Rear subframe and diff removal

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Barry.b

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Hi Guys
I am looking for some advice please.
I recently bought a load of parts for the rear of my car and I am planning on replacing all rubber parts on my rear subframe and differential.
So all new bushes and mounts and new shock absorbers and new diff seals and new drive shaft boots.
My question is where should I support the car while I am doing all of this. ?
I normally use the subframe to jack up the car , but I can’t use axle stands underneath the subframe now as I need to remove the subframe.

Oh and also with regards to the diff , my car is a 3.0csi so I believe it should be a limited diff, are new friction plates available somewhere and is it easy to replace them ? Or even just check them for wear . I have never worked on a limited slip diff before.
Any tips would be great thanks.
 
Hi Barry, here's what I did.

I used wood blocks under the jacking point - but you do need to make sure you place them far enough "outward" to still let the subframe drop out.

I replaced all the rubbers, bushes etc. on mine too - and I'd say it's worth doing the wheel bearings as well as the grease in those will probably be past its best.

I'm not sure if all CSis had an LSD - but I did find one in mine, so that was a pleasant surprise (for a change), but I didn't take the diff apart and just replaced the output seals - those are easy and there's hardly any dismantling involved - I figured if I went further there was a chance of disturbing something that would upset the diff.
SDC14649.JPG
 
Hi there
Thanks for the advice
I might just do the seals on my diff also. I too don’t want to upset anything inside the diff itself.
And the wooden blocks underneath the jacking points seems good too.
Can I ask do you need to remove the hand break cables from inside the car first or do they get removed at the brake assembly end first ?
Is it easier to separate the half shafts first and leave the diff bolted to the car then remove the subframe, then go back in and remove the diff ?
 
I'll confess that I didn't fully understand/investigate the handbrake cable set up, so cut mine to get the subframe out - I hadn't realised that the metal furrule at the end had rusted itself onto the metal guide tubes attached to the shell until I tried to fit the new cables! That was why I couldn't get mine out!

When I fitted the replacements I had to shorten the metal tubes by about 1/4 inch too, to get the new cables to reach the handbrake lever - I'm sure someone else mentioned this? I also rebuilt/upgraded the handbrake lever in mine as it was falling apart.

I dismantled the rear end of mine piecemeal as it seemed preferable to be able to pull against the weight of the car to undo the driveshaft bolts and (especially) the hub nuts - those are tight! I used a piece of 4x2 across the wheel studs to lock the hub flange while loosening everything off.

I reassembled mine piecemeal too, diff and subframe first then the trailing arms, brakes, driveshafts etc. If I had more space I might have tried to assemble off the car and fit as a complete assembly, but I was doing this single handed in a small garage, and it's hard not to trash the disc shields if you're moving this around as one large assembly on a trolley jack.
 
Okay
Thanks again for the advice, I don’t have a lot of room either and will also be working on my own, so I am tempted to do it as you suggested , piece by piece.
I hope once I start working on her , that she won’t be on blocks for too long as even though she has never actually run since I think something like 1985 at least when she has all 4 wheels on I can at least roll it around if I need to.
Anyway thanks again !
 
I was doing a bit of welding on her last year , and when I finished the weld and raised my welding shield I could see smoke bellowing out of her and I didn’t know what had caught fire on her .
It turns out the earth clamp from my welder had fallen from where it was and was resting on one of my rear swing arms.
The current was travelling through one of my handbrake cables , which caused it to glow red hot and it melted its outer plastic / rubber sheathing.
So I think at least one of my cables needs replacing anyway.
 
Hi Barry, if your diff is lsd, there will be a stamped S on the rear lower right side of the casing along with numbers that give you the ratio. They also had a large S painted on top, but often gone by now.
You can test the slip by puting one flange in a vice, and turning the other flange with a socket. If its a 25% lsd, most likely on your car, l it should turn with about 30ftlb. That test is not valid for 40% diffs as they engage differently, no static preload. Plates for these (25%) are not easy to find.
 
wrt to the lifting question, see some hints here:

Best lift points to hold your E9 up in the air

I've seen this question come a few times over the past years so I though it could be helpful to others to gather our combined wisdom on this topic here. I will be expanding this thread with pics and explanations during my coffee breaks and boring meetings, so it ain't finished yet. Members may...
e9coupe.com e9coupe.com
 
Ian C said:
Hi Barry, if your diff is lsd, there will be a stamped S on the rear lower right side of the casing along with numbers that give you the ratio. They also had a large S painted on top, but often gone by now.
You can test the slip by puting one flange in a vice, and turning the other flange with a socket. If its a 25% lsd, most likely on your car, l it should turn with about 30ftlb. That test is not valid for 40% diffs as they engage differently, no static preload. Plates for these (25%) are not easy to find.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice on checking the diff, I would never have thought to use a torque wrench to check it .
It could save me a lot of time and possible hassle , as now I can check it without disturbing any of the internals.
Thanks a mill !!
 
eriknetherlands said:
wrt to the lifting question, see some hints here:

Best lift points to hold your E9 up in the air

I've seen this question come a few times over the past years so I though it could be helpful to others to gather our combined wisdom on this topic here. I will be expanding this thread with pics and explanations during my coffee breaks and boring meetings, so it ain't finished yet. Members may...
e9coupe.com e9coupe.com
Click to expand...
Thanks for
All of your advice on the lifting points.
Putting them all together in one post is really helpful.
Obviously the stakes are high when lifting our coupes .
To get her off the ground safely and not cause any damage is a bit daunting !
And then also to be able to work under her safely is obviously really important too.
Thanks again !!!
 
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