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May 7th - How to Poly bush
your car.
Wishbones needed new
Polybushes fitting:
Old bushes
'As I didn't have a suitable press to remove the larger bush, I cut the
middle out with a hacksaw'
'Note that I did NOT saw all the way through!'
'Now chisel the inner part of the bush, it comes out quite easily. You
can see how it is `tearing` the remaining bit of the metal that I hadn't
sawn through. This saves the chance of scoring the inner face of the
wishbone'
'The inner now drops out'
'Apply copious amounts of grease to the now bush, this will aid fitment
and also reduce the chance of the new bush `squeaking` when you are
driving'
Using a vice, ensure the new bush is square and carefully close the vice
jaws pressing the bush into the wishbone.
Grease the new inner sleeve and tap that into place.
To remove the other bush,
simply tap it out with a suitable drift
It comes out easily
The new bush comes in 2 parts, so as before, apply lots of grease to all
the surfaces
The new bush simply presses into the wishbone,
if necessary, a light tap with a hammer may be required to insert the
inner sleeve
Repeat for the other wishbone and you now have 2 polybushes wishbones
ready for fitting to the car
The sub frame on the new car
was in better condition then my old one, but required a good clean
Whilst I was cleaning that and the wishbones, Matthew was removing the
steering rack and anti roll bar from the old sub frame
Meanwhile, Louise was sanding the rollcage ready for spraying, it was a
long boring job and she stuck at it all day
I fitted the heavy duty Vibratech engine mount to the front cross member
The cleaned sub frame, ready to assemble with new poly bushed wishbones,
anti roll bar and up rated engine mounts
The old anti roll bar end mount rubbers were badly worn
After fitting new poly bush mounts, it was held nice and square again
Decided it was sensible to change the tie rod ends and lower balljoints.
The tie rods are `handed`, so you have to get the left on the left side
and right on the right... I made sure they were fitted the same distance
along the tie-rods to keep the tracking somewhere near straight ahead...
Matthew fitted the steering rack and assisted me fitting the anti roll.
The completed front sub frame ready for fitting
'That evening, I moved
onto the engine. After inspecting the oil filter housing, I replaced the
bent front engine bracket which had been damaged in the impact. I removed
the sump to change the oil pump, I removed the old pump and took it apart
to inspect, unfortunately, I didn't see any visible signs of damage or
play in the gears, so I can only hope the internal relief valve is damaged
'
I fitted the Windage tray I'd bought to stop the oil splashing onto the
bottom of the crankshaft and the oil pump.
Refitted the Clutch and flywheel, I aligned it by eye.
'I am pleased to say the gearbox slid into place easily, first time. I've
had experience in the past with on old MK2 Escort I had and it took
several attempts to get the gearbox on, so when it slid on with the first
attempt, I was pleased. The water pipe from the system to the expansion
tank had split too, I cut the end off, but that was a larger diameter than
the remaining pipe, to get it to fit, I sprayed a little WD40 on the
inside of the pipe and it went on quite easily'
The idle was very lumpy before the crash, the ISV is well know for causing
problems, it was pretty caked up inside.
Cleaned the valve and the supplying pipes with petrol
After soaking for an hour and shaking it, the end result was much cleaner.
Hard to see on the photo, but it is much better
Apr 8th - The engine was fitted.
May 14th - Getting there....
Refitted the Dashboard, I
wanted to move the main battery isolator so it was accessible from the
drivers seat. Where it was before, I had to undo my harness to reach it,
which wasnt ideal.
Ran the large supply wires to where I wanted the switch. Wire of this
gauge can be pretty un-bendy and doesnt always go where you want. I put
`pig tails` on the end, thats the corkscrew you can see, it acts like a
small spring and allows the cable to flex `easier`. I crimped them
soldered 2 new ends on, I had to leave the soldering iron laying against
the connector for about 10 minutes before it was warm enough to melt the
solder !
Decided that epoxy resin would stick the isolator switch into position in
the dashboard
I then connected the feed wires ready to refit
Unfortunately, due to the wires being so inflexible, the epoxy didn't hold
and the isolator did not stay secured to the plastic.
Next step was out with the welder, I then welded a new bracket onto the
dash, you can just see it at the bottom of the isolator, I then bolted the
isolator onto the new bracket so it was nice and secure
(you can see the remnants of the epoxy still stuck to the isolator..)
Tied all the loose looms out of the way and refitted the dashboard
Everything worked first time, lights, heater, indicators, oil pressure,
temp, rev counter EVERYTHING! When I refitted the front sub frame, I
noticed the mounting rubbers were pretty worn and cracking in places. The
new ones arrived today, so I fitted those. Supported the front engine
mount and unbolted the sub frame. You can see the existing rubber mount
here
Saw through it
Then just pull it out of the subframe
Thoroughly grease the subframe and the new bush
I didnt have a suitable vide / press available, so a length of threaded
bar, spacer washers and bar with a hole in the middle does the job of a
small press
Ensure the bush is aligned CENTRALLY to the hole, or it will not go
through....
Tighten the bolt to compress the bush, which slowly pushes it through the
hole. Make sure it stays central by `wiggling` the threaded bar if
necessary
Here you can see the bush 80% through the hole
The bush will `pop` through the hole without a massive amount of force, of
you find one edge doesnt come through all the way, just move the threaded
bar around with your hand and that should be enough to make it come all
the way through
The new bush in place
and the completed front subframe
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