Paddy The Corolla - 1998 1.3 E11 3-Door

[mickburkesnr]

In fairness rust won't comprimise the spring's strength (apparently). If springs do go they just snap. Could be on a none rusted part, could be on any part of it.

Just thought as the shocks would be looking wish and black I might as well smarten it all up :)

[mickburkesnr]

Didn't have as much time as I thought I would yesterday evening, so didn't do a whole lot. I managed to get the anti-roll bar off the car and it seems to be in good nick considering. Wire brush, sand paper, stone chip and top coat for that will be done either tonight or Sunday.

I finished painting the first spring though and I'm fairly impressed. I took a photo of it as I put it back in to the car to "cure", as it's getting a lot hotter in there than it is in my garage! But you can see it next to the brake drums, even though the paint is from completely different manufacturers and one paint (the brake drums) isn't even a manufacturer specific colour, I think I did very well in getting a near perfect match!

I'll be stripping down the other shock absorber tonight and getting that prepped. I'm also picking up my exhaust this afternoon (hopefully, if I can knock off work early) and get the tap and tie set too. So hopefully on Sunday I can throw all the suspension parts back on to the car, meaning the rear is done!

[Ant182]

They look great mick your getting there👍Top work buddy. 

[tooSavvy]

My drums (on my 9yr old Proton Savvy) looked like puff pastry lid (flakey & brown). Kwalitee 'fareast' C.I. 

My Jreg Carina looks unblemished/red rusty - no paint.

When I adjust the shoes I will wirebrush & slap on sober black gloss...

Quality Counts 

 

2sav

[mickburkesnr]

Right, bit of a manic weekend. Didn't work on it Saturday as I was wedding suit shopping (and ultimately unsuccessful as they don't make suits to accomodate my moobs), and spent Sunday cussing and swearing at the suspension bushes and my horrific hangover.

Basically I decided to start fitting the new bushes in to the arms. No problem I thought, armed with my washing up liquid. But yet another(!) g-clamp broken and then the vice. I managed to break the vice in half trying to get the bush in to the arm. Whats more, for some reason, the trailing arm bushes I bought for the car are a good 1cm too big for the hole? Either the online shop is wrong, or these trailing arms are wrong. So I've ordered universal ones in the hope that they'll fit as they're the correct size diameter wise.

But back to the bushes. There's an engineering company that's part of the place I work for and I went to the guy there asking for a Grade 8 bolt. Aparently that's an unusual thing to ask for! Told him what happened, he hands me the bolt and tells me "Good luck breaking that". I'll be back tomorrow asking for another bolt as I'll have broken that too.

Happier news though, I finished the painting of the other spring. So I'm all ready to go now barring the bushes. I also picked up the exhaust, it's a lovely bit of kit. I do have a photo of it but I'll share that once the bushes behave themselves. Tonight I should have more news!

[oldcodger]

For all the work you are doing, would one of these be cost effective or just as much to the point, frustration effective   ?

Seems its the smallest size at 6 ton, plenty of larger ones, but no real idea what pressure such bearings need, would  6 tons do a wheel bearing ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-Ton-Hydraulic-Workshop-Press-Floor-Standing-Plates-Ram-Carriage-Garage-Shop-/272006364234?hash=item3f54d7bc4a:g:MXUAAOSw7aBVDNgL

[mickburkesnr]

No idea, but you're right. The problem I'd have though is space. Haven't the best of room really where I am at the moment.

But I'm going to see how the bolt works tonight, and if that fails I may ask the engineering guys if they can use their press to do the arms. I'm just more annoyed that the vice broke really.

Plus I have the front of the car to do yet! Although they're all polyurathene and should be easier to slip in compared to these.

[tooSavvy]

A bottle jack/press rig would be quite straightforward to build.

For space, if an issue, then double bolted through sleeve/sliding legs would be very robust - but knockdown for slinging under your bench/in mancave 

2sav

[mickburkesnr]

Definitely an option in the future, but not today. I have two control arms with newly fitted bushes! The high tensile bolt made a huge difference. The bolt the engineering guys found for me had a hex head on it, but that turned out to be handy. I got the allen key, got the vice to grip it and assembled the bolt on that, like this. (Apologies about the photo quality, lighting isn't great in the garage, and it wasn't particularly bright outside either.

So from left to right: Allen key, impact socket, washer, bush, control arm, washers and the nut. However, you got to a certain point and I'd run out of thread. I used the quick grips to hold the position of the bush (otherwise the bush would slip straight out).

At which point I then undone the nut holding the washers. I then used a 32mm socket which is big enough for the arm to go in to, replaced the other side with a washer and a nut and continued to apply the squeeze on it. You can see below what happens when the bush is finally placed within the arm.

