General Lost weekend

[TheBogieMan]

This weekend I have mostly been getting the car read for it NCT (Irish MOT but every two years)
Drivers side bottom joint replaced......relatively painless, just the one knuckle skinned,must remember next time to cut a few will off the top of the thread to make it easier to get the nut on
Water pump replaced.....was a breeze, a lot easier than the Vauxhaull OHC engines I've done in the past
Rear wheel bearing replaced.....hardest of them all as there was no dust cap on it, 2 hours with scaffold poles and a can if WD40, oh and a huge lump on my shin now after the socket slipped off
Washer pipe replaced with plastic instead of that stupid rubber stuff
Tailgate knob freed and smothered in silicone grease

All it leaves now is to replace the back box


Oh and bodged the main hose with a bicycle puncture repair kit

Quite pleased with my efforts and the old girl handles like a dream now

 

[rallycinq]

Quite pleased with my efforts and the old girl handles like a dream now

Ah, but how does the car handle?

Cheers

D

 

[TheBogieMan]

hahaha

My wife is 12 years my junior...never have once referred to her as 'the old girl'

Out of interest how long do the bottom ball joints last on your rally car?, most of the roads over here in the west of Ireland are not too dissimilar to stages of a rally

 

[rallycinq]

hahaha

My wife is 12 years my junior...never have once referred to her as 'the old girl'

Must be a hell of pain waiting at the school gates every day!!

Out of interest how long do the bottom ball joints last on your rally car?, most of the roads over here in the west of Ireland are not too dissimilar to stages of a rally

I looked at fitting bespoke arms. but my engineer reckons that changing them every year is a much better option, so that is what I did.

Cheers

D

 

[Hellcat]

I thought this thread was about a stolen Marea

 

[rallycinq]

I thought this thread was about a stolen Marea

lol, Billy Wilder in a Marea, don't think so

Cheers

D

 

[TheBogieMan]

I wish I was that young that waiting at the school gates for the wife was needed

That's not good with the ball joints, the cheapest I've found them over here is €85 a side, and as it's that a side for a tyre as well I'll just have to get her to choose an alternative route to work.


On the subject of a stolen Marea.....who on earth would steal one of those

 

[rallycinq]

I wish I was that young that waiting at the school gates for the wife was needed

That's not good with the ball joints, the cheapest I've found them over here is €85 a side, and as it's that a side for a tyre as well I'll just have to get her to choose an alternative route to work.

I changed them because we thought it sensible, not because they broke. They seem to be quite strong and never rattled, it was just that we decided to life them at 12 months.

Cheers

D

 

[TheBogieMan]

I've had to change both at 57,000 miles, the passenger side one made no noises, but scrubbed the inside of the tyre out in the space of 6 weeks, the second decided to knock like hell shortly after replacing the other side.
Next time they need doing I'll grind the unthreaded section down a little so make fitting the nut a lot easier.:bang:
I find it a bit strange that both the joints and the rear bearing aren't on an exchange basis, there must be an awful lot of scrap metal kicking around.
I'm tempted to put an upper and lower strut brace on it as well to stiffen things up even more, speed ramps aren't an issue in this neck of the woods, in fact it's a 20 mile drive just to find a roundabout

 

[rallycinq]

I've had to change both at 57,000 miles, the passenger side one made no noises, but scrubbed the inside of the tyre out in the space of 6 weeks, the second decided to knock like hell shortly after replacing the other side.
Next time they need doing I'll grind the unthreaded section down a little so make fitting the nut a lot easier.:bang:
I find it a bit strange that both the joints and the rear bearing aren't on an exchange basis, there must be an awful lot of scrap metal kicking around.
I'm tempted to put an upper and lower strut brace on it as well to stiffen things up even more, speed ramps aren't an issue in this neck of the woods, in fact it's a 20 mile drive just to find a roundabout

The lower brace is a problem due to clearance issues with the diff and the road. If its low enough to miss the diff, its too close to the road, and vice versa.

57K isn't bad for a suspension component. I was doing less than 1K and changing.

Cheers

D