Again. my personal preference for the shock absorbers is the Koni heavy-duty adjustable type. As with the front, these cannot be adjusted on the car so use the same setting as the front. My advice again would be a maximum of two half turns from the softest setting.

The springs again pose the greatest problem. The stiffness and ride height should be compatible with the values used on the front suspension. So, if 200lb f/in springs were used on the front, then use 190/2001bf/in springs on the rear Ride height is the next problem and the comments made in relation to the front suspension still apply. My preference being 1” lowered. One word of caution -I understand that some 1.6 to 2” lowered springs need straps to hold them to the trailing arms. I have discussed this with my MoT man and he would be very reluctant to pass springs retained in this way. Remember, when the car is being driven hard the suspension is at

full stretch and that is when the spring can drop out if it is too short -the decision is yours!

Now that all the parts have been assembled, it is time to carry out the work. I have again endeavoured to put it into chronological order for simplicity .

1) Disconnect the battery -earth lead first.

2) Loosen the nuts on both rear wheels.

3) FHC -remove rear parcel shelf. DHC -remove vertical carpets in hood stowage area

4) DHC & FHC -remove fuel filler cover inside boot (rhs).

5) FHC -remove vertical trim panel in boot if still fitted

6) Remove the three screws securing the top shock absorber access plate on each side. Then remove the two plates.

7) The top nuts on the shock absorber can now be seen -they may be Nilocks or two lock nuts. Slacken both but DO NOT REMOVE.

8) Jack up the car under the centre of the axle (hopefully a trolley jack is available).

9) Support the car on axle stands at the jacking points -not on the trailing arms or axle.

10) Lower the jack so that the axle stands take the weight of the car but leave the jack in place to take the weight of the axle. Remove the road wheels.

11) Now the tricky bit -undo the bottom nuts securing the shock absorbers to the axle. This may be easy or hard depending on whether the nuts have seized. WD4O and mole grips or a Stilson wrench may be required

12) With the bottom nuts removed return to the top and remove the top nuts.

13) Gently lower the axle with the jack. At its lowest point both the springs and shock absorbers can be removed. DO NOT REMOVE THE JACK

14) Check the upper and lower insulator rubbers and replace if necessary .

15) Read the instructions on how to adjust the shock absorbers and set them up to your requirements. Note: Spax adjustable shock absorbers can be adjusted in situ (but on the rear only).

16) Fit both shock absorbers to their top mounts making sure that the rubber bushes are correctly positioned leave the nuts slack.

17) Position the springs in their bottom cups.

18) Slowly raise the jack under the axle until the springs can be located in their upper mounts. Whilst doing this ensure that the lower tree ends of the shock absorbers do not foul the axle or trailing arms.

19) Push the shock absorbers up until they will fit into the retaining holes in the axle. Position the rubber bushes correctly and fit the retaining nuts.

20) Tighten up all the nuts on the shock absorbers and again check that both springs and shocks are correctly positioned. If dust covers are supplied with the shocks, first liberally smear copper grease over the bottom threads and nuts, then fit the covers.

21) Refit the road wheels, raise the jack sufficiently to remove the axle stands and then lower the jack.

22) Reverse operations 6) to 1) and the car will be ready for the road. Don't forget to check tighten the wheel nuts again.

One part of the suspension story that is obviously missing is the trailing arms and upper links. As this is really an article on its own I  will leave it until next time. In any case, if the shock absorbers have been difficult to remove, I think that leaving the arms until later would be a good move