Yesterday I repositioned the chassis, moving it deeper into the garage, back from the garage door and away from the body support stand so I can get access to reassemble the rear end components. I placed the rear of the chassis on jack stands and moved the differential into position.
After doing this task I retrieved the rear shock absorbers (they need to be installed before the rear axle U-bolts go in) and realized I did not "appropriately" surface prep the parts that need to be painted. More clean up ensued. They brackets etc were fairly clean and good shape so not much clean up was required. The shocks seem to be in good working order. I made a note to replace the hydraulic fluid before the body is reinstalled.
I reassembled the left hand side shock absorber hardware and did a bit of Chassis Black touch up of the bolts. The assembly looks clean. I did a trial fit of the attachment bracket on the lower right wishbone that has yet to be installed and everything worked well. I seem to have temporarily misplaced my new upper shock absorber grommets etc so some rooting through my parts supply is in order.
I cleaned up the steering pitman arm and the rear axle straps. The straps look a lot better than the rusted hulks I started with. Some more primer was applied to fasteners and the right hand shock absorber attachment bracket. I threw some more fasteners into the tumbler and they all came out clean and shiny.
I made an enquiry with a local brake shop to get get a quote on removing the rear axle hubs. Any way I slice it, it looks like about $100 per side is in order. I am still trying to decide how to address this task???.. should I use the local shop or take them to my Triumph specialist? More pondering is in order today...there are pros and cons of both approaches.
I was curious about the cost to have a specialist rebuild the front suspension so I checked with one of my sources. Labor costs for a mechanical rebuild is around $2000-a show quality finish etc:$3000...plus parts.. wow...I was surprised. I won't have a show quality finish but it will be presentable...after going through the clean up/rebuild process I can see how the hours add up...
A good day in the garage. It is very satisfying to see paint applied to cleaned up components...
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