Rear shocks

Thank you.

Do the Berg folks actually work on customer cars?  I dunno....   Here's what I found:

I gave them a call and left a message. Thanks for all you kind help.

Popee

@Gordon Nichols posted:

Do the Berg folks actually work on customer cars?  I dunno....   Here's what I found:

GENE BERG ENTERPRISES 1725 North Lime Street Orange, California 92865 OPEN MON-THURSDAY 9AM-5.30PM PST Information and Orders: (714) 998-7500

That's GBE. The "boys" (Gary, Doug, and Clyde) each have their own thing, as adults do.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

I cannot recommend a shop near you.  I thought someone would recommend Anthony out your way, but I believe that he's hours away from you.  Maybe another SoCal member can help with a closer shop.

So first, the bad news:  There is not enough clearance between the body and the rear torsion bar cover to remove the bar in order to replace the rubber bushings.

Now, the good news:  You can pull the bar out far enough to remove the old bushings by cutting them like a big "C" and pop them right off.  Then, you cut the new bushings cleanly so that they open up like a "C" as well, open them around the bar then glue them together with Super Glue (I'm not kidding) and position them such that the glued separation is at either 3 or 9 o'clock and push them home.  I did this back in 2008 and they've been great ever since.

All of that is covered in this post from 2008:

https://www.speedsterowners.co...128#2135445019040128

You'll need to buy an inner and outer bushing.  Please try to find German ones.  Yes, they're twice the price of Asian copies, but they'll last a long time and they're made right.  https://www.bugcity.com/shop/s...=torsion+bar+bushing

You should buy the bushings and give them to your mechanic so you know what's in there.  German ones should cost about $10 bucks each so $20/side.  Do both sides, too, because the other side is probably loose, too.

Good luck, Popee!

Actually if I'm not mistaken with a swingaxle car you can remove the whole thing without cutting. The IRS suspension is the tricky one because it has the tube that sticks out past the cover plate.

@Popee posted:

Lots of part numbers on the bushings, do you know which ones I need? 1967 chassis.

If I remember correctly for the four you will need two of the round ones that go inside and two of the ones with the little nubs that go in the covers or outside.

@Stan Galat, I am a little surprised that none of the boys stayed involved with GBE.

@Michael McKelvey posted:

@Stan Galat, I am a little surprised that none of the boys stayed involved with GBE.

I’ve wondered about that myself. According to what I’ve seen published their mom Dee (Dolores) is a sweet lady. Maybe they wanted to strike on their own or there’s other family business that we don’t know about.

@Popee posted:

Well guys it looks like I have bad torsion bar bushings on the right side. Can anyone recommend a good shop in the Orange area that can do the replacement?

Here’s a long shot:

My second winter in NYC I thought I had a bad tie rod, sway bar bushing, or ball joint on the front of my Smart. Took it into the shop and the tech told me all was fine, but in the winter the cold rubber kind of sticks and lets got with a bang. The noise always went away after 20 miles or so. Cure was spraying the sway bar bushing with some food-grade Silicone* Spray.

7 years/1200 miles seems like way too soon for a bushing to deteriorate, unless Greg built your car with a 50 year old pan without going through it. (Which I doubt) It might be worth investing in a $10 aerosol and dosing all your rubber bits before you tear into your suspension.

* Food grade because it doesn’t have petroleum-based propellant in it that# not so good for rubber bits.

Thanks for the tip. It’s something else and only happens over bumps, in and out of drive ways. Going in tomorrow to see if we can find the issue. I’ll let you know what is determined.

Popee

There is a horizontal 1/4" body to frame steel plate that should have a bolt going through it, I've ran into some of these being loose,broke or missing, you'll get a low clunk sound like a loose shock. You can check with a crow bar to see if it moves up and down  Also check the three transmission mounts.

I’ll check it out. Thank you

Where is that frame to body plate located? Any pictures?

Think this is one referred to -

Oh, ok, the one that bolts to the top of the shock tower.

@Impala, the top of the shock tower is not what Wolfgang shows.

It's near the top "near" where shock mounts - Here's shown with the VW body on it.

Looking left into the driver's side rear wheel well, next the vertical 2 x 2" that's behind the door jamb is the 1/4" x 4-5" horizontal chassis to body mount plate .

Here’s a thought, I’ve gotten on the back bumper and jumped up and down and can hear the noise so I think I can rule out motor and transmission mounts. It’s definitely in the suspension. I also don’t think it’s a body mount issue.

Thanks for the picture. I’ll check it.

Mine doesn’t have that mounting by the shock.

@Popee posted:

Here’s a thought, I’ve gotten on the back bumper and jumped up and down and can hear the noise so I think I can rule out motor and transmission mounts. It’s definitely in the suspension. I also don’t think it’s a body mount issue.

Your motor doesn't have any mounts. It is hung off the transmission with 2 studs and 2 bolts. The transmission has 3 mounts: two on the bottom of the bellhousing and one on the transmission nosecone, stuffed up in the tunnel by the rear seats where you're hearing your noise.

You do have a swing axle chassis, correct?

If you do, the motor mounts absolutely matter. The rear suspension is pivots on the transmission. Basically, the transmission IS half the suspension. The other half is torsion bar bushings, hooked to the trailing arm(also called a swing plate or arm). The third leg of this triangle is the rear shock, controlling the motion.

If you have IRS, the bouncing up and down could move the trans, the CV joints pushing and pulling the transmission.