[misc_work] 205 1.9 Gti Rear Beam >

[SurGie 54]

Here is my beam that i have almost fully reconditioned my self >

 

Im sure you can imagine what the beam looked like before this all started, here it is after being sand blasted >

 

 

This is the beam after a good grinder brush down with its special rust/paint remover attachment, which made it very shiny and smooth >

 

 

ZX arms >

 

 

The ends of the shafts have been machined down to fit snugly into the bronze bearing i got from this forum, because they were made too small.

[SurGie 54]

I got these bearings fitted via a local beam building firm, the end ones are oilite, where they are pregnated with oil and when they have too much friction the oil seeps out to lubricate the shafts >

 

 

More to come.

[SurGie 54]

One of the arms painted by the extreme chassis black from Frost >

 

 

Here is the beam painted by the primer inside the picture >

 

 

The beam still has to be painted in white then yellow, the white is to bring the yellow out more. I have to wait till the primer is fully dry, it takes 4 days to cure. Its 90% made of zinc so there wont be any rust in the near of far future.

 

A few bits had to be primed again after a few days as i had missed a few areas, there a lot of nooks & crannies around the beam and arms. After 3 hours of drying time you have to wait the 4 days till you can go over it again with another coat.

 

More to come in the next few days

 

 

I

[Strictly_Derv 34]

good job.

 

Can I have it back? haha

[feb 47]

Great job!

[ally7th 7]

looks good

[SurGie 54]

Thanks for the comments guys.

 

A bit more has been done tonight >

 

 

 

The main tube should be finished within the next few days. I have to get the shock brackets sand blasted, i have grinder brushed them down but it could not get rid of all the rust etc. At least most of it has gone, so it wont take long to sandblast. They will be getting chrome plated like the end plates too.

 

As this was a diesel beam the TB's are the wrong size. So this weekend they will be out of the beam thats on the car now i have repaired Tom Fentons TB puller tool and fitted it with a commercial grade 14 end. Then fit the diesel TB's into the old seized beam as its replacement.

 

 

I must state that rallysteve had helped me get rid of the old rusty bearings and rubber mounts and its sleeve, thanks a lot Steve

[SurGie 54]

The TB's were removed from the cars beam today >

 

 

They were heated up for 30 min with oil spraying ever ten minutes, but no joy. The stub pin i replaced is rated at 14 commercial grade steel, the strongest you can get. The nut was turning until it had fully tensioned its self against the arm, then the seized TB started not to move as usual. The nut would not turn at all unlike when i used the 12.9 one previously. The 12.9 stub pin had stretched which felt like the TB was coming out, this lead to it snapping in half. I tried and tried to turn the nut but it would not move, so it was worth getting a few of these. The arm was left to cool down, then re-heated it up for 40 minutes. This time the seized TB started to come out. I think it was because it had been heated then cooled then re-heated. The NS one was easy to come out and all the splines on both bars were not rusty, just the odd bit and more rust was inside the beam side of the splines.

 

On the recon beam the splines have had a bit of paint to them, so i hope thats ok for the TB splines. I think it might stop them re rusting and seizing the splines again. There will be some moly grease put on them when refitting.

 

Here is the TB out of the beam that has seized on one side >

 

 

They are all very rusty being inside the beam for 20 years, so gave them a quick grinder brush down >

 

 

The beam still has its original type shocks and ride height, so i think its never been touched since new.

[Obey_R 23]

I didn't even know Surgie owned a 205, I though he just showed up to rant!

[Strictly_Derv 34]

Forgive me if i'm wrong but doesn't heating steel affect it's brittle-ness and softness of it? As I know knifemakers heat up the edges of knives till it it turns a certain colour to get it too the right hardness..

[SurGie 54]

Im not sure myself on that but it never got that hot anyways.

 

Been a bit slow with finishing painting the beam, iv got some yellow enamel spray paint and white primer. Once the inner wings have been primed after the stitch welding. After sealed up, i can move the car forward of the axle stands for room to spray the beam in.

