Looks like its my turn for the front suspension refurbishment..
.
Im fitting new..
Upper shock mounts (after market foam ones).
Lower shock bushes.
Upper control arm ball joints
Upper control arm bushes (powerflex poly)

I know i should do the lower arm bushes and v mounts now,
but this will have to be done later...(found lots of rust that will take up a lot of my time to fix)

As the title says iv done some adaptions to the control arm..
Iv had...
Grease nipples fitted.
New stainless steel washers made at varying thicknesses to replace the fiddly shim packs.
The bush sleeve has had holes drilled through and slots machined at the ends.
This is to enable the grease flow, to the parts of the poly bush that needs it, and to help the fulcrum bolt from sizing to the washers,bush sleeve and sub frame.

Some photos....










Also gave the cat shocks a good clean and new coat of paint..

Dont know when i will have the suspension put back together, as iv now striped out the right side interior.. seat,carpet,hand brake,centre console etc to deal with the rust, and know doubt i will have the same to do on the left side.
Still love the car (worth all the work) but it could be some time before i can get her back out on the road...

 

You painted the shocks? Now that's dedication indeed....

 

I like that you fitted grease nipples. I think I will do this when the time comes to re-grease my bushes.

 

XKR-DAY,
I'm not 100% sure that the inner Bush sleeves actually turn on the fulcrum bolt.
When you torque up that assembly, the sleeves are clamped against the sub-frame casting. It's still very wise to drill holes though - to pack with grease or copper ease and stop corrosion (which many members have suffered).
Some very nice prep work.

 

You are right, the sleeves dont/wont turn when the fulcrum bolt it torqued tight,it will be clamped to the washers and sub frame,the grease should go through the centre holes and travel between the sleeve and bolt then come back up the other holes in the centre of the poly bushes also out the end slots between the washers and the poly bushes, this is where the grease is needed for the poly bushes,
The holes in the sleeve go right through so six holes in each sleeve.

 

Agreed - and that's why they seize onto the fulcrum bolt.

I always coat with Coppaslip on assembly but this just delays seizing rather than preventing it.

Graham

 

You don't?





Graham

 

Sorry Graham, I must admit that I have never painted a shock. But I may have shocked a painter....

 

I thought about the green and black (like GGG)
But in the end i just went for the plane black..

The brown and black..



The silver and brown



The gray



Finally decided to just have the plain black



..

 

Our North East climate had certainly left its mark on those before you got started.

Graham

 

Well, got a bit time to finish my front shock mounts etc...
Both sides are now done.

The adaptions iv made for the control arm bushings are working well
(Grease nipples,Varying thicknesses of stainless steel washers,Bush sleeve holes)

I had to do some adaptions to the powerflex bushes also
sanded the outer bush x4 about 2 to 3mm so the crush sleeve was flush with the bushes when installed, cut some grease channels in the outer side of the bush x8

I also reused the top hat washers x4 on the outside bushes, better than the ones that came with the powerflex bushes...

Some photos











The bushes have also been epoxy glued into the arm, so the only movement is around the bush sleeve and the washers at each end of the bush...

 

Well done....