At least it's not your daily... so.you can take your time
At least it's not your daily... so.you can take your time
True. However this has been the problem as well. If I didn’t have other things to drive I wouldn’t be in this position and would have got the car up and running quicker. Up until the dreaded double MOT failure of last year this car was my daily. Need to try and get the MOT done so I can get back to using the car. The drive to work and back is so boring in the Astra Tourer.
Well after changing my mind and having another go I eventually managed to remove the sway bar. Bit awkward but thanks to @Tom2811 for some advice. Much appreciated.
As long as items are removed and installed in the correct order it makes things a little bit easier…
New arm fitted. Need to wait a week or so for some bolts etc from Vauxhall. Almost £60 for 4 bolts, 4 nuts and 4 washers. Honestly. Almost getting to Audi prices!!! Some of the prices on eBay were even higher with some seller trying to charge almost £30 for 1 bolt.
Pic of the 3 ‘legged’ Vectra
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and some of the new arm. Managed to get the bolts from Lemforder (through Autodoc website). They were slightly cheaper than Vauxhall. The old arm looks not too bad so I’ll hang on to it in case I decide to get powerflex bushes for it.
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4hrs to cut out the seized bolt. Arghh.
At least it’s done now.
New plan is to forget about part refurbishment just now and just concentrate on getting the MOT done.
Maybe next summer I’ll just drop the whole subframe and restore everything at the back. Want to get the new turbo and FMIC fitted this summer.
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Stuff like this will probably be replaced…...eventually of course.
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This is what I had to resort to when I couldn’t get any closer with the grinder. 2hrs of painstakingly slow and bl**dy painful sawing by hand. Also the reason I’m not wanting to do the other side.
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You can see how solid the bolt was. New one was well greased before putting it in.
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The remains of an arm. Mmmwooahahaha
Some more progress today. Hopefully the car is ready to pass now….
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The quick update. Just like that.
I like the fact that you manage to turn the world upside down(see pic next. 3) than just act like you didn't do anything to it in the next one ( yeah I know this is the main reason I use a picture album site to host my pictures as the forums album likes to 180degree pictures without a reason)
And a bit more detail for those that want it….
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These are the weird bolts you need for toe adjustment and camber adjustment.
The longer bolts are for the inner bush on the lower control arms.
The shorter ones are for the inner bush of the front suspension arm (the one I had to cut out)
Nuts and washers are the same.
You can only order ‘complete’ lower control arms from the dealers (which includes the inner bush) which is an expensive option so I bought some powerflex inner bushes for around £65 online. The originals are ok for now but the bolts don’t want to move so I’m not risking another sheared bolt just now. I’ll wait until I have use of my uncles garage (and more importantly his ramp) before taking them off. I’m in two minds whether to buy some 2nd hand arms with gubbed bushes and overhaul them or just wait and re-use the originals. The arms are aluminium so cant withstand the same battering as other components. Caution required.
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Rear inner control arm bush kit on the left. Others are for front wishbones and front ARB. All front existing bushes are ok for now so another job for later.
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Lemforder part number for bolt kit. This pack includes the two bolts and nuts required for the upper (bananarama) control arm and is only £7 so much cheaper than dealer and still excellent quality. The larger bolt shown in the picture is also the same one used for the outer bush on the front arm but also needs the flat rectangular shaped washer shown above. I just bought a few kits as it’s still worth it.
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some more items in preparation for front end overhaul
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Im sure everyone knows about this already but it definitely makes it easier to put on rear drop links. Old stuff quite often needs a good ‘lube’
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before and after for sliding pins
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new caliper ready to go on
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Set of Irwin vise grips a must for jobs like this…
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Caliper changed over quickly and bleed nipple left slightly open on new caliper…
’Gravity’ method used. I’m sure that might upset some people but in theory with the reservoir open at the other end, gravity is going to slowly pull fluid through and not air. Simply leave it half an hour or so until it starts weeping fluid through the bleed nipple. Close off both ends and done. Voila.
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So the crappy caliper that I fitted in 2019 is what was causing the handbrake issue. If you look at the piston you can see that I was able to push it out using the lever for the handbrake. When you apply the handbrake it’s meant to jam on however when you release the handbrake the return spring is meant to pull the lever back and release pressure from the piston. This wasn’t happening so gradually the brake was jamming on completely on this side. The other side had exactly the same issue as mentioned previously so hopefully sorted for good now that a ‘proper’ caliper has been fitted.
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Another purchase that I shouldn’t have needed. Battery of course went flat over the cold weather and did I know this might happen? Yes. Did I make sure to park the car the other way round so I could jump start it if needed? No. C’est la vie.
Whole again.
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Next time do it the hard way... brake fluid is hygroscopic meaning it pulls in water from the air...and it does it at an alarming rate. leaving the reservoir open is not a smart thing to do period.... even when I'm paying and have it fully replaced i watch them to close the reservoir ASAP... if they leave it open for a minute I demand they flush and refill it. It's the biggest downside to brakefluid dot3 & dot4
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