Jensen-Healey Rear Suspension Improvements

Healey Journal

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The car performed well but improvements were possible, and the old suspension did seem to be showing its age....

Any 30+ year old car would probably benefit from new shocks- so they were the minimalist starting point. Looking at the left rear trailing arm showed that its bushing wasn't holding the arm straight as it should, so a new set of bushings were added to the shopping list. In cornering the car tended to lean a lot, but this was a common complaint even when these cars were new. So a somewhat stronger set of springs would help with that problem, aided with anti-sway bars both front and rear. The parts were sourced from a variety of vendors: Delta Motorsports in the USA provided the anti-sway bars, the Jensen Healey Preservation Society (also in the USA) the bushings, and Martin Shirley here in the UK provided the shocks and 20% uprated springs. The result should be improved handling.

The whole upgrade "Kit" is shown on the left. In addition to the new performance parts these were supplemented by all new hardware. I obtained a set of upper and lower arms from another scrapped car and used them for my rebuild- allowing mine to stay intact and useable for all but the change-over.

The major structural components- the rear axle, upper and lower suspension arms and otherwise unavailable mounting brackets for the springs were sand blasted and painted with an anti-rust primer and overcoated with gloss black paint.

The most difficult part was the removal of the old bushings. The ones in the axle refused to move for my homemade bushing press. The ones in the suspension arms were similarly very difficult but I dealt with all those problems by visiting a friendly local garage that pressed them out for me and the new ones in.

Once the rear suspension was completely removed the underside of the body was cleaned and then closely inspected for rust and other problems. Any rust or corrosion was removed and those spots and any scratches primed and over-painted. The whole bottom of the car was then treated with a penetrating rust inhibitor and then Dinitrol rust preventative sealant was applied.

The first stage was mounting the upper trailing arms. Access to their mounting points would be difficult with the springs in place, so these were done first.

The second step was mounting the springs to their upper attachment point. The old rubber mounts looked bad but cleaned up very nicely with solvent and hard scrubbing, and a coat of rubber paint made them look like new. These were then fit to the springs with their upper bracket, positioned and then the lower bracket and bolt torqued down. The old assemblage was held together by a metal bushing that had to be ground off, and since new ones were not available the bush was left out, without apparent difficulty. Once the springs were attached at the top the lower trailing arms were attached to the body at their front, and then the lower spring bracket was used to attached the spring to the lower arm.

At that point the axle was lined up with its attachment points and first connected to the upper arms; then to the lower arms. Once the axle was attached then the shock absorbers were installed, first at the top bracket and then on the axle bracket.

New rear brake shoes were mounted with new slave cylinders and a new steel braided-cover hose between the axle brake lines and the body line. The painted brake drums were then put on along with the powdercoated wheels and new tires and it was put back on the ground.

The rear anti-sway bar was then trial fit using "C"- clamps to fix it in position. The necessary holes were drilled in the lower suspension arms and it was bolted into place.

Once all the parts were assembled and properly positioned, the car was put on the ground and all the fasteners torqued to their proper tightness.