For lubrication I dumped the fairy liquid (someone told me it contains salt) and remembered I bought two packs of this stuff:

The one I used was the "Red 'n' Tacky", recommended for use on polyurathene bushes as it doesn't go anywhere. So the bushes will be well lubricated. I think the other Heavy Duty Grease isn't rubber friendly.

Anyway, this is what the arms look like now:

And in comparison to the control arm I took off which has the original bushes intact (original is on the right):

However, I've come across a fairly major issue. I purchased trailing arm bushes for the car. But, well you can see the problem here:

The bushes are a good 10mm too wide for the control arm! So either I've bought the wrong ones, the trailing arms aren't to spec, or they've given me the wrong ones. But, from looking online, every time a trailing arm bush is mentioned this is the one that comes up. The diameter of the trailing arm hole is 38mm, so on a whim I've purchased two polyurathene bushes for cheap from eBay to that diameter. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm going to explore other avenues while I wait a week for it to turn up.

I'm snatching at time this week, so no meaningful work will happen on the car this week now I don't think. I think I'll have chance to reassemble the shock absorbers. So at least when I do get a few hours I can throw the rear suspension back on to the car.

But, for those playing along at home, this is the bolt. My new bush installation tool!

 

[oldcodger]

Glad that bolt worked for you.

Would be good to know from your engineering guys  the exact spec of that type of bolt so we could also buy the right ones.

My later rolla just  has the two large bushes of the trailing beam so thankfully not as many bushes to wear out,

The downside is that you can feel the whole back end jump in a corner sometimes, whereas a more independent set up would still grip.

[mickburkesnr]

The bolt itself is a high tensile one, I asked for Grade 8 and they gave me that so I think it's the same. In terms of thickness it was 16mm. It's about 2mm smaller than the standard bolt that goes on to the car anyway.

I'm not so fussed with the number of bushes, as I'm quite impressed with how it's set up anyway. Last time I went near the rear axle in anything was my Peugeot 306 and it was just a beam across the car, trailing arm and springs. 

[mickburkesnr]

I have completely forgot to show off the back box that I bought.

Custom made, stainless steel, should give a lovely sound to the car as well. There's also a stainless steel pipe they made so it should just bolt on. Got it built by Custom Chrome in Nuneaton. A bit of a trip for me but they were highly recommended.

[tooSavvy]

I used a local guy for my CAT-Back, on my Proton SAVVY (it has a 1.2 Clio D4F 16V motor, fitted at Proton Malaysia)

www.aas-exhausts.co.uk/

lifetime guarantee.... well, it was still on when I sold it!

 

2sav

 

[Ant182]

Now then Mick, that looks a very nice Back Box they have made for you it should set the car of nice.

[mickburkesnr]

11 minutes ago, Ant182 said:

Now then Mick, that looks a very nice Back Box they have made for you it should set the car of nice.

Shouldn't be too bad I hope. I asked the guy what sound I could expect, and he said it'll be similar to the car running without a box but a bit quieter.

I had a look through the exhaust though and it's a fairly clean channel going through it, so it should give a bit more response to the engine too, especially as the exhaust pipe is larger than the inlet.

[mickburkesnr]

So, excitement hit me this evening. I finally get to put things back together!

Take a look at the photo (again, sorry for poor lighting)... can anyone tell me whats missing...

Give up? I do. Dust covers. No problem though, I bought dust covers and bump stops when I bought the shocks! For the front and the rear!

Here are the front dust covers:

And here, *sigh*, are the rears.

Do not adjust your computers. That is the Monroe box that were delivered to me, and that on the right is 50% of the contents. They're just bump stops, no dust covers.

I go back online to where I bought them (Online Car Parts), and they're sold as dust covers with the bump stop as an image. I remember looking at it thinking that was the dust cover. It isn't though. And with a quick search around t'internet, every time these Monroe's are mentioned the same image is displayed. So obviously Monroe is saying they contain dust covers, but they're not. I went to Micks Garage, the only place I can find dust boots for the front, and they're on order. They'll be delivered "next day delivery", but from the last time I ordered from them it doesn't mean tomorrow. It means the day after they receive them and post them. It could be another week!

So now we play the waiting game...

[mickburkesnr]

If it weren't for the fact that I can't seem to source the dust covers from anywhere else other than Micks Garage I would've cancelled the order by now.

I ordered the bits on Tuesday evening, and I've the email etc to say the order has been placed etc. But absolutely no idea as to when the order will be posted. Bare in mind I bought the "Next Day Delivery" too.

Gets to today, still nothing. So I emailed them and about 20 minutes ago I get a response saying the order will be posted tomorrow and be with me by Monday. If that's the craic, why bother offering "Next Day" when it's more like a full week waiting for the order to be fulfilled.

Not that I can work on the car over the weekend as I've a wedding to go to, but it's just so annoying that the only thing stopping me from getting the shocks back together is two £5 rubber dust covers!

