Yes Another Rear Beam Question

[Atari Boy 11]

I strongly suspect that my rear beam will note cope with me lowering it, which I am keen to do.

 

Right, here is my plan.

 

Buy an un-seized rear beam and replace all the relevant bearings seals.

Then whip my one off my car and put the refurbished one on, then lower it.

Is this a sensible idea? I want to sort my rear beam out quickly yet cheaply whilst trying to do as much work myself.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Jonny

Edited September 13, 2007 by Atari Boy

[pug_ham 245 3 Cars]

That should be a fine plan.

 

Definately better than just stripping the one thats on your car now & finding its dead so your car is off the road until you get a replacement & then if your present one is Ok you can refurbish it & sell it once you've done your car.

 

You can set the ride height on the beam with it off the car easily enough if you know how much you want to lower it so you don't need to set it up once & then adjust it again to lower it once you've fitted it.

 

Graham.

[Atari Boy 11]

Okay, sounds like a good idea then. Is it quite stright forward to to refurb an un-siezed beam then?

Time I have, super skills less so.

 

Jonny

[pug_ham 245 3 Cars]

Yes, refurbing an unseized beam is straight forward enough.

 

Follow the rebuild guide by Wurzel on the main website & you shouldn't have any problems imo.

 

Graham.

[kanyeost 0]

Go for it; I bought a 1996 diesel rear beam that had done 60 odd thousand miles and it was almost mint inside, changed the bearings and seals, swapped the ARB & torsion bars for the GTI ones, put my drums on and it was all good.

 

Maybe a bit more trouble though if yours is a 1.9 with the discs and all.

[max0 5]

The guide is very good. Budget around £180 as you may need 2 new shafts.

 

Have fun - and if you get stuck there are loads of people on here who can help

 

Andy

[Atari Boy 11]

Thanks chaps for the advice. I didn't realise that I can use a non GTi rear beam. I have a 1.6 so whilst ideally would like to upgrade to a disc set up, it would not be a deal breaker for me.

I ave seen refurb kits on ebay for c. £80 are these okay or should I go to a main dealer?

I have down loaded the guide on the main website and it is very clear so fingers crossed.

 

thanks again

 

Jonny

[max0 5]

I ave seen refurb kits on ebay for c. £80 are these okay or should I go to a main dealer?

 

Personly id go to pug as then you can order what you need. I was lucky as i didnt need new shafts which are the expensive parts. About £70ish sounds right for all the bearing, seals, bolts etc and the rest is for the shafts (about £80ish each)

[pug_ham 245 3 Cars]

Get the eveything (bearings etc) directly from Pug, they are cheaper than the ebay listings afaik anyway.

 

You can get the radius arm ashafts from GSF again for about £39 + vat iirc.

 

Graham.

[Atari Boy 11]

Okay, this is good; I have a plan forming.

A few more questions if you dont mind?

 

I am happy with the brake set up that I have which is standard except some OMP pads up front. I use the car as a weekend hack and track day toy, although I am unfortunately not on the track every month. The question is whilst I am sorting the rear beam should I try and upgrade to disks all round or even a 309 rear beam?

 

The second question is that if I stay with a 1.6 beam as a replacement can I use a non GTi one and swap the roll bars over etc?

 

The final question is how easy is it to get a rear beam off a donor car? There dont seem to a huge choice available so I may have to hit the crappies although there will be no way of knowing if it is seized or not.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Jonny

[All Praise The GTI 3]

hi mate ive just put a 309 beam on my gti and was going to put the 1.9 one on here and ebay but i not sure if its ok-one side moves ok the other is quite stiff. either way i want it outta my way so pm me if you interested. either way youl have the brake setup(will just need handbrake cables and brake lines i think

[pug_ham 245 3 Cars]

If you want to use a base model 205 beam & keep the drums you will need to swap your 1.6 drums across as they are wider & the wheel cylinders also. The torsion bars & anti roll bar will fit straight onto any 205 beam unless you get one from a really early car.

 

Base 205 drum's have a built in compensator afaik in the wheel cylinder which isn't there on the 1.6 drums.

 

The beam is held on by just six nuts & should be easy to get off the car, have a ready through the article on the main website on swapping beams to give you an idea of whats involved. The base models don't usually have the added brace that runs under the fuel tank which is fitted to the 205 but I haven't one fitted on mine either.

 

Once the donor car is jacked so you can get the beam off you will be able to check if it is worthwhile progressing & actually removing it either by trying to move the radius arm. It should move with very little effort, if its seized or stiff kepp looking imo.

 

Graham.

[max0 5]

Get the eveything (bearings etc) directly from Pug, they are cheaper than the ebay listings afaik anyway.

 

You can get the radius arm ashafts from GSF again for about £39 + vat iirc.

 

Graham.

 

Hi Graham please could you tell me the product number as i cant see them? Is the quality ok?

 

Cheers

 

Andy

 

*edit found them cheers

Edited September 18, 2007 by max0