View single post by Jim Picot
 Posted: 10-05-2013 01:34 am
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Jim Picot

 

Joined: 07-09-2012
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 39
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 After putting up a separate post to try to find some new arms on Saturday night (Australian time), I had no less then 4 offers by Sunday morning! I decided to buy a pair from Tony Marshall in the UK, as courier shipping is a bit cheaper from there. They were shipped by FedEx on Monday and arrived on Thursday morning! They were complete (including original rubber bushes) and in excellent condition. Straight, no rust apart from very light surface corrosion, in far better condition than my old ones. Friday afternoon, and I had the old bushes and the housings out and ready for the sandblaster.

The whole process took about an hour for all 4 bushes. Having practised on my old arms, I had the technique worked out. Drill out the rubber bushes (as many holes as possible with as large a drill as will fit), then use a jigsaw to separate the rubber attached to the centre crush tube from the surrounding rubber. Use a driver (a piece of 20 mm round bar) to knock out the crush tube. The rubber on the outside generally just came free from the metal, but there some places where it was stuck fast.

Using roland11a's suggestion, two cuts with a hacksaw, although I saw no need to burn out the remaining rubber. They were also a little wider apart at about 11-12 mm, as my smallest cold chisel is 10 mm. I also didn't go all the way through, as when you start to drive the strip out with the chisel, it peels back and tears the remaining metal away. So no need to risk cutting into the pressing beneath. Once the strip is removed, all tension has gone from the bush and a couple of light blows with the chisel knocked the housing out completely.

Off to the sandblaster on Monday, and hopefully I can paint them on the weekend. Then it's back on track, install the new Superpro bushes and I can start to re-assemble the rear suspension and get the car back on its wheels! That will be nice after way too many months on jackstands.