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It's been a while since I posted on this. Last year was not good in various ways so the Pb still stood at 12.3/111 with a 1.8 60ft. In hindsight the car was settling onto the slicks as the springs had sagged and I was trying softer damper settings. Anyway after years of playing with Caltracs and/or A frames to improve traction I bit the bullet and decided to fit a 4 bar rearend. The limitations were not wanting to cut the bodywork because of the 8 point rule (this car is still street legal), working in a single garage stuffed with tools, and my welding,which would make a pigeon blush. So I made up some models in foamex and then had steel plates laser cut to suit. I tacked these together and trial fitted them.
The coilovers came from Gaz, who were very helpful. They are the 2" dia ones with 10-14.5" travel and 200 lb/in springs.I kept the existing panhard rod but with new rod ends and new axle mounting.The bars were made from 1" ID tube, with 5/8" UNF rod eyes in RH and LH threads and are 16.5" between centres. I used the existing spring mounts on both the axle and body but added additional fixings in the body for the front mount.
After more trial fitting the mounts were sprayed in hammerite and the bars powder coated.
The upper end of the coilovers were secured through re-enforced plates bolted through the rear wheelarch and then further stiffened by a thickwall square section tube across the car,tied to the base of the roll hoop.
So far testing has been limited to local roads (I was sitting on a box since I'm also making a new driver's seat) but the stance seems about right and the wheel/body clearance is increased.
Can't wait to get out and test this properly once the other Winter jobs are done.

The coilovers came from Gaz, who were very helpful. They are the 2" dia ones with 10-14.5" travel and 200 lb/in springs.I kept the existing panhard rod but with new rod ends and new axle mounting.The bars were made from 1" ID tube, with 5/8" UNF rod eyes in RH and LH threads and are 16.5" between centres. I used the existing spring mounts on both the axle and body but added additional fixings in the body for the front mount.


After more trial fitting the mounts were sprayed in hammerite and the bars powder coated.


The upper end of the coilovers were secured through re-enforced plates bolted through the rear wheelarch and then further stiffened by a thickwall square section tube across the car,tied to the base of the roll hoop.

So far testing has been limited to local roads (I was sitting on a box since I'm also making a new driver's seat) but the stance seems about right and the wheel/body clearance is increased.

Can't wait to get out and test this properly once the other Winter jobs are done.