Went down the workshop yesterday lunchtime to replace the top wishbone bushes on the cortina.
After clearing up and moving the escort i got it in and noticed a little brown bubble at the the top of the windscreen pillar. 'don't poke it' i thought, so i poked it and uncovered a nice little hole.
Nice, now i gotta crack the welder out.
Welded it up, sploshed a bit of paint on it and then got on with unbolting the crossmember.
Found a nice strong length of roller towel and used it to tie the engine to the engine crane, dropped the crossmember and bang, roller towel snaps and engine comes crashing downwards. Bet no one saw that coming eh?
After a quick assesment of the damage, of which there was none thank god, i went off and found an old length of seatbelt to act as makeshift engine bond and got on with the job in hand.
After looking at the subframe bushes i started to think about how much better the car would handle if i just did away with them and welded the crossmember to the chassis. I started getting jiggy making up plates to strengthen the chassis and cleaning up the areas to weld to when my bazza turns up. Conversation went a little like this.
'What you doing now?'
'I'm gonna get rid of these subframe bushes'
'Why?'
'It'll make it better'
'But how long is it gonna take?'
'don't know'
'don't you think this is more of a saturday morning job rather than a sunday afternoon one?'
'You might be right'
So after a bit of contenplation i abandonded that idea and got back to doing what i set out to do.
I got the n/s bushes in without too many problems but when i got onto the o/s the engine mount, which had been supporting the wieght of the crossmember decieded it had had enough and broke.
Great.
I put the suspension back together and started hunting for an engine mount.
The ones in the escort didnt fit and in spite of all the curse word i've got kicking around the workshop nothing suitable could be found so in the end i had to bolt the engine straight to the crossmember. Wow, what a silky smooth ride home i had ;D ;D
Finally got finished at nine oclock when the job should have taken three hours tops and i managed to get an engine mount this morning from a mate so it wasnt a complete disaster and i can happily report the the car now drives a lot better for having them done.
Why is it the simple jobs that always cause the most hassle though?
After clearing up and moving the escort i got it in and noticed a little brown bubble at the the top of the windscreen pillar. 'don't poke it' i thought, so i poked it and uncovered a nice little hole.
Nice, now i gotta crack the welder out.
Welded it up, sploshed a bit of paint on it and then got on with unbolting the crossmember.
Found a nice strong length of roller towel and used it to tie the engine to the engine crane, dropped the crossmember and bang, roller towel snaps and engine comes crashing downwards. Bet no one saw that coming eh?
After a quick assesment of the damage, of which there was none thank god, i went off and found an old length of seatbelt to act as makeshift engine bond and got on with the job in hand.
After looking at the subframe bushes i started to think about how much better the car would handle if i just did away with them and welded the crossmember to the chassis. I started getting jiggy making up plates to strengthen the chassis and cleaning up the areas to weld to when my bazza turns up. Conversation went a little like this.
'What you doing now?'
'I'm gonna get rid of these subframe bushes'
'Why?'
'It'll make it better'
'But how long is it gonna take?'
'don't know'
'don't you think this is more of a saturday morning job rather than a sunday afternoon one?'
'You might be right'
So after a bit of contenplation i abandonded that idea and got back to doing what i set out to do.
I got the n/s bushes in without too many problems but when i got onto the o/s the engine mount, which had been supporting the wieght of the crossmember decieded it had had enough and broke.
Great.
I put the suspension back together and started hunting for an engine mount.
The ones in the escort didnt fit and in spite of all the curse word i've got kicking around the workshop nothing suitable could be found so in the end i had to bolt the engine straight to the crossmember. Wow, what a silky smooth ride home i had ;D ;D
Finally got finished at nine oclock when the job should have taken three hours tops and i managed to get an engine mount this morning from a mate so it wasnt a complete disaster and i can happily report the the car now drives a lot better for having them done.
Why is it the simple jobs that always cause the most hassle though?
The sort of job when if you're at work the boss would say: "Just slip some bushes on that car.", then get a bollocking when it takes twice as long! Good on you for your perseverance!