Stripped My Old Gti Rear Beam At The Weekend - Pleasantly Surprised&#3

[SweetBadger 93]

I had a couple of hours spare last Sunday so I though I'd have a go at pulling apart the original rear beam of my old 205.

 

Beam was off a 1992 205, had never been apart or lowered but had done about 130k and about 10 trackdays. Still moved freely but I was expecting it to show signs of age / wear.

 

I was not expecting it to come apart without a fight, but armed with one of Tom Fenton's torsion bar puller tools, a lump hammer and a blow torch it really wasn't that difficult to get the bars out! Bonus! I found that most effective way to get the bars out was to wind some tension on the puller tool then shock the torsion bars with a lump hammer, then repeat.

 

Anyway, it's in great condition! Stub axles just have a polished surface from the bearings (no pitting or indentation), and the bearings look like they could be repacked with grease and reused! (not that I would do that of course).

 

Pics:

 

 

 

 

 

The car spent the early half of it's life being driven around by my Gran, so had an easy life, but I more than made up for that when I got my hands on it!

 

Is this a rarity these days, or is it just that most beams have been lowered and pulled apart at some point in their lives and therefore had seals disturbed / let moisture in etc...

[Tom Fenton 1,536]

The beam shaft shows signs of the rollers in the first picture, from experience that will measure up under spec and would need replacing. That bearing looks like the rollers have flattened off to me and also need changing. Rest of it looks in good order though.

[SweetBadger 93]

 

Ahh right, I couldn't feel any indentations / low spots, but that's not the most scientific way of telling!

 

Anyone know what the shaft diameter size / tolerances are? Have done a search but the best info I could find is a measurement from a shaft in good nic:

 

Width 21.87mm (0.861 ins)

Diameter 53.17mm (2.093 ins)

Radius arm shaft is 47mm (1.85 ins).

[petert 578]

You could put it back together with new bearings and sell it, but there's no way you'd put it back together without new shafts if you're planning to keep it.