the car. A jig was then fabricated to locate the floors in the correct position which you should be able to see from the pics as well.
Thanks again for your input.
Andy

[FHCINSC]

Beautiful work Andy! Make sure your Hubs are on the correct sides....wish the person that rebuilt my rear suspension would have gotten that part right. Hey...50-50 chance.

[mach2andy]

Hi Anthony
Thanks for the heads up on my hubs. I double checked them and they are fitted correctly. When I bought my C2 I found that all 4 hubs were incorrect. Lefts on the right and vice versa. All 4 hubs on the Corvette are the same as the front hubs on the E Type. Held on with 5 nuts. So no special pullers, 10 ton presses etc. Just a spanner.
Sorry, wrench!
ATB
Andy