Front BJ's & Dampers

The front dampers (shocks) on the VC were not doing their job and it had failed a WoF on one front ball joint.

Both sides had play in the ball joints and you can see the boots were in pretty sad shape.  This lets dirt & grit into the joint and rapidly wears them out.

















Getting the struts & lower control arms (LCA's) out is pretty straightforward (right) - easier in my case to remove them together because I don't have the right puller to separate them.







Once they were out I was able to get a gear puller on the ball joint (left) and that did the job.

There is very little clearance around the BJ, and the bottom of the LCA in this area is not flat.  I cut off a piece of 2-1/2" exhaust tubing to support the arm while I pressed out the BJ.  Took a bit of a shove, but the exhaust tube held up surprisingly well.

The new BJ in place.  A good selection of 3/4" drive sockets is great when you need different sizes of packing when R&R'ing the ball joints.

This is not a resto job, so I won't be painting the arms, etc.  Just a quick clean to get rid of the caked gunk which always accumulates in proximity to greased components.










On to the dampers/strut inserts.  You can see the rubber bellows which seal out dust, water, etc. are totally knackered.  I'll try to source some new ones.
Springs must be compressed before the top nut on the strut insert is undone.  These spring compressors are new and of reasonable quality, but it still feels like handling a live grenade when they are loaded up.  Eek!

There was a lot of oil inside the strut tube - which means there probably isn't a lot of oil in the damper itself.  Still - stops it rusting, I guess ;)














"Strut Mate" kits are available from Repco.  They are a universal kit and actually fit quite well to the Commy struts.

Here is one installed back in the car with the new insert, dust cover & bump stop.

Just a note here that you need to check the spring seat on the strut carefully for rust - this one was in pretty good shape, but I have seen them almost rusted through because they tend to collect water & mud here.









The RH steering rack boot was torn and this will allow dirt & grit into the rack seals, causing leaks and wear.  It is also a WoF issue.   I'll get another boot and replace this one when I do the brake upgrade.
 "What brake upgrade" you say?  Check back soon.