Had a few days on the suspension parts, probably the muckiest job I have done for a while and glad it is coming to an end. Stripped out all the bolts and just have the outer races of the bearings left to get out with the press which I should get done over the next few days and the inserts to remove from the rear struts (I have new front struts). A few comments on findings.
In general the springs and pads are reusable, though the rear spring plates are all rusted out as per normal.
The brake discs look to be almost new with no obvious wear ridges on them, so if anyone is looking for a cheap set of discs let me know as I have new EBC ones ready to fit.
The front and rear subframes are in pretty good condition which is a positive.
The wishbones are also ok with the original bush metal surround well rusted into the main body. I have ordered the PU set from Mark which uses these metal bodies so will leave well alone.
Removing the rear inner wheel bearing carrier was simple as the hub has two small holes to allow it to be pushed out. The front hubs were another matter as there is no obvious way of removing them. Brute force did not help, nor heat, so careful use of a grind stone was the end result followed by a cold chisel to crack the carrier. Not ideal, but needs must.
Removing the nut from the top of the struts proved to be fairly straight forward unlike my battle with the fronts on the Spider. Used a breaker bar which gave enough grunt. All the strut inserts are completely shot. In general the strut tops and especially the front strut top bearings are in good shape which is a win as I had a load of hassle sourcing parts for the spider. The only item I need to replace is one of the rear strut top mounts which is rusted and no longer usable.
The CV joint nuts on the rear hubs came out with help from the rattle gun, again unlike the Spider and the fronts where the angle grinder was required.
The bearing retaining rings were a mixed result. One rear cam out with the rattle gun, the other rear had to be chiselled out. The fronts had obviously been chiselled tight when replacing the bearing, I assume they did not have the correct tool, so we’re scrap anyway. I just chiselled them out as well.
Out of the three engine mounts the crank pulley one was scrap, but the other two were in remarkably good condition. I have new ones all round so more spares…..
On the rear suspension, just one of the bushes on the locating rods attached to the rear hub was seized and no needs replacing. Also the bolt that it was seized on needs replacing, so if anyone has one….. The other bushes look ok.
The steering rack looks to be in good condition, but yet to remove the gait or etc. The small bush on the passenger side has definitely broken up as per normal, so replacement ordered.
End result is a pile of parts as below
