1968 E Type Roadster - Arizona Koolcat IRS rebuild, Team CJ upgrades

Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows: Rebuild IRS, upgrade with Team CJ shocks, springs, System Bronze, etc, address cooling problems.

Although this project has now been completed, I have added the following written and photographic explanation in answer to your questions regarding the adjustment of the rear shocks.

The first photograph shows the ride height (rear) at which we have set your car following the IRS rebuild. It would of course be very easy to raise the rear end by turning the spring perches at the bottom of your new springs. Conversely, you could lower your car (by about 3/4 inch) by screwing the spring perch down towards the bottom of the threads you can see machined into the body of the shock absorber - although doing so would of course make for an extremely low ride height and provide impractically low ground clearance for a road car.

Where an extremely low ride height is desired - as for example in the case of some racing or heavily modified E Types - we offer a 9 inch spring which allows the user to set the height approximately 2 inches lower than standard.

The black plate you can see in photograph # 2 is the perch and the silver locking plate is the thing which secures the perch in place following adjustment.

Note: A special tool is required to adjust the ride height settings as described above.

With regard to your question concerning the damping adjustment of the shocks: you can vary the damping in a matter of seconds by simply turning the knob at the top of each shock absorber. As a base line setting we currently have them adjusted at number 3 on your car. Number 1 equates (approximately) to the damping of a standard equipment Girling shock, increasing in gradual increments all the way to number 6 - which is obviously a very firm setting. The third photograph in the series below shows the knob and its clearly marked adjustment levels.

If you have any further questions on this subject - or any other aspect of the work we have performed on your car - please don't hesitate to contact us.

We expect your car to be collected and delivered back to you in Arizona during the coming week.

Best regards from all at Team CJ.

In the following photographs I have tried to show you why it was necessary to resleeve your rear calipers during the course of the IRS rebuild. In fact the condition of the cylinders was marginal but with the assembly spread across the work bench there was no point taking a chance that the old calipers would adequately seal once the IRS was back in the car. The possibility of leaking calipers after a full Team CJ IRS rebuild is not a chance we are prepared to take!

Unfortunately it is very difficult to show the the pitting and cylinder wall damage in the photographs, although you should be able to see what concerned us when you view the enlarged images.

I couldn't resist a little 'before and after' photograph!

Looks like I lied on yesterday's update report - your IRS assembly will be finished today, not early next week.

The following photographs show John Claydon installing the Team CJ System Bronze bushings and assembling the rear end generally. The bronze thrust washers you see locate the wishbone arm within the cage. In one of the pictures you can see the larger 2 1/8" calipers and the Team CJ shocks/uprated springs being installed.

Lots of progress to report for you today. As you can see from the photographs below, we have already selected a replacement cage for you, rebuilt the hubs and halfshafts and are in the process of checking out the differential itself.

First (mechanical) impressions of the differential are very good, although it obviously had terrible leaks from all the seals. While Lee services the diff John has been busy replacing all the half shaft U Joints, wheel bearings, radius arm bushings, water throwers, etc. With any luck we should have the IRS completely rebuilt for you early next week.

An interesting point is that your car had 2 1/8" caliper fitted at the rear, rather than the stock 1 3/4" units. Unfortunately the cylinders are fairly pitted, so we will be resleeving and rebuilding them for you over the next few days. We see no reason to revert back to the smaller brake calipers - this is a nice little 'period correct' upgrade that you have.

The following photographs show the IRS being removed from your car - not a pretty sight, I'm afraid!

In one of the pictures you will see a novel use of a wine bottle cork, acting as a plug seal in one of the hub carriers. You will also see the damage where someone decided to butcher the cage in order to get at the brake calipers.

The good news is that we removed and tested the radiator yesterday and sent it out to be flushed - and it passed the test with flying colours. The rad is not the source of your heating problem.

More udates later in the week.
 

As you can see, your E Type arrived safely at CJ over the weekend. John Claydon has given the car an initial check over and will be your point of contact throughout the project.

We do not like the look of the aftermarket fan that you currently have installed and feel that (at the very least) it really needs the assistance of some sort of shroud. That said, we suspect that your over heating problems of late may be caused by a blockage in the radiator - something we will be investigating for you today.

Over the next few days we will remove the IRS assembly and begin the rebuilding process.

Thank you for entrusting the 'Koolcat' to the crew at Team CJ!