23 replies to this topic

[finch661]

cool, think i might have a brake spanner somewhere

[finch661]

i was having a think about those troublesome sill bolts. if heat is used to expand the bolt and drive through the wd40, im guessing quite a a lot of the heat will be dissapated through the trunnion. could the trunnion pin not be rremoved to alllow separation of the subframe to the car, hence leaving the trunnions in place? then the heads of the bolts could be drilled & trunnion removed, and better chance at removing the bolts with heat and a pair of mole grips?

just a thought, i mioght be completely wrong

[bmcecosse]

You can try - but it's often a bu99er to undo. Battery cable should not need touching - it should be routed above the subby - but DO disconnect the battery before starting. The fuel tank has to be moved to gain access to the rear damper top nuts on passenger side. Overall - if no seized/broken bolts spoil the fun - it can be off in an hour or so! Don't use stainless bolts - when in contact with steel they form an electrolytic cell - and guess what - the steel around the bolt rots away as the sacrificial anode!! Not at all a great idea. New plated bolts are fine - and yes - lots of Copper slip.

[finch661]

it was just a passing thought, though i am putting serious consideration into drilling the trunnion bolt heads off anyway, to have better access to heat&remove. if worse happens, how do you remove broken bolts (well when there isnt much thread on it) in the sill?
oh and i bought the minispares fitting kit

Edited by finch661, 04 February 2010 - 05:04 PM.

[bmcecosse]

If there is some shank left - after the subby has been removed - you use heat, lots of it - and stillsons on the shanks! But don't get too worried yet - try to get them to unscrew first!

[finch661]

cool, i am planning to start next weekend, and have been applying wd40 and shock&unlock to the trunnion bolts for the last few days (will do it every night)

[bmcecosse]

Well - start to try to undo them - one at a time - using a GOOD socket. Just gently try them both ways - slacken and tighten - bit by bit. the only ones to worry about are the 4 going forwards into the heel board - the bolts holding the subby up at the back don't matter.

[finch661]

yeah, they're the ones i am worrying about i thought of trying to heat them up aswell, see if that will draw through the wd40, though like i said, im guessing that they wont heat up that well with the trunnion in place

[Mark S]

Just completed this job today. Took around 16 hours all in. Quite straight forward if you are adept with the spanners.

Fit the subframe bare before fitting the radius arms. I used a trolley jack with the subframe balanced across a piece of wood to lift it into place. Bolt the rear up (loose) first, then the front.
The front will probably not line up! leave the trunion pins loose so one of them will line up with the nuts in the heelboard and bolt this side up tight. Then use a g clamp on this side pin to pull the subframe over so that the other side trunnion lines up with the holes and bolts will start. - You may have to use a second g clamp on this side to squash the bush to get this to line up. Then tighten pin nuts and trunnion bolts.

Make sure that all the bolts run freely in the nuts before you start. A 5/16 UNF tap is good to have to clean the threads on the heel board and captive subframe nuts before you start. £3.65 well spent!

Depends on how much you want to spend, but I fitted poly bushes, new bolts, new brake pipes, flexies, brake cylinders and shoes, refurbished the brake back plates and handbrake cable supports, etc etc, check radius arm bushes before you start! Get the bits you need BEFORE you start. I ordered brake pipes off ebay that took 10 days to arrive!

Plenty of Dynax, S50 (or that Waxoyl c**p if you must) on the subframe and around the mounts before you fit it.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Mark.