- Joined
- Jan 30, 2008
- Messages
- 18,708
- Reaction score
- 909
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland
So most of you know project shed. I bought it with a broken engine and some accident damage a couple of years ago, and fixed it up mechanically, ignored the panel damage and got it on the road as a cheap but decent daily driver. Its a bit rough around the edges to look at, but a few niggles have been growing over the last year and its now getting to the point that it needs some money spent on it to keep the mechanical bits in good order.
To summarise the main issues that need attention:
The front control arms are worn out as is common with these cars at this age.
One of the front CV joints is clicking, its boot split last year, and though i fixed it, i guess too much crud has made it into the joint and worn it out over the last year.
Some wheel bearings are noisey, i suspect a rear one, not really sure though, i've not looked too closely and will probably just replace them all.
I also bought an S4 box last year for it, as mines a bit notchy and whines, but its sat in the shed since then due to a lack of time and junk weather. Usefully the box came with shafts, so swapping that in will cure my clicky CV.
So various parts being interlinked, i've made a concious effort to get all the bits sorted and will, at some point very soon be doing some work, which looks roughly like this:
Remove engine, box, prop, rear diff, subframe, uprights, control arms, driveshafts, brakes.
Attach new box to engine, slot in on replacement subframe, fit prop, fit rear diff, fit driveshafts.
Fit new arms, with new uprights, new bearings, new brakes and control arms.
It'll also need some rear end attention soon too, but its not as critical so that might well wait until after winter.
At the moment i'm sorting some preliminary work. The gearbox has an oil cooler loop, so i've been modifying that to run without the cooler so i dont have the hassle of trying to add the cooler. I also want to fit new seals to the input shaft, as well as the rear diff, so the oil stays inside. The driveshafts for the box also need some new CV gaiters, so i'll need to get those ordered up. The uprights also needed the pinch bolts removing, and i still need to remove the old bearings and fit the new ones so its all ready to go.
I dont have any pics yet (i did have some of the uprights and some bits i'd done to the gearbox, but i've just realised i've gone and wiped them off my phone!) but i'll take some as i'm doing the preliminary stuff and document the process!
Hopefully once the job itself gets started i can get thru it all in a long weekend, as i'd rather not be without the car for too long!!
To summarise the main issues that need attention:
The front control arms are worn out as is common with these cars at this age.
One of the front CV joints is clicking, its boot split last year, and though i fixed it, i guess too much crud has made it into the joint and worn it out over the last year.
Some wheel bearings are noisey, i suspect a rear one, not really sure though, i've not looked too closely and will probably just replace them all.
I also bought an S4 box last year for it, as mines a bit notchy and whines, but its sat in the shed since then due to a lack of time and junk weather. Usefully the box came with shafts, so swapping that in will cure my clicky CV.
So various parts being interlinked, i've made a concious effort to get all the bits sorted and will, at some point very soon be doing some work, which looks roughly like this:
Remove engine, box, prop, rear diff, subframe, uprights, control arms, driveshafts, brakes.
Attach new box to engine, slot in on replacement subframe, fit prop, fit rear diff, fit driveshafts.
Fit new arms, with new uprights, new bearings, new brakes and control arms.
It'll also need some rear end attention soon too, but its not as critical so that might well wait until after winter.
At the moment i'm sorting some preliminary work. The gearbox has an oil cooler loop, so i've been modifying that to run without the cooler so i dont have the hassle of trying to add the cooler. I also want to fit new seals to the input shaft, as well as the rear diff, so the oil stays inside. The driveshafts for the box also need some new CV gaiters, so i'll need to get those ordered up. The uprights also needed the pinch bolts removing, and i still need to remove the old bearings and fit the new ones so its all ready to go.
I dont have any pics yet (i did have some of the uprights and some bits i'd done to the gearbox, but i've just realised i've gone and wiped them off my phone!) but i'll take some as i'm doing the preliminary stuff and document the process!
Hopefully once the job itself gets started i can get thru it all in a long weekend, as i'd rather not be without the car for too long!!