Torsion bar removal - help!

Post by **damian1978** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:19 am

Hello folks, I'm planning to roll my minor over today to get started on some chopping and welding and at some point over the next week I'll need to remove one of the torsion bars to effect a repair to one of the chassis legs.

My question is this.. is it a fairly straight forward job to remove and refit the bars? Do I have to tension them when refitting or is it as simple as bolt off / bolt on? Is there anything specific I should be aware of or know about for doing this job?

I've never tackled torsion bars before, so any advice most welcome!

Cheers
Damian

Post by **alex_holden** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:43 am

Release the torsion before you roll the car because you need to be able to jack up from the floor to the lower arm (as described in the workshop manual). How difficult they are to remove depends on how badly the arms are seized onto the splines of the torsion bar - if they haven't been done for many years they can be hard to shift.

The main thing to bear in mind is that there's a lot of energy stored in the bar, so you have to be very careful not to get your hand in the way of the lower arm while releasing/reapplying the torsion in case it slips off the jack.

Post by **damian1978** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 12:59 pm

Thanks for that Alex. I've had a look in the workshop manual and I think I should be able to tackle it. He says!.....

Cheers

Post by **aupickup** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:18 pm

its really not taht difficult a job

as alex says mind the jack slipping on the rear thick wishbone
the torsion bar will not drop much after releasing the jack

Post by **katy** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 3:16 pm

I would suggest that you mark both ends of the torsion bar and the pieces that it goes in to, for spline alignment.
That way you get it back in the same position as it came out.

Post by **damian1978** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 3:21 pm

So am I best just releasing the bar by removing the large nut at the rear end of the bar with a jack underneath it and then once it's released rolling the car over and completing the removal with the car it's side?

Sorry if I'm sounding a bit thick, I just want to be clear in my mind before I tackle it.

Cheers!

Post by **alex_holden** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 4:08 pm

damian1978 wrote:releasing the bar by removing the large nut at the rear end of the bar with a jack underneath it

No, that's not right. The manual goes into detail, but basically you:

Support the car under the chassis.
Jack under the outer end of the thick (rear) half of the lower suspension arm, just enough for the upper arm to be clear of the rebound stop.
Undo all the nuts and bolts holding the two halves of the lower arm together.
Remove the front half of the lower arm.
Push the lower trunnion forwards and then lift it to get the fulcrum pin clear of the rear half of the lower arm.
Lower the jack to release the torsion.

Post by **rayofleamington** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 9:10 pm

Jack under the outer end of the thick (rear) half of the lower suspension arm, just enough for the upper arm to be clear of the rebound stop.
Undo all the nuts and bolts holding the two halves of the lower arm together.
Remove the front half of the lower arm.
Push the lower trunnion forwards and then lift it to get the fulcrum pin clear of the rear half of the lower arm.
Lower the jack to release the torsion.

A very good explanation in 5 sentences! The only extra thing worth adding is that the front and rear arms should slide on the splines allowing it to be romoved from the car in a few different ways. My preference is to slide the rear arm forwards, then remove the C washer allowing the torsion bar back through the centre crossmember. Once it's back far enough, the front can be be removed from the eyebolt and the rest will come out forwards.

If the arms won't slide then it may be possible (but certainly not easy) to pull the front assembly clear of the car complete with the eye bolt.

If the arms won't slide it may not be possible to reassemble with the correct alignment for new eyebolt bushes, so it's worth freeing them up during or after dissasembly.

If the parts have been apart recently, releasing them + removing them is possible in 20 minutes. If it's never been apart and many things are seized it can take hours.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:42 am

A good wire brushing and dosing of the splines with release oil well in advance helps too!

Post by **alex_holden** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:38 am

And after you get it apart, clean the splines up and smother them in copper grease before reassembly.

Post by **damian1978** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 11:25 am

Thanks for the help guys, I think I was a bit hasty rolling it over, so I'll have to do the torsion bars when it's upright, before I roll it on to the other side.

I got inspiration for rolling it over after watching a dvd with a bloke called Phil in it - he restored a Minor and filmed it as he went along and now he sells them on eBay. It's quite entertaining. His website is cobalt-minor.co.uk if anyone's interested!

Thanka again guys,
Damian