It's been a while since I have written anything for this blog, mainly because I haven't been doing much but enjoying driving it. I had intended to press on with my conversion to twin Solexes but as you can imagine, using the car in anger has raised a few more pressing issues.  The first, and most minor, is I readjusted the driver's side window and trimmed the Uro door seals to get a better fit. This was just partially successful but I will keep my eyes open for a deal on BMW replacements.

The second thing was I swapped the diff for a better second hand one.  The original had terrible pinion bearing noise and I wasn't sure if it was that or the gearbox.  Starting on the assumption of fix the cheaper things first, I was lucky and found that replacing the diff fixed the noise.

Driving the car and digging around underneath had brought the suspension to my attention. It was a bit of a mixed bag with some things being obviously shot, some things being surprisingly OK and some in an unknown, yet to be revealed state.  With this in mind I set out to fit new Bilstein HD strut inserts, new strut bearings, new wheel bearings, new control arms, new ball joints and new steering rods. I also had a set of bushes and hardware for the anti-roll bar.  I was going to adjust to the steering while I had everything off before replacing all the rods and checking the steering idler for play. The steering box is on its last legs in terms of available adjustment and oil leaks. Nothing done about this at this point but I will be looking out for a replacement or will spend the cash on a Jaymic rebuild. The idler was funny, no play whatso ever but almost zero friction. I couldn't fault it for what it does but it felt strange none the less. The RHD steering idler is a more complex beast to the LHD version with its own oil (same as the steering box) and the ability to adjust any play.  Since I couldn't shake any play from it and I have no specific info on it, I left it alone. I may see if Jaymic have bushes and info about it when I eventually get around to dropping the subframe. 

Removing the struts and control arms from the car was uneventful but with the usual rusty bolts, stuck tapers etc.. Nothing that an air impact wrench, long breaker bar and MAPP gas couldn't fix.  The Pitman arms separated from the strut tubes OK and then from the Control Arms which I then junked (the bushes were OK but couldn't have been reused anyway).

Stripping the driver's side strut, I found this without a dust cover or bump stop and consequently an eon's worth of crap had managed to make its way down the tube to stick the insert within the strut. Not good.  Penetrating oil, heat and suspending it in a vice by the rod while pounding on it with a soft face mallet was the only way to shift it.

Peaking out from under the crap was a Koni sticker.  When stripping the passenger side strut the insert came out easily and revealed the trademark red paint and that it was an 'Adjustable' model.  Unfortunately these had long been adjusted to dead weights with shot valving and little resistance or return when compressed. Guessing at the meaning of the numbers stamped into the bottom they last saw the light of day in either 1986 or 1988. The passenger side was a lot easier to strip which goes to show how effective even the stock dust cover is at keeping crap out of the tube to prolong their life and help stripping later on.

Everything that wasn't new got a good wire brushing and then several coats of a flat black machinery epoxy that I like for these sort of things. I also pulled the anti-roll bar (sway bar) to treat this to a coat of paint and a new set of bushes / hardware kit from W&N. All that new cadmium plating looks sexy but I didn't have the cash to replace all of the hardware so the rest was cleaned throughly before giving a thin coat of SilverGal zinc based paint. 

The obligatory money shot. I had originally wanted to wait until I was dropping the front subframe for an engine rebuild but I am glad I did this in advance. I do work on the assumption that as long as everything has been shiney and like new at one point while the car is in my ownership that is easier than trying to get everything new at the same time. I try and be realistic about the finish and painting too avoiding a bling paint finish. Ultimately this stuff is going to be installed in a grimy, oily place and as long as it it doing its job I am happy.

Thanks for reading, any questions please feel free to comment.