Had a bit of spare time this morning before work so refitted the wishbone & also fitted polly bushes to this side of the anti roll bar. The roll bar bushes went on a treat. Initially I sat there wondering how an earth I was going to fit them as the polly bushes were like concrete and couldnt flex. I then dropped them in a cup of boiling water for about 5 minutes and they turned into putty. Really easy to slip over the roll bar and into place. I didnt even have to clamp the metal clamp around them in order to get the bolts back in - just squeezed them by hand and hey presto the bolt slipped straight in. Awesome. According to the Haynes manual you need to tighten once car has wheel on and back on the ground, so will do that then.
Fitting the new wishbone was a bit harder. The new bushes are slightly bigger than the mounting brackets on the chassis, so some liberal hammering with a lump hammer persuaded it to slide into place, unfortunately my wife who was still asleep upstairs wasn't happy with the 7am banging (ooer missus), but there you go!
The only hitch I had was that the new wishbone bolts i bought from CGB dont fit. The longer one which also bolts the little chassis brace to the car doesnt have enough thread on it, so ive had to resort to using the old bolts. I`ll use plenty of loctite and they should be fine.
Whilst under the arch I tried to loosen off the brake line union nut again - its been soaking in penetrating oil for days now. And with the help of a pair of mole grips on the brake hose side, it loosened up nicely. Plenty more oil on it and its working free fine. Which is good news. Means I can stick the new braided hose on an get ready to put the calliper back on.
Looking at the front jacking point, its totally rotted away, so the side skirts will have to come off on this side to weld a new one (ordered a pair already, should be here next few days - £65 from Renault for the pair). It looks in order to get the side skirt off you need to remove the front arch. Thats held on by 4 small 10mm nut/bolts. 2 of which happily will undo, 2 of which are seized. Not wanting to brake them off or damage the plastic arch im not entirely sure how to proceed. Ive a spare arch and skirt somewhere in the garden so will have a look and see if i can see how they fit to the car.
Whilst the skirt is off i will have to see what other welding that side needs. I wouldnt be surprised if the sills need a bit of work as the car was left parked up against the side of my house for a year or so, and that meant that side of the car never really got the sun or dried out. I didnt realise that at the time, so lesson learnt there.
Just re-joined the RTOC, I was one of the early members back in 1995ish. Amazing how things have progressed since then. Back then it was just a monthly magazine and long phone calls with other members talking about tips & mods. Now its all online, website etc... which is awesome as its so easy to find information and ideas now. I think i`ll be posting on there lots. I even still have the original owners club sticker on the back window of the car. Seems to have held up better than the car really as it still looks brand new!!
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