The Beater thread
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 13,330
Likes: 180
Priced up 4 new shocks, 2 front top mounts, 2 front wheel bearings and 2 CV boot kits - £115 delivered.
Probably a days work at most in the garage with the electric fire on ( or just cooking in front of the work flood light) and a thermos of coffee - jobs a goodun
Probably a days work at most in the garage with the electric fire on ( or just cooking in front of the work flood light) and a thermos of coffee - jobs a goodun
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 13,330
Likes: 180
Managed to get one strut and spring out, after an argument with the hub strut bolts and finally got the rusted top mount nut off the old shock to get the spring out. Old top mount was wrecked and the rubber spring cap / metal mount plate weren't sat properly. Spring swapped to new shock and all refitted without too much drama.
However on the other side, the lower strut to hub bolt was ) still is ) seized solid - given up for the evening and have left it soaking in PlusGas. Have dug out the blowtorch from the loft and will go and give it some fresh attention in the morning. Same problem as the bolts and bushes on an S2000 so have greased the ones I have changed and will clean this one up and do the same when i get it out.
Partial success in that the clunking from the drivers side top mount has now gone and the steering feels much more weighted but it's glaringly obvious that the passenger side needs doing just as badly and that the shock on that side is totally shot.
Hey ho - round II in the morning
However on the other side, the lower strut to hub bolt was ) still is ) seized solid - given up for the evening and have left it soaking in PlusGas. Have dug out the blowtorch from the loft and will go and give it some fresh attention in the morning. Same problem as the bolts and bushes on an S2000 so have greased the ones I have changed and will clean this one up and do the same when i get it out.
Partial success in that the clunking from the drivers side top mount has now gone and the steering feels much more weighted but it's glaringly obvious that the passenger side needs doing just as badly and that the shock on that side is totally shot.
Hey ho - round II in the morning
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 31,181
Likes: 58
From: Hertford
That is why I CBA any more!
TBF, when I used to bugger about with old FIATs, they were relatively younger (and so was I) and seized bolts were less of a problem.
Whether that was due to more oil leaks, or steel isn't the same these days, is a moot point.
TBF, when I used to bugger about with old FIATs, they were relatively younger (and so was I) and seized bolts were less of a problem.
Whether that was due to more oil leaks, or steel isn't the same these days, is a moot point.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 13,330
Likes: 180
Yep - there IS something to be said for just giving up and getting a new C1 on lease every 3 years. I think sometimes even with the right tools, the right access and the right skills you have no choice but to vandalise stuff to remove it and that's when it becomes no fun.
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,152
Likes: 281
From: In the land of pies and pasties
Managed to get one strut and spring out, after an argument with the hub strut bolts and finally got the rusted top mount nut off the old shock to get the spring out. Old top mount was wrecked and the rubber spring cap / metal mount plate weren't sat properly. Spring swapped to new shock and all refitted without too much drama.
However on the other side, the lower strut to hub bolt was ) still is ) seized solid - given up for the evening and have left it soaking in PlusGas. Have dug out the blowtorch from the loft and will go and give it some fresh attention in the morning. Same problem as the bolts and bushes on an S2000 so have greased the ones I have changed and will clean this one up and do the same when i get it out.
Partial success in that the clunking from the drivers side top mount has now gone and the steering feels much more weighted but it's glaringly obvious that the passenger side needs doing just as badly and that the shock on that side is totally shot.
Hey ho - round II in the morning
However on the other side, the lower strut to hub bolt was ) still is ) seized solid - given up for the evening and have left it soaking in PlusGas. Have dug out the blowtorch from the loft and will go and give it some fresh attention in the morning. Same problem as the bolts and bushes on an S2000 so have greased the ones I have changed and will clean this one up and do the same when i get it out.
Partial success in that the clunking from the drivers side top mount has now gone and the steering feels much more weighted but it's glaringly obvious that the passenger side needs doing just as badly and that the shock on that side is totally shot.
Hey ho - round II in the morning
Last year, I thoroughly enjoyed managing various consumables changes on the Golf Mk4 GT Tdi 130, one of which was the shocks & springs change. Having never done it before, I was surprised how easy it was. I must have been lucky with bolt/nut seizure, everything unscrewed fine. The trickiest bit, I have to admit, was running out of time on the driveway and completing it in almost complete darkness. I could not quite prise open the strut entrance enough with the strut spreader tool (which was supposed to be the correct one for the job).
Torch in mouth, under the car and "balancing" a 5p coin into the slot, against the spreader tool, whilst turning a heavy duty wrench, slightly raining too. Tourettes syndrome eminating from under the car, whilst a 5p kept dissapearing out of my grasp!
It was in my mouth that long (the torch) it gave my a huge blister on my bottom lip
Boy I was glad to hear the shock drop into the hole half an hour later!
Better give up now, Innuendo's over!
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 13,330
Likes: 180
I had a look at the rear shocks but they're bolted on outside the car so both ends are rusted to hell - might get the rear of the car on axle stands later and see if i can get a some heat / plus gas onto them and then clean the threads up with a wire brush and maybe give it a go .... but not that bothered about the back suspension Have a mate popping around in a bit with a slightly longer bar and some beefier sockets plus an extra sense of humour always helps.
This is the first proper 'spannering' I've done for some time and the first for an even longer time I've done on my own - engine mounts were easy enough and having the car on stands meant i could use the trolley jack to move the engine around to line up the engine mounts - easy enough once you have faith the damned thing isn't going to drop out and splatter you.
No matter how cold the garage is, it beats working outside hands down - not least because when you've had enough, you can just walk away from it 'as is' and come back to it fresh in the morning. There is something soul destroying about having to pack everything away and make it thief proof just to come back and get it all out again the next day.
Have a mate popping around in a bit with a slightly longer bar and some beefier sockets plus an extra sense of humour always helps.This is the first proper 'spannering' I've done for some time and the first for an even longer time I've done on my own - engine mounts were easy enough and having the car on stands meant i could use the trolley jack to move the engine around to line up the engine mounts - easy enough once you have faith the damned thing isn't going to drop out and splatter you.
No matter how cold the garage is, it beats working outside hands down - not least because when you've had enough, you can just walk away from it 'as is' and come back to it fresh in the morning. There is something soul destroying about having to pack everything away and make it thief proof just to come back and get it all out again the next day.
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,152
Likes: 281
From: In the land of pies and pasties
Aye... worse still if you break an allen wrench removing brake calipers. Had that happen on the 330d last month, stranded on the driveway blocking the missus' car. Boy she wasn't happy!
Need to heat my garage and dig a pit!
Need to heat my garage and dig a pit!