Swopping a Mk2 front suspension onto my Mk1

[blackyb]

Going to pop the bore scope down the chassis rails to make sure alls well, then going to apply a coat of good old fashioned car wax polish in the hope we get out in her sometime this year.

Well you have to have hope.

[Bluebell18]

Friday 3rd, Day 1
The day was dry and overcast, but more importantly the wind had dropped, so having finished my driver’s window rebuild and fixed the central locking there was no longer any excuse to not start.
Blocked the rear wheels, slackened the wheel nuts and jacked up the front o/side corner to allow placement of an axle stand.




Undertray unbolted, relatively easy as all bolts were replaced with 6mm flanged s/steel some years ago.
Not a pretty sight!



The rear edge is all bent out of shape and has a couple of cracks, I intend to try and reinforce this with some aluminium strip and super glue, we will see how it goes!

Next the wheel arch liner was removed and the debris began to drop out.



I expepected a build up but had hoped for less. When I did my initial under wing clean up i added spacing washers in an attempt to create a drainage space at the bottom of the wing, not sure now that it was entirely successful.

The chassis rails look ok so my initial clean up some five years ago appears to be holding the tin worm at bay.



although the footwell seam will need a little attention.



So last job of the day was a wash down with the pressure washer to remove five years of muck and then left to dry over night.


Dave

[Mazda Mender]

Funny enough....

[Bluebell18]

Wow that looks a lot cleaner than mine.
Are those plates just bonded on or are they physically attached?
Dave

[Bluebell18]

Saturday 4th, Day 2
Another dry day, this is the big one as the wishbones and upright now have to come off.



Brake calliper and carrier unbolted and suspended out of the way, this will need repainting. Removed the hub cap, drifted the indent out of the nut which incidentally looks fairly new then long breaker bar and jack handle and it came loose allowing the hub to be removed.
Copious application of WD-40 for the umpteenth time and the back plate bolts were next, the first was fine the second sheared and the third rounded the head off. A session with a large hammer and a cold chisel gave enough purchase for a socket and the windy gun to shear this one off also. I suspect that the back plate has been on since new as it was very reluctant to let go but after some gentle persuasion it was ready for a clean-up. I have to reuse this as finding good s/hand ones is almost impossible although there are obviously some still in the USA but P&P is more expensive than the part.

The top ball joint and track rod end came apart easily as the rubber boot was renewed last year, but the bottom was a struggle and I ended up removing the joint from the lower arm, more sheared bolts.



The long top bolt was next, and to be honest I was dreading this, access is difficult with the brake hose bracket so near the nut but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it came apart. The only difficulty was sliding the bolt forward until I realised that it fouled on the ARB mounting bolts, the bolt is in very good condition and I have new nuts, so it will be cleaned and reused.
I had not intended to remove the shock but what is becoming my usual rule of two failures stuck yet again. So that is burst water hose then alternator rebuild before Christmas followed by central locking repair then driver’s window cable broken and now as well as my rebuild I have a broken front spring. These were new five years ago!



The more observant H&S minded menders will note the use of steel toe capped sandals!

That just left the two camber bolts on the lower arm and these were rusted solid. If I thought access was tight for the top bolt then the bottom ones were a nightmare!



So at the end of Day 2 ‘there it was gone’.

Next I need to clean up and paint the back plate, calliper, carrier, ARB, Steering arm, treat the rusty seam and it can all start to go back together. Oh and change the rack boot.
Just need to order a pair of new springs first.

Dave

[blackyb]

Keep it up. We all need some light entertainment at the moment and reaching build threads is just the ticket.

[Mazda Mender]

Wow that looks a lot cleaner than mine.
Are those plates just bonded on or are they physically attached?
Dave

I was going to go with just bonded but this was out of shape and had pieces missing from hanging down and catching the floor over time at some point, , the passenger side was held in place to the roadster by a cable tie, i would have got hold of another, but not an easy item to be posted to me and we cannot travel at the minute and want her finished , so repair was the answer... so i needed to pop rivet the plates in place ( thin galvanized metal) and then flatten the rivets with two lump hammers before filling what was missing of the under tray plastic and the edges with silkaflex, left it to bond over night and sprayed the plates black.
It worked really well and looks good and a lot more in shape/solid than without.
M-m

[Bluebell18]

Hanging down and catching the floor sounds just like mine, is this a common fault?

Whilst removing mine I noticed that there appears to be a rear central threaded hole for fixing presumably but no hole in the tray will reinstate this bolt on assembly.

Never used Silkaflex before, looked to order some but there is quite a range, which version do you recommend to bond metal to plastic and fill cracks?

Dave

[Mazda Mender]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/312705785668

[Bluebell18]

Sunday 5th, Day 3
Long dirty day wire brushing bodywork and parts.

Car body is mainly rust free just a few bits around bolt holes etc. All wire brushed down and treated then sprayed with wax oil. Tie rod wire brushed and painted in preparation for boot change and end of ARB de-rusted.





The brake calliper paint has flaked and will need a repaint as will the carrier which has been done and is now resplendent in a coat of Ferrari Red.



The brake back plate took some time with the wire brush to remove as much paint and rust as possible and has revealed two holes, one appears to have been made as it is almost circular whilst the other is I suspect just corrosion.



The broken spring needs some careful consideration, when I got the car some five years ago I replaced the shocks and springs from a well known parts supplier as I had a broken rear spring. Looking at their website the same springs are still available but there are some adverse comments regarding their durability.

Decided to give Autolink a try and springs duly ordered.

A little more fettling to be done, remove broken spring, clean up and paint shock, paint calliper and back plate etc, the problem is that I can no longer go to my local Tool Station for the paint and they will not post as it is not an essential item so had to order of the Bay of E and pay postage. Then and only then can I start to put it all back together, this is the part I enjoy, new and freshly painted parts along with brand new bolts nuts and washers.

Dave

[Mazda Mender]

Dave i am going to move this over into the build threads buddy...I'll wait until you acknowledge this before doing so .
M-m

[Bluebell18]

No problem and thanks for the silkaflex link.
Dave

[Bluebell18]

Wednesday 08th, Day 4

Work on Bluebell has been furloughed to allow the workforce to recover from crawling around on the floor and for the aches and pains to subside, although calliper painted, carrier and back plate repainted.

Three deliveries today, new springs two tins of satin black paint and a tube of silkaflex, so work can continue.

Shock and spring dismantled with little difficulty.



Comparing the springs it is interesting to note that the old spring is a similar length to the new one and when complete would have been longer.



If my memory serves me correctly when I fitted these springs originally the car sat higher and after some research I was assured that they were the correct springs and that the ride height was within specs, It will be interestig to compare sides before I change out the n/side.

Dave

[Mazda Mender]

There is also a routine to tightening everything back up correct to the roadster so it does not sit like a 4 x 4.
M-m

[Bluebell18]

Thanks M-m,
Yes, I presume you mean bolt all up but loose, sit car on wheels and allow the suspension to settle before tightening up to correct torque.

When I replaced the springs initially I managed to do it without dismantling the suspension, although it was a struggle.

Still curious about the different spring lengths.

Dave