5 GT Turbo GTEEEE!!

[bbob]

so i took the car on a tour around the countryside for some handling tests, before heading back to inner oslo and all the speedbumps and bad roads i could find.
never scraped any of the speedbumps, and the car handled great! success!
guess i'll be lowering the rear tomorrow then

 

[bbob]

well that was lesson in frustration.

only managed to extract the torsion bar around 3mm before it got stuck and the nut decided it was much easier to just burrow through the washer.

is this really the best way to extract the torsion beams, or should i try sourcing a slide hammer?

i also changed the fuel filter while i was underneath the car, and of course managed to store the securing nut in a very smart place that i forgot all about three seconds later.
spent around 30 minutes searching for it and looking through all my things for a suitable replacement.

1 minute after finally finding a suitable nut and fastening it the old one shows up.
what a great day!

 

[bbob]

after thinking about it, i guess if i remove the plastic wheel arches i will have enough room to access the torsion bar with the impact wrench.
i just need to find a stronger washer to keep the nut from tearing it apart

 

[DaveL485]

Knock the torsion bar back in, then pull it out again. Repeated movement might free it up a bit.

 

[Brigsy]

32mm socket and high tensile bolt will pull it out easy if its moving. If it goes tight then shock the bar from underneath

 

[bbob]

Knock the torsion bar back in, then pull it out again. Repeated movement might free it up a bit.

32mm socket and high tensile bolt will pull it out easy if its moving. If it goes tight then shock the bar from underneath

i'll bring a rubber mallet and hammer away next time.
not enough room for a 32mm socket without removing the wheel arches (at least not the ones awailable over here), but i managed to scavenge some ikea stolmen fasteners that work pretty good as spacers when stacked, and leave just enough space for the nut and washer.
the only problem is that nut digs in to the washer instead of pulling the bar out, but hopefully i'll go better with some hammering and "back and forthing".

 

[Brigsy]

I would take the the arches off myself to prevent any damage.

 

[bbob]

well, the good news is the rear arches weren't hiding any rustholes.


the bad news is that after 3 hours of hammering, "back and forthing" and slide-hammering, the torsion bar still wont go any further out.
not really sure what to do at this point.

 

[bbob]

I guess i should try the other side and see if that one is easier to pull out.
If it is, i could possibly fit a gear puller on the inner mounting and push it out from the other end.

As long at it has an opening on the other side to push through that is.

 

[bbob]

i wore out 3 SS bolts and nuts, but i finally managed to pull out the other bar today!

didn't have any tools to push out the other one though, so i had to mount it back in before someone came around and fined me for illegaly parking and working in a parking garage (it was raining, and i didn't want to work outside).
but i cleaned and greased the splines, so it should slide out easily next time.

does the mid mount shackle have the same grooves all the way through?

can i use the other torsion bar to push it out, or do i need to find a steel pipe or something?

 

[bbob]

so nobody knows if it's possible to push the bars out the other way?
would save me a lot of trouble if i could just mount a bearing puller on the loose bar and use it to push the stuck one out.

 

[Brigsy]

Iirc you can whack the bars through. I would just use a socket to draw it out or hammer. If thr bar sticks half way out hit it underneath to free off the rust

 

[bbob]

Iirc you can whack the bars through. I would just use a socket to draw it out or hammer. If thr bar sticks half way out hit it underneath to free off the rust

i've hammered it quite a lot, so that doesn't help much.
i replenished my stock of m10 bolts though, so i'll try drawing it out one last time, and if that doesn't work, i'll try pushing it out from behind using a hub puller.
hopefully spraying the inside of the shackle mount with penetrating oil has loosened it up a bit more than before.

 

[DaveL485]

As far as I know you can knock them out from the back, @la21t did that with a 21. I think you can also push them right through from one side to the other, though I never verified this.

 

[bbob]

YEEEEESSSS!!!

look at my happy face!


i guess blasting the inside of the middle mount finally loosened it enough to come out.

now i just need to glue a couple of the rear arch mounting screws back in as they came out together with the nuts, and mount it all up again

 

[andybond]

I chuckled at your happy face.

 

[bbob]

Literally looking at glue dry...
I want to put everything together and see how i looks, god dammit!!
WHY DID I BUY THE SLOW DRYING EPOXY??!!!

 

[bbob]

pretty pleased with the result.

 

[andybond]

to be contraversial , I would like to see the arse end a fraction higher. Just a little mind ...

 

[Adey]

to be contraversial , I would like to see the arse end a fraction higher. Just a little mind ...

10mm up i think