Plus I'm still waiting for the bushes to make their way from Poland. I'll be old and grey by the time these things arrive.

[tooSavvy]

Mick's Garage must have contacts everywhere.... Eastern Europe stockpiles must be raided to turn up this 'rocky horse poo' stuff 

Still.... Having a n.o.s. part 'in your hand' beats getting the bus... Eh? 

2sav

 

[mickburkesnr]

14 hours ago, tooSavvy said:

Mick's Garage must have contacts everywhere.... Eastern Europe stockpiles must be raided to turn up this 'rocky horse poo' stuff 

Still.... Having a n.o.s. part 'in your hand' beats getting the bus... Eh? 

2sav

 

I have no idea. I thought they had a warehouse in Mayo, which is annoying in itself as thats where I'm getting married. I had visions of me rocking up the day before the wedding saying "lads, sod the delivery just give me the damn rubbers".

And true, it does, but I want to drive my work around and I'm starting to get that excited I'm becomming impatient!

[mickburkesnr]

The rubber covers finally came in the post yesterday, so I threw them on the one shock absorber to see if they're alright. At first they look a little short:

But when I found the old one for the same side of the vehicle, I think it's just that the shock absorber is so new that it'll sort itself out once the weight of the car is on it.

Here's a photo of them together, the old one is on the right. That should be obvious enough!

Going to put the other one together tonight, and hopefully throw them on to the car as well. By Friday the whole rear suspension should be replaced.

[mickburkesnr]

I managed to put the other shock absorber together, but then I found out (after putting one on the car) that I got the alignment wrong. The shock absorber mount at the top was on the wrong way. So back in the garage they went while I adjusted them, and bish bash bosh they're on the car!

A little bit skewiff but once the hub is applied then it should be alright again! Something I should note though is that when I took the old shocks apart I found this rubber ring type thing that sat under the bottom of the spring:

It does look tatty around the edges, but the new shocks didn't come with these either. I've decided to put them back on even though theres no mention anywhere about having them on the car. It's a Toyota dealership only item I think too, as none of the websites I use list this.

Last night as well I put on one of the trailing arms, but it's quite loose. As in the bolt seems to be too small for the universal poly bush that I bought. It could be that I've used the wrong bolt and that the proper bolt is hiding from me on the garage table, so I'll have a look for them when I get home. But I know the bolt that attaches the control arms to the hub is the ideal fit for these bushes so is worse comes to worse I'll get a thicker bolt and use that instead.

Tonight, hopefully, a lot of the suspension will thrown back on to the car. Progress my friends, progress!

[tooSavvy]

Aye.... no clearance on bush/bolts m8

Where a manufacturer/aftermarket modder kit gives you an 'eccentric bolt' (camber bolt...bottom of your strut) then they are thin with the eccentric at full dia.

GR8 Work there...

 

2sav

[mickburkesnr]

4 hours ago, tooSavvy said:

Aye.... no clearance on bush/bolts m8

Where a manufacturer/aftermarket modder kit gives you an 'eccentric bolt' (camber bolt...bottom of your strut) then they are thin with the eccentric at full dia.

GR8 Work there...

 

2sav

Yeah thought as much. Measured it with a caliper and the outer diameter of the crush tubing they gave is 19.5mm with the inner diameter being about 14mm, and the hole where the bolt goes through being 12mm. I've come up with the idea of getting two crush tubings made that have an OD of 19.5mm with a wall (thickness) of about 4mm which would bring the inner diameter to about 12mm. Using the same calipers I measured the bolt I said would fit and it comes at about 11.5mm, so this should be alright. I can speak to the guys in the engineering block tomorrow if I can't find one online.

But anyway, thrown the rear hubs on the shocks now, and starting to put the thing back together. Completely forgot that I didn't drill out the two broken bolts from the anti roll bar, and there's no way I can access it if the arms go back on. So that's postponed until Friday. Plus I have the delightful issue of trying to get the old brake lines off the rear drums, but they're stuck good and tight. So before I attack the bolts Friday I'm going to heat those up and get them off.

[mickburkesnr]

Spoke to the lads at engineering, they're going to make up some bushes for me to the spec I've given above. Milling it out of one block of mild steel (to be honest, stainless would be fine, but when I upgrade the rear to poly bushes completely it'll be all new control arms etc) and would be done either today or tomorrow.

Finally found a perk of working where I do!

[mickburkesnr]

The engineering guys didn't let me down. They handed me the two bushes after a few hours. Took them home and I put one in to one of the trailing arms. An absolute perfect fit! The bolt is still a little loose but only about 2mm, not enough to cause major issues I don't think. 

Drilling old bolts out this evening and trying to remove the rounded off brake lines that go in to the drum brake tonight, opening up the weekend to get a load of work done.