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galooph
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Yesterday and today I spent replacing both upper and lower rear control arms plus the panhard rod and bump stops on the Surf. Not having a proper workshop and vehicle lift any more, I'd forgotten what a ball ache it is working outside with only axle stands!
The 26 year old originals were well past their best, so glad I got them sorted. Stiff as a crutch now, though!
The 26 year old originals were well past their best, so glad I got them sorted. Stiff as a crutch now, though!
daleyd
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- Wrexham, North Wales
Blimey you had your wear out of those!!
dobbslc
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Just yesterday I was under the Surf looking at the rods!
I have a bit of a knock over small sharp bumps and as I've replaced the shocks and springs without it making a difference I'm thinking it could be them.
The axle is pretty rusty to so I'm thinking once the rods are out I can drop it out, what else holds it in?
What parts did you buy to replace them with?
This is one of the front shock bushes on mine before I replaced them!
galooph
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Other than the 4 control arms and the panhard rod, there's just the shock absorbers holding it in. Well, other than the handbrake cable, brake pipe and ABS wiring
I replaced the old arms/rod with new ones from Toyota, via https://www.amayama.com/en. I had been thinking of blasting the originals, and replacing the bushes, but the extra faff and not having an indoor workshop space any more made me reconsider! Febest arms are another option, but seemed to get mixed reviews from what I could find.
Hehe, thanks, I don't feel so bad about the state of my old bushes, now
I've got new shocks and springs to fit to mine, too, but I might leave that to the garage. On the 3rd gen Surf, the top shock mounts are in an awful location – you have to work by feel, and there's just enough space to get a ratchet on there. More often than not, the nut is seized, and you have to carefully cut the rod and rod cover. Not bad on a lift, but I don't fancy doing that lying on the ground. I'm walking like Douglas Bader today, as it is
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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- Sevenoaks, UK
Got my gate photocells working!
The manual says have one set at 200mm and one at 700mm. Made a cock up and ended up with them about 430 rather than 500mm apart. The gate people I emailed weren't sure if 70mm too close would be an issue or not.
My lad and I pulled the top ones out and strapped them a bit higher, didn't seem to make a difference. Tried one pair connected at a time, higher set then lower set and they worked fine. Together though they'd throw a hissy fit on the PCB. Today I had a gut feel the two sets were interfering with each other.
That or the fact one pair is the Rev.02 design and the other set, bought later, is the Rev.03 design. (Externally they look identical).
What I did was swap them around so I've a receiver and transmitter on each pillar rather than transmitters on one pillar and receivers on the other. Seems to work!
The manual says have one set at 200mm and one at 700mm. Made a cock up and ended up with them about 430 rather than 500mm apart. The gate people I emailed weren't sure if 70mm too close would be an issue or not.
My lad and I pulled the top ones out and strapped them a bit higher, didn't seem to make a difference. Tried one pair connected at a time, higher set then lower set and they worked fine. Together though they'd throw a hissy fit on the PCB. Today I had a gut feel the two sets were interfering with each other.
That or the fact one pair is the Rev.02 design and the other set, bought later, is the Rev.03 design. (Externally they look identical).
What I did was swap them around so I've a receiver and transmitter on each pillar rather than transmitters on one pillar and receivers on the other. Seems to work!
droopsnoot
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- 1,093
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- South Cheshire, UK
Finally managed to get a sheared pin out of one of my rear caliper carriers today. I've tried all sorts after it snapped off. I started out drilling down it, but went off-centre so I had to abandon that. Then I got a blowtorch on it in case that would allow it to move, but it didn't. I drilled it a little further out yesterday, then ended up with a bit of broken drill bit stuck in the end of the pin.
I gave up at that point, and drilled in through the back of the carrier. After more messing around than I expected, I was able to push it out from that side. I'll get a bit of chemical metal to stop the hole up, I prefer that to using a grommet or plug of some sort.
This is for a project car I haven't touched in two years (my old Audi coupe quattro) but I felt like a change and it does allow me to clean it up, paint it and put it in the box of stuff ready to go back on the car when it's ready.
I gave up at that point, and drilled in through the back of the carrier. After more messing around than I expected, I was able to push it out from that side. I'll get a bit of chemical metal to stop the hole up, I prefer that to using a grommet or plug of some sort.
