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Hello, I'm Sam with
JBugs.com. With the front end on our 1963 Resto Custom Beetle lowered, we're
going to get to work on the rear end.
First, we're going to be
lowering the rear by resetting the spring plates. The rear suspension is
completely adjustable from the factory so unlike the front, where an adjustable
beam or drop spindles are needed, no parts are required to lower or raise the
rear suspension.
We will be replacing the
[rear] spring plate bushings and the rear shocks, just as a portion of
restoring the car, not out of necessity. Getting started, the front wheels are
chocked. The lug bolts on both rear wheels are loosened. The rear end of the
car is jacked up and set on jack stands under the torsion housing. The rear
wheels are removed from the car. The rear shock is unbolted from the axle tube
at the bottom and the shock tower at the top and removed from the car.
The axle tube is
unbolted from the spring plate and the bump stop plate is removed and set to
the side. To get the axle clear of the spring plate, inside the car the
emergency brake cables are removed from the handle by un-threading the nuts and
pushing the cables down clear of the handle. Back at the rear of the car, the
emergency brake cable is pulled out of the chassis a bit and the axle is
rotated clear of the spring plate and re-supported.
Next, the spring plate
cap is unbolted from the torsion housing. With the cap removed, the spring
plate can now be popped off the torsion housing. Use extreme caution, as the
torsion bars can hold an extreme amount of energy and when unloaded, that
energy will force the spring plate down, sometimes quickly and unexpectedly. Do
NOT pry the spring plate from the bottom side, as once the plate is clear of
the housing, it may shoot down. Keep the area below the spring plate clear of
tools and body parts.
With the spring plate
unloaded or free of the torsion housing, we mark the angle of the spring plate
on the housing so that we have a reference point if we were going back to stock
height. The spring plate is pulled from the torsion bar, using caution to keep
the bar in the torsion housing. The torsion bars have different splines on the
inside and the outside so that the suspension can be adjusted in as little as a
quarter inch increments. By turning the bar on the inner spline one tooth in
one direction and one tooth on the outer spline the other direction. We're
going to be doing a fairly dramatic drop, turning the spring plate two teeth on
the outer splines which should drop the rear end roughly five inches.
With the spring plate
removed, the old bushings are removed from the cap and the torsion housing and
a new bushing is installed on the inner portion of the spring plate. The spring
plate is set back in place on the torsion housing noting our scribed mark. We
pivot the spring plate up while feeling the teeth on the splines on the torsion
bar, moving the spring plate up one spline at a time, two splines total, and
pushing the spring plate onto the torsion bar and into the housing.
The spring plate will be
hard to press in fully because of the new bushings so; we hit the spring plate
a bit with a hammer to get it to sit in place a bit more. Another spring plate
bushing is set on the plate, followed by the spring plate cap. Bolting the cap
down will be difficult because of the new bushings. Start by threading in the
rear lower bolt a few threads. A center punch is used to pull the spring
plate up at the rear upper bolt hole while threading in the lower front bolt. A
temporary 40mm long bolt is threaded into the upper rear hole and bolted down. The
upper front bolt can be installed and all three of the factory bolts can be
tightened. The temporary bolt is removed and replaced with a factory bolt
which is tightened down as well.
If you are reusing the
bump stops, it's recommended to trim the height down to allow for some
suspension travel with the lower ride height. In extremely lowered cars the
plate is often left out completely. We're going to be trimming the bump stop
and set it in place on the plate and set the plate in place on the axle tube so
that the axle tube can be bolted to the spring plate. Make sure to slide the
axle tube all the way forward in the spring plate notches before tightening the
bolts.
Next, we will install new
KONI classic adjustable shocks which we set at a medium firmness one full turn
from the softest setting. Bolt the shock to the axle tube at the bottom and the
shock tower at the top. Our rear tire selection is much taller and wider than
stock [at] 215/70R15, it's mounted to a 6.5" wide EMPI gloss black BRM
wheel. The wheels are mounted onto the wheel with EMPI studs, which are
threaded into the drum followed by the wheel and the lug nuts. The whole
process is repeated on the other side.
The back of the car is
jacked up, the jack stands are removed, and the car is set on the ground. The
back of the car is now sitting much lower than stock. Once the front springs
settle in, we'll readjust the front to get the stance we're looking for. If we
weren't going to be installing rear disc brakes in our next step, the hand
brake cables would be re-attached, the lug bolts would be tightened, and the
job will be complete. In the meantime though, we're going to get the back of
the car back up in the air and swap out the drums for disc brakes. That will be
in our next video though, so stay tuned. Thanks for watching and stop by
JBugs.com for your vintage Volkswagen suspension parts and accessories.
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