The cold weather has returned to Georgia (by our standards anyway) so having the DS damper (shock) bushings complete, here are a few notes I made:

First, though, Sam's video was very helpful; thanks Sam!
Watching the re-installation of the shim washers in the upper wishbone pivot, I eliminated the problem of controlling multiple (3, in my case) shims by degreasing the edges, then stacking the discs and rolling them, edgewise, along a strip of 1" Gorilla tape.
If the strip is suitably extra long, a 2" (say) tag is produced, with which to dangle / position the stack. Trim the tape against the thickness of the shim stack using an Exacto knife, and trim the width of the 'tag' with scissors. The shim pack can then be controlled and positioned, and the tape can be left on, as it doesn't add to the thickness.
For the single shim (in my case) control is easier, but a piece of Scotch tape could be used on the flat of the shim; it's thickness being negligible, even if it won't pull free before bolt tightening.

Even if a second person is available to help, being able to support the weight of the coil / strut from above, to lower, or to raise and locate the stud holes in the fender is worth a little effort.
I took a 1/4" or 5/16" aluminum turnbuckle, removed the left-hand eye, and drilled out / re-tapped for a 10M-1.5 (that's what the damper (shock) rod is threaded, and tied a light rope on the other eye.
There's enough threads exposed when the nut is tightened for the tapped t-buckle to engage, and the other end's eye obligingly swivels, as needed. With the t-buckle screwed onto the end of the rod the strut assembly can be lifted by the rope, and the studs located and secured easily from the top.

Speaking of securing the rod itself, Sam doesn't address the seemingly impossible task of adequately tightening the rod onto the upper bushing assembly.
The damper (shock) rod is free to turn - hence the flat on the end of the rod, for holding the rod still whilst tightening the 10mm Nyloc nut. Except... that the nut is inside the deep recess of the bushing housing.
Whatever the special tool used for this is, I don't have it, nor could I think of a reasonable way of making such a thing. A box end with a very thin walls and a thin 90 deg short offset might do, or something constructed like a very short spark plug socket of the type that allows either a square drive OR an external wrench, so that the drive hole could be used for access to the flat. I am not comfortable speed-gunning that nut with an air wrench! Any suggestions would be welcome!

There seems no mention anywhere about the bump stop (jounce stop) that sits under the bushing housing, on the rod. Mine had crumbled to dust and mostly disappeared.
I took the plunge: the bump stop looked like it fitted into the bushing assy, but it wasn't at all tightly held. I glued it with 3M spray, and used loosely held wire-ties to suspend it from two circle wire-ties, in case it came loose. The other end seemed to fit with some effort into the rubber dust-shield that covers the rod. I hope that's the way it was intended to be used!

There is also no mention of the way the wishbone bushings work, or how to ensure that they are ready for further service. I believe that the steel tube is clamped by the through-bolt and that the bushings have a Teflon or poly liner inside. There was some grunge, but no sign of any lube, so I simply cleaned them.

As to the lower bushing on the damper, removing the old bushing requires the removal of the retainers for the (deteriorated) rubber boots.
1/2" threaded rod didn't want to go through my sockets, so I used 3/8" and assorted sizes of washers to make a 'press'. Pushing out is easier, but pushing in the new bushing (carefully removing both sets of retaining wires (for re-use) from both boots and removing same, requires a near-perfect OD (bushing) and ID (damper eye) set-up.
I had only a suitable socket for the damper eye, but got stymied for something to inset the bushing in the eye. Autozone yielded up a 1-3/4" ID x 1 - 3/4" OD exhaust pipe adapter p/n 17515 by Nickson. Cheap, and works perfectly.
That's all! Comments always welcome!

 

Atlastajag1, Great tips, thank you! I always battle the darn shim washers, this is a good one.

John

 

Air compressor/tools make the front end redo much easier.


You zing to compress and un-compress the springs. You zing the shock nut on/off. You just need to make sure the nuts aren't cross threaded before you hit the trigger, or you are likely buying a new shock.


The shock bump stop/boot kit usually shows up when you do a search for shocks ($12.34 @ summit), but if you aren't searching for shocks, you may never realize you need this. If the shock mounts need redo, the bumps stops probably are not still good.

 

Thanks, Jag1, I "zinged" the shock bolts tight, no issue. I was concerned about damaging the shocks but it was ok. If that upper nut is not tight, it makes an awful noise when driving. Even with new upper shock mounts upper arm bushings and new lower shock bushings, the ride height is still too low. (14.5") I may have to reinstall my spring spacers. I also read that one can add 3/8" fabricated nylon spacers to the upper shock mounts, anybody try that? The other issue is my 245-45-17 tires, the next set will be original size 245-50-17's to raise the car half an inch.

 

I fabricated 3/8" aluminum spacers, used along with the plastic packer rings.
(I use 2 sets of spring compressors, total of 4 to do this)(my ride height is currently 15.75" on both sides)

While the 245-50-17's may raise the entire car some, note that that alone will have no impact on the ride height.

FWIW, I use a slip fit dowel to align the upper shims while I use a drop of super glue to glue the shims together. (that glue thickness is negligible)

 

Dr. D, I have an original equipment Pirelli Pzero 245-50-17 for a spare and it's exactly 1 inch larger in diameter than the 245-45-17's on my XK8. The larger sized tire will lift the chassis and thus the plastic under-tray 1/2" farther off the pavement, adding perhaps enough clearance to lessen the scraping. At least I'm hoping it will help. With my luck, the larger tires will scrape on the inside of the wheel well because of the sagging suspension.

 

I agree. I had assumed that you were trying to correct the ride height. Adjusting the spacers would change both chassis height and ride height.