This is for a project car I haven't touched in two years (my old Audi coupe quattro) but I felt like a change and it does allow me to clean it up, paint it and put it in the box of stuff ready to go back on the car when it's ready.
The_Yellow_Ardvark
https://www.death-clock.org/
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I got this Ever Ready Torch Today.
It is a nice item, has a hanging clip and does not work.
A designe fault. The remove te bulb, youi have to bend the four tabs up. They are very thin metal.
But heat from a soldering iron makes it a bit safer to bend and remove the bulb. This one was corroded and blown.
The switch was good, so I treated it to a few drops of switch cleaning fluid.
New batttery, bit of a clean and tidy up.
We have a a working item.
picked a similar one to the middle out of a skip the other day. it needs a bit of tidying, level port re-soldered but it does run on air.
I fished a needle roller bearing out of a cylinder , dropped in through an open valve from a collapsed rocker arm ,,, but I used a tube extension on the pick up pipe on a schutz gun in through the injector hole to hoover the one needle out ,,, bit of a head scratcher for ten min but a great result.
Quote [ Today i fixed my random orbital sander, one of two Sealey ER 150's that dad & i bought 30 odd years ago, one died last week with the awful smell & escape of magic smoke. So it was strip both down & build one good one from the two.
Cracking well built machines, huge sealed main bearings & solidly made. Even the switches are strippable & can be cleaned providing you are careful to not lose the tiny springs! All that was required was a new set of brushes & im hoping that it will see me out.
When i think of the countless boats they sanded down & faired & the sheer amount of work they have done over the years they have to some of the best made power tools out there. ] Unquote
Arrrgh I spoke too soon, It ran then this week it just stopped. Got my son Nick on it who is a whizz with electronics, he tested everything from the two machines, One armature visibly burnt out, second one appears perfect but has an internal intermittent fault. No part available
So thats that. Gotta buy a new one now. Grrrrr
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Cracking well built machines, huge sealed main bearings & solidly made. Even the switches are strippable & can be cleaned providing you are careful to not lose the tiny springs! All that was required was a new set of brushes & im hoping that it will see me out.
When i think of the countless boats they sanded down & faired & the sheer amount of work they have done over the years they have to some of the best made power tools out there. ] Unquote
Arrrgh I spoke too soon, It ran then this week it just stopped. Got my son Nick on it who is a whizz with electronics, he tested everything from the two machines, One armature visibly burnt out, second one appears perfect but has an internal intermittent fault. No part available
So thats that. Gotta buy a new one now. Grrrrr
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Wow.... !!! I remember those as a kid.
Cleaned and levelled a part of my garden, first real job for my excavator.
And first time for me on an excavator, took me 5 hours to do what an experienced operator would do in one I guess.
I do need to learn to take before pics as well.
RaceDiagnostics
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Had a rattle coming from the front right of my 7 year old golf, turns out the brake shield had just rusted off. Never had one just fall off before.
New ~ £25 on eBay and old.
Calliper carrier bolts turned out to be 21mm, luckily I had a wheel nut socket the correct size and they broke free with a breaker bar.
Last challenge, will the torx screws come out or round off.
Well luckily all three came out without drama.
All went back together without a hitch.
New ~ £25 on eBay and old.
Calliper carrier bolts turned out to be 21mm, luckily I had a wheel nut socket the correct size and they broke free with a breaker bar.
Last challenge, will the torx screws come out or round off.
Well luckily all three came out without drama.
All went back together without a hitch.
lots of strut tops are 21 too , and you need the special socket etc etc .... nope a sparkplug socket works the very best , and a hex top so you can turn it with a spanner and still get an allen key through the half inch drive bit to hold the shock inners still ,, just thought id mention it for those who dont know.
Melvyn Best
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I’ve seen 40 year old Golfs with less rust on the suspension, do you live near the sea?
anto44
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- ireland
That's quite typical of golf's of that age unfortunately, as is the dust shield falling off
RaceDiagnostics
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Spent most of its days in Dunfermline so not too close to the sea, but we do have salt on the roads up here for at least 6 months of the year. My A3, TT and XK8 all went the same, however my 40 year old 155000 mile 450SL was in much better shape when I stripped and restored it.