 

Cool updates are coming soon

[SurGie 54]

Update time

 

Iv now finished painting the beam tube in white primer, then yellow enamel. The total amount of coats the tube has had in total is around 16 coats of zinc,white primer and yellow enamel. There is no doubt this will last longer than any powder coating and far cheaper, from the quotes iv been given. The feel of the tube is very durable, so much you can feel it.

 

 

 

 

I have also primed and painted the torsion bars in red enamel, i know the old rust dimples can still be seen. These will only be on for a while till i get some uprated 22mm smooth looking ones.

 

All thats left is fitting the grease nipples and seals. I've also got to get the other brackets sand blasted then plated then fitted back together, all in due coarse.

[SurGie 54]

Those pics above are pretty poor at showing the paint finish so i did some day light ones >

 

 

Here is the grease nipple hole showing how much its been coated >

 

 

 

What do you think of my efforts ?

Edited September 27, 2011 by SurGie

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

A lot of time put in there George!

Looking good, I should really give my beam a paint!

Edited September 27, 2011 by Paul_13

[Para 82 2 Cars]

Lot of time and attention to details. I like it ! It looks like you are aiming for taking every singla part off your car, clean in, paint it, prime it, coat it and put it back on the car ! Excellence work, definitely better then the brand new factory stuff. Beam looks great so far. What color will you paint the shafts ?

 

As for the grease nipples I don't believe they work. If you will look closer at your rear beam bearings, they all have seals. Those seals will not let the grease get inside. Personally I don't see a point of fitting them, even now Peugeot doesn't do them in new cars and I believe they would if that would give any benefits.

[SurGie 54]

Thanks Para & Paul 13

 

Yeah there has been a few discussions about whether they work or not.

 

My bearings are oilite so they dont have any seals around the edges. If there is a load of grease being pumped in from time to time, it will stop any water ingress or anything else from getting in even more. If the beam seals did let any water etc in that is, they are not the most perfect water seal. The oilite bearings when too much friction is applied to them seep oil out to stop them from friction & stiction.

 

I just hope the grease nipples fit in with the amount of enamel iv applied

 

Im painting the D/shafts in black with red enamel ends, the block attachment parts of the shafts, they still need a bit of work to finish off. I want to sort them out my self, going to a recon place, they just give you a set already done and they may not be OE spec.

[maxi 36 1 Cars]

Looks like youve done a brilliant job!

 

One thing I would say is that I too was told heat onto torsion bars is a big no no, the trailing arm should really take the majority of the heat if you are forced into using it. Its the fact that the metal heats up and then cools down, (expanding and then contracting) which breaks the corrosion/bond. Also, those torsion bar puller tools by Mr Fenton are absolutely excellent bits of kit but arent intended to remove absolutely siezed solid torsion bars. I personally use mine for resetting ride height of a beam I have rebuilt or has recently been apart. If the torsion bars are that siezed in, the beam needs to come off, be split from the opposite end and the torsion bar mated to trailing arm soaked in wd40/penetration fluid for at least an overnight period before any heat should go anywhere near it.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Maxi

[JRL 14 1 Cars]

I love seeing the yellow and red, most owners dont even know what colour these should be under 25 years of rust and dirt.

I saw a clear wax in practical classics mag to spray over chrome bumpers and sills etc like underseal and it dries hard and clear.

[SurGie 54]

Been a while since my thread was updated, been a little bit busy with the project, thanks for the comments guys

 

I know the tb pulling tool isn't meant for seized tb's, even with the high tensile stub, my almost 17 stone weight could not make it move or break the stub. All ive done is modified it so in this instance it wont keep breaking saving time, not to make the seized bar to come out as such. The thing is that when turning the bolt and it starts moving, then taking it off to check if the tb had started to move, it was hard to tell if it had moved, the small movement must have started in the old stub bolt.

 

This thread will appear on my project thread when time comes, so then the thread wont get too full of posts, slim it down a bit as it will be quite long as is.

 

George