T-bar bushings

["Fetsch, Ralph" <Ralph.Fetsch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I would have to respectfully disagree with Ed. It is a lot easier to put the
spacers back in then to have to unbolt the shocks, put a floor jack under the
rear of the trailing arms and let them down on both sides, let the springs
fall out and slide the differential over, and then put it all back together. I
did it this way once and my way the last time. I had the T-bar out and back
in, in less then two hours, including put the car up on jack stands. Plus if
the straps are old you take the change of tearing them since the differential
has to hang on them and then they are stretched to the side.

If you use a drift pin to line up the spacer with the holes the bolts will go
right in, they are pointed on the end, at least mine are on my 91 Spider. If
they don't quite line up you can put one bolt in and then raise or lower the
differential which will cause the ends of the T-bar to swivel and the holes
line up. Another trick is to tie the spacers on with string and then remove
the string before you tighten up the bolts.

By gluing the spacers together you reduce the chances of dirt, water and crap
getting into the bushing and help to deteriorate the rubber in the bushing as
well as rust the shaft.

Cordova Ralph
1991 Spider Veloce W/Automatic Transmission
1964 Giulia 1600 Spider


Ed wrote;

I would recommend that you do not unbolt the T-bar where it connects to the
body. It can be a bear to get back with the spacers in place. I suggest that
you uncouple the axle from the trailing arms and uncouple the diff from the
T-bar. Then pull the axle one way and push the diff the other way. You
should be able to get the bolt on the diff to clear the hole in the T-bar.
Fit the new bushings and use sufficient effort to get the bolt back through
the hole. I am a bit of a weakling and I managed it with the aid of rope. It
is possible that it would have been easier if I had uncoupled the driveshaft
from the diff.

Also, you don't need to glue the split spacer washers. They should be a
tight fit.

Ed Prytherch

Ralph wrote:

>I think the easiest way would be to unbolt the T-bar at the sides and
differential and swivel it down and slide it to the side. To do this put the
rear of the car on jack stands under the jacking points as high as you can
get
it. Then support the axle with a jack or more jack stands. Put the weight of
the car on the jack stands under the jacking points. The higher you get the
car the more room you will have to work.

Remove both rear wheels and remove the three bolts on each side and the
differential nut. Slide it to the side and remove and replace the bushing.
As
they say, assemble in reverse order.

NOTE: The spacers only fit one way, so pay attention how you slide them back
in or the holes won't match up. This is also a good time to replace the
rubber
spaces between the end bushings and the T-Bar. These can be split, slipped
over the bar and glued together.
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided