83C

After tea, more progress.
From this:

To this:

Both lower arm ball joints feel like there’s a bit of slack in them, so just as well they’re being replaced. 
Transferring the hub to the bench and being able to knock the arms out directly rather than swinging the hammer at weird angles is a much better way to do things. This however did give me a moment where I had to choose the next move, because as I was giving the hub carrier a wire brushing it occurred to me that having the carriers sandblasted and powdercoated would be good. The problem is that I can’t do it efficiently unless I buy a spare set of carriers and have them all done at the same time, or send each carrier off individually, because I can’t put the whole car in the air at home. 
The thing is, if I go down that route where do I stop? I know I’d be wanting to drop the rear subframe and have that properly cleaned up too. Then there’s some crusty fasteners that I’m measuring up for replacements, the brake backing plates are a bit grim but probably salvageable. 
Realistically I’ve got to know when to stop. Trying to make the underside of the VXR8 like new will only lead to madness and take far longer than I want, so the carriers will be cleaned off, maybe a brush coat of something and that’s it. Bolts aren’t a major thing so I will order some fresh fasteners where I need them, but unless I can find some new backing plates for sensible money  the old ones will get the same treatment as the hub carriers. The arches and liners will be cleaned as much as possible, and any grot treated before it gets any worse.
More tomorrow if the weather holds.

That's the definition of optimism right there - using a solar battery charger in North Wales.

Russian lady-
“Do you want to go to a Cuban Ballet? We need to be there in 30 min?”
Me
”Sounds good”
As it was all a bit spontaneous and choosing life I decided we should take the shad. I hadnt really driven it to get somewhere in a hurry before, so that was fun in itself! Think boat-like floaty wallowing and body roll with engine noise (im beginning to wonder if the silencers are past it as it can sound suprisingly snarly)
 

So it was quite a cultural evening. Did a quick pic beside a clock tower and a Bank (now a pub) that somehow survived the Blitz and Subsequent redevelopment, whilst everything in the immediate area didnt.

 

Street furniture

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/395242432672?itmmeta=01HR2885CM1YBBGCBXHCASDXTY&hash=item5c0648e8a0:g:WMIAAOSwkGNl5HkY

Yeah, about that…
The back end has been much more of a fight than the front, despite there being less work to do. The rear anti-roll bar links are ok but not ideal, so I’d left them alone rather than trying to undo them. Instead I had to undo the rear ARB mount to allow the rear lower arm to drop low enough to release the damper. Reassembly however, is very much not the reverse of removal, because the lower end of the ARB mount clips into the subframe rather than being bolted:

To get it located and in position for the top bolt to go in, the droplink must come off.
Bollocks.
And then:

Double bollocks.
So off they came with the angry grinder, and new ones are in the post because somehow I forgot to order any when I did the massive suspension bit order from Rock Auto.
The rear brake shields are well past saving but new ones are hard to get and require removal of the hub to replace them, so the worst bits have been cut off and then the edge tidied with a flap disc:

And finally, the majority of the reassembly is done this side, it just needs a droplink and a driveshaft nut.

A small daydreaming diversion.
The other day I saw a very neatly kept VW Mk.2 Golf GTI, in full early 2000's Max Power spec - smoothed, lowered, single headlamps conversion, 18s, smoked rear lights, all the usual bits. Now as a 15/16/17 year old I consumed modified car culture for breakfast, lunch, tea and supper, it was the hot topic in my circle of friends. We daydreamed about what we'd get when we were 17, what we'd do to them (regardless of being utterly skint), how we'd get mag featured etc. Smoothed Euro cars, lairy Japanese drift monsters,  even old skool US rods and customs, we all loved it. When we hit 17/18, we all had the usual selection of crap motors though none of us went full BarryBoys with crap mods. My mate Rich did have a very tidy black E36 318i that was slightly lowered, had 18" E46 M3 reps, a twin 3" stainless slash-cut exhaust and clear rear lights, another friend had a Mk.3 Golf (lowered and loud exhaust), and I had a Mk.3 Cavalier where I didn't bother with much in the way of external mods (aside from debadging and a set of 15s) but I did make sure it had a reasonable stereo setup - a basic Sony Xplod CD head unit and amp powering JBL 6x9s and door speakers. Couldn't afford a decent sub though.
Seeing the Golf the other day got me thinking about reliving my yoof a bit, and building my dream early 2000's car. I'd probably like something like my mate's E36, or a Mk.3 Golf (because they're not stupid money like a Mk.2), something like that. Subtle OEM+ styling (I was never over keen on piling tons of fibreglass tat on), make it go, handle and stop a bit better, make the engine bay look good, sort the interior, and finally, the point of all this rambling, the ICE build I always wanted. I'm not on about some mega SPL setup with eleventymillion subs and a stack of amps, just a good quality setup with decent bass, and the cherry on top, the head unit I aspired to owning but as a skint 17 year old could never afford. Many people wanted the Pioneer unit with the leaping dolphins display, like this:

But for me, it was all about this:

The Sony CDX M6-series flip front/mask head units, remote controlled or used with the optional steering column controls.
So yes, I'm contemplating buying and modifying a car purely so I have something worthy of fitting an old single-DIN stereo to. It won't happen quickly, but I think parts may start to accumulate. 
And now, back to wrestling rusty suspension on the Australian Immigrant.

Added fun* part 2.
One of the jobs on the list was replacing the O/S/R ABS sensor. The ABS has been faulty since I got the car, and a bit of work with the diagnostics revealed no signal from that corner, and completely open circuit. Chances are then that it’s the sensor at fault. I undid the bolt holding it in, went to ease the old sensor out, and the head of it fell off, leaving the sensor body in the hub. Hmm, there’s been previous fuckery here methinks. Next step was to drill the remnants out, which went alright until the fresh out of the box new 10mm bit snapped its tip off halfway down the hole. 
Fuck.
I then undid the hub from everything securing it, and rotated it hoping the bit would fall out - no such luck. So next step was to remove the whole hub and driveshaft, to go to the bench. 
This was the moment I realised the whole job was fucked. 
The bearings hadn’t made any noise previously but rotating the shaft revealed a distinct roughness, and then I took a closer look at the thread on the outer end of the driveshaft. It’s fucked. Again, signs of previous attention by a chimp. So back to the breakers it was for the complete driveshaft and hub assembly off the breaker that has already given up its rear subframe, exhaust and a few other bits, leaving a gaping hole:

I didn’t take many photos as I was trying to make progress between rain showers, but one job I did manage was assembling the new strut:

Last bit of progress today was to get everything loosely assembled, so the next job is to waggle and jiggle everything into shape and bolt it all back together. I can’t complete the job until Thursday as I’m awaiting a small package of parts from Walkinshaw Performance, consisting of some shiny trinkets and more importantly, a new driveshaft nut (missing on the new shaft).
Hopefully the other side (which is a straightforward strut/spring replacement) will be less of an epic.

Today I got the O/S/F back together, and started on the O/S/R. Now the original plan was to do as I've done with the front, all new suspension bits throughout. However, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Upon jacking the rear end up, it became obvious that although solid the rear frame was a bit crustier than the front, and access to some of the bolts would be a proper nightmare without dropping the subframe, something I have no facility to do. I did toy with getting some longer bolts with the correct thread so I could just lower the frame a few inches, but rather helpfully a local specialist breaker has a subframe in stock, so I'm collecting that early next week. The new plan is that the dampers and springs are being fitted because they're needed to match the front, but everything else is going to wait - the back end isn't as rattly as the front anyway. The new subframe will be stripped, blasted and powder coated, and then built up with all new components and bushes ready to accept the current diff, driveshafts and hubs, and then I'll try and organise with the garage that does my MoTs for them to do the swap. They've had some oddball stuff in before (including a very tidy E28 M535i) so a simple subframe swap (especially one ready built) shouldn't faze them.
I also noticed when I did the front that what I thought was standard kit coming off is actually at least aftermarket springs, as they are the same overall length as the new dampers and springs going on:

Not a bad thing in itself as at least the car won't ride any lower.
I've also known the car has a blow from the exhaust at the rear ever since I bough it, so today was the first chance to get a good look at the problem:


I've seen some shit bodges but these are really rather special. The backboxes are proper Walkinshaw stainless steel jobs, but they've been bodged to a pair of straight through pipes of a different diameter. Luckily last week I collected a secondhand Walkinshaw cat-back system because I already knew thanks to the previous owner that the exhaust fitted wasn't particularly great - I just didn't realise how 'not great' until today  There also isn't any form of crossover pipe between the two banks, usually there is an X or H pipe (as there is with the new system) but these just have two straight runs of pipe back to the mess behind the rear wheels. Can't wait to get this car back on the road though, it should drive and sound so much better.

He was demanding to see I’d deleted them not just from Photos, but also from the recycle bin (Recently Deleted folder), and as he left he made a point of saying he didn’t want ‘anyone’ turning up at his house, which I take to mean the authorities. The whole time we were there trying to sort it out he was shifty, evasive and tried blaming me for being there - ‘why you stop??’ - because if I hadn’t, I’d  have rear-ended the car in front of me. We “agreed” a figure as compensation and for the whole time he was counting it out of a roll of notes he moaned and bitched that the figure I’d insisted on was ‘not good value for him’. Well if he wanted to save his money, not twatting into the car in front might be a good start, and then not pissing the owner of said car off by being a shifty cunt would also be a good idea. 
Anyway, anyone got a rear bumper for a Mk.1 Fabia?

The brake dust shields look grim, but they’re not rotten, so from this:

Via a tickle with a wire wheel and a flap disc to this:

And then a coat of dog dick red Hammerite-ish aerosol to this:

Only the MoT tester will ever see them, so colour-coding the shields is entirely pointless. Much like life itself.
Anyway, once it has dried (the other one will get similar treatment when I do that corner), it can go back on, the brakes can get refitted and that’s everything done on the N/S/F:

Everything has been tightened up, I’m sure there are torque settings for most of it but the standard FT measurement of tightness as applied by a fat gorilla is more than adequate. That unpainted hub carrier is still niggling me but I’m not falling down that particular rabbit hole, I want to use this car this year. Anything unpainted will get lagged in ACF50 anyway. 
More tomorrow.

The morning’s progress:

The old alternator was here. It moved to here:

And was swiftly removed from the cradle. Bearings definitely shot, it was very rough. New one perched just to the left, genuine GM spec (made by Mitsubishi Electric in Japan) from Rock Auto. The pulley is slightly different, I guess it contains some sort of damper or overrun bearing. Same size though, so no point swapping. The alternator cradle did require some attention from a file as the new alternator wasn’t a smooth fit into the casting, and this did cause some swear words to be used as I thought I’d taken enough off and only found it needed a bit more after I’d spent half an hour attempting to fit it. Still, all on now. 

The next N/S/F Only job is the steering rack bush. The O/S is fixed, this end is supported in a rubber bush. It’s not vital to replace but everything else is being done so I might as well. 

The ARB bush is also off, and it appears someone has already upgraded them to polybushes:

Red, so probably a Pedders bush. I could just put it back on, but I have a pair of new Superpro bushes so that’s what is going back on. 
All JGF.

Finally the weather and free time have aligned to make a start on the VXR8, this was the state of play 5 mins ago in the near side wheel arch :

The track rod and track rod end will also be coming off. The plan is to take the hub and lower arms to the workbench and deal with them there. Whilst they’re off, the alternator will be replaced:

With the suspension out of the way it’s the easiest access. ARB bushes and steering rack bush will also be replaced, as well as a general clean up in the area.
I might regret typing this but so far everything is coming apart very nicely, despite most of it probably having not been touched since it left Australia in 2007 and having minimal corrosion protection. 

Yeah, about that…
The back end has been much more of a fight than the front, despite there being less work to do. The rear anti-roll bar links are ok but not ideal, so I’d left them alone rather than trying to undo them. Instead I had to undo the rear ARB mount to allow the rear lower arm to drop low enough to release the damper. Reassembly however, is very much not the reverse of removal, because the lower end of the ARB mount clips into the subframe rather than being bolted:

To get it located and in position for the top bolt to go in, the droplink must come off.
Bollocks.
And then:

Double bollocks.
So off they came with the angry grinder, and new ones are in the post because somehow I forgot to order any when I did the massive suspension bit order from Rock Auto.
The rear brake shields are well past saving but new ones are hard to get and require removal of the hub to replace them, so the worst bits have been cut off and then the edge tidied with a flap disc:

And finally, the majority of the reassembly is done this side, it just needs a droplink and a driveshaft nut.

Yeah, about that…
The back end has been much more of a fight than the front, despite there being less work to do. The rear anti-roll bar links are ok but not ideal, so I’d left them alone rather than trying to undo them. Instead I had to undo the rear ARB mount to allow the rear lower arm to drop low enough to release the damper. Reassembly however, is very much not the reverse of removal, because the lower end of the ARB mount clips into the subframe rather than being bolted:

To get it located and in position for the top bolt to go in, the droplink must come off.
Bollocks.
And then:

Double bollocks.
So off they came with the angry grinder, and new ones are in the post because somehow I forgot to order any when I did the massive suspension bit order from Rock Auto.
The rