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Sunday 18 November 2012

Rear suspension

There is a tiny hole that needs welding, probably ½ hour work however, to do it properly the rear suspension arm has to come off. The boot is stripped out so the screwed ring and clamp that joins the anti roll bar to the arm had easy access. After pipework and the suspension cylinder was disconnected this left 3 nuts to remove and the arm was off (after a bit of persuasion) There is quite a weep of LHM from the rear cylinder and the boot is split, I have all the parts to recondition this so decided to remove the cylinder. The rear sphere was removed and the clamp removed that secures the cylinder in place along with the pipework, according to the manual "the cylinder is then removed towards the front of the vehicle"... yeah right! after 2 hours with WD40, sweat, tears and a hot air gun it came out.

Now I can get on with the welding and restoring the suspension.

Inside the boot with anti roll bar disconnected

Area to be welded is circled here

Rear arm and suspension removed

Rear suspension cylinder stripped and cleaned, rebuilt with new seals

Cylinder gaiter being refitted - this starts off inside out

Suspension cylinder rebuilt ready to go back on vehicle

Rear arm bearings cleaned and inspected okay, so re-greased and built back up

New rear brake pipe bracket that had corroded away

And welded in place

New rear suspension bump/rebound stops welded in place and sealed

Welding finished and area cleaned and sealed
 Schutz applied all over apart from where the arm bolts on, this is waxed later

Anti roll bar cleaned and greased before refitting
Bolts cleaned and new threadlock applied
Rear suspension cylinder refitted

New rear suspension sphere and seal
Will have to replace pipework later on