The rear end work has consisted of two efforts so far: 1) assembling the rear brakes and caliper hanger brackets brackets; 2) working on the 3-link parts.
The rear brakes have proven to be a bit of a problem. I assembled one set and was not able to get the brake pads in the caliper to fit over the rotor. The other brake set worked just fine. It turns out that the piston on one of the calipers was protruding about 1/8”; as such, the gap between the pads was less than the rotor thickness. I posted a question on the Factory Five forum on how to fix the problem and got some quick replies stating that I needed to get a caliper service tool to screw the piston in so that it was fully retracted. I purchased a Harbor Freight kit (#63264) and it worked just fine.
The other difficulty, which I haven’t resolved, is getting the brake pads in place using the brake pad clips. At first I couldn’t figure out how the clips were oriented on the caliper (the is no instruction from Factory Five; in fact, they are not mentioned) and the clip placement is different than for the front calipers. The rear brakes are 1996 - 2004 Mustang GT calipers. The clips don’t ‘snap’ into place as on the front calipers and I’ve found it incredibly frustrating trying to get the pads / clips in place without one or the other popping out. It can’t be that hard so must be doing something incorrectly.
I also painted the caliper hanger brackets with POR-15.
Here are some of the ‘unusual’ tools that I’ve found to be of help so far:
- A deburring kit (I deburr all of the drilled holes, the edges of spacers, etc.)
- A Dremel set (for small space / limited grinding)
- A pin punch set (useful for positioning spacer and nuts)
- Snap ring pliers (I purchased a Lisle combination set with interchangeable pins and it has worked quite well)
So far:
- The lower control arms are in place on the frame and ready to be attached to the axle;
- The rear shocks are on the frame;
- The upper link is attached to the axle ‘banana bracket’ and ready for attachment to the frame.
- The Panhard bar frame has been removed in preparation for attaching the axle.
My next steps are to move the axle into position (with the help of some friends), attach the lower control arms and upper link and then support the axle with a floor jack while attaching the rear shocks. I’ll then reattach the Panhard bar frame, add the Panhard bar and then attach the rotors and brakes.