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Hi, the bushes are the ones indicated by the arrows below.
The one on the RHS is not the one from Wren (which were recently made) but a small bush which holds the loose end of the torsion bar (looks a bit like 20-23-120 but much bigger).
The bush indicated by the arrow on the LHS looks the same as 20-26-118 but the hole is too small so annoyingly it won’t fit and no alterantive is available…so something has to be altered.
The differential looks heavy, I’m not sure if I will drop it as there’s no real reason to…
Barry and Wren told me that the trailing arm bushes which attached to the de Dion are not the same size as the front suspension upper bushes (they look the same). The options available are either to get a polybush and ream it out or machine down the de Dion pin to accept a standard DB5 upper wishbone bush (C3003).
The bushes which take the ends of the transverse torsion bars have not been identifiend yet but I wonder if they are the same as XKE upper control arm bushes (C8673)?
Great photos! If you pay that much attention to just the badges on the bonnet your car is going to be superb when finished.
I managed to remove most of the rear suspension on Friday, it was hard work.
Once the damper arms, links and straps have been removed simply allow the de Dion to drop and unbolt, it is VERY heavy. In order to remove the trailing arms a very heavy duty puller is required.
The bushes within the aluminium casings were in good condition. Only one UJ needs to be replaced out of everything I removed, I will replce all the bushes anyhow…
I spoke to Barry at Wren and he was very helpful, he’s restored three Rapides so knows his stuff. He told me that if you loosen the aluminium mounts, release the straps and lower the de Dion with a jack then it will come apart without a problem.
I will take a few photos when I do it and post them…
The trailing arms will need work, as you point out the two plates trap moisture and then push apart – mine have done this on a small section but just along the edge…
Thank you David, I wasn’t wasting my time after all! I had a good look at it all last night and tried to familiarise myself with the setup.
It’s a fascinating bit of engineering – massive structural members – I’ve never seen anything like it on a car. So the transverse bars are one in front of the other – so does that mean that the aluminim trailing arm mounts are offset by around 3″?
The torsion bars are mounted part way accross to the underside of the rear seat with arms which are adjustable? I can imaging that allowing the de dion to drop too much would shatter the alloy cases – I wonder how they prevented that from happening? – I hope to find out later…
Thanks for this David!
Hi Guy, have you got any further with your tyre research? I noticed that LR146 has Pirelli P3000’s on the original steel rims… I worked out that the original tyre size of 70-10 15″ equates to either 215 80 15 or 225 75 15 – both of which are very close to the original. The only radial tyres I can find in this size are either for a van or a 4×4…
They did refund me without a problem but a bit annoying that even though I have pointed out thier error they still show the same badge in the photo. The one you get is probably from an Alfa – it’s not the same hence (I guess) the cheaper price.
‘…I need a part from my car, how much is it please?’
‘About ?5, what car is it for?’
‘…an Aston Martin’
‘Did I say ?5, I meant ?500…’Sounds like the end result will be beautiful – shame it won’t be seen! Yes I would recommend the paint – it really is very good and the colour of the carb renew is very close to the original. I think it’s an epoxy mix so it’s ultra hard, thin coat, quick drying and chemical resistant. Bit sad but I love a good quaility bit of paint!
Hi Simon, very helpful. On one hand it is wonderful how tightly made the bonnet release mechanism is…on the other, when moisture gets in these mechanisms seize like nothing else!
How will you fit brass bushes and where will you get them from? Have you used Eastwood paints yet? They are excellent in giving an original highly resistant finish which also drys in literally minutes…I would recommend Carb Renew 2 for most thingls like this – buy a can, you won’t be sorry!
Hi Simon, the Kevin Kay ones are not correct…but the photo is. The HWM ones are the right ones.
Reassembled more of the front suspension today, all went well, just found one more damaged item – upper cup bearing – easy to replace. Really enjoyed this part of the project, it’s nice working with clean / new parts – a bit like Lego for adults. It’s also very satisfying making something which was so crusty like new again…or heading that way!
Just to give an idea, the cost to me of rebuilding the front suspension including brakes and shocks has been around ?2-3K. This is actually very good as potentially you could easily spend two or three times that if all the parts needed renewing. Fortunately for me this area had obviously been worked on fairly recently (mileage wise) and the low mileage of the car helps too.
Next job is the steering rack and column…
It’ll be quite a while until the front is ready… The blasting was done by a guy near Witney who owns at least one Lagonda 3.0, his details can be obtained from Oxford Industrial Finishes (oif) who did the powder coating. The blasting was not done as well as it could have been but then the parts were very grease and dirt encrusted. OIF are really excellent and actually quite cheap / good value – 5 stars!
As you know I love my workshop, a place of order and some nice tools…the best of which is my Bosch 10.8v sheet metal cutter, I cannot recommend one of these enough if you have metal to cut.