Not too much to cover here, but in the interests of completing the story, just some quick notes about dismantling the remaining running gear prior to getting the bare shell mounted on the rollover jig. I’ve been working on this off and on over the last couple of weeks in between other jobs – it’s nice “quiet work” that can be carried out at times when the more noisy bodywork borders on antisocial 🙂
Starting at the front, stripping the crossmember didn’t take very long at all – the hubs, brakes and suspension components all came free without much effort. Given I rebuilt all of this a mere 17 years ago with new or refurbished components and it’s been garaged all of that time, it’s not too surprising I suppose, but some of it had started to look like it would put up more of a fight.
The crossmember itself is looking pretty sorry for itself again. I had painted it with POR-15 back when I rebuilt the suspension, and to be fair, it lasted it really well for most of those 17 years, only really starting to peel off in more recent times.
At the back, I’d already removed the dampers back when I was working on the wheel arches, so it was just a case of removing the leaf springs and dropping out the axle. Again, it all came out without any drama.
The crossmember is scruffy, but it’s only surface rust and it will clean up just fine (again!). I may get it blasted, although a knotted wire brush and rust converter will probably do a good enough job. I think I had a conundrum last time on whether to get it powder coated, or to paint it, and I’m at the same place again. Powder coating suspension components seems a popular choice with many, and I agree it looks fantastic, but I still see a lot of counter opinions that it can be brittle and difficult to repair if needed. Fortunately I have quite a bit of time to mull this over a bit more…
The rear axle had also been painted at the same time as the front suspension, and still looked fairly good when it came off, if a bit dirty! This whole lot has already gone to a new home however, since I was lucky enough to find a refurbished unit a while back, complete with a Quaife LSD and the correct 3.07:1 ratio crownwheel and pinion for the V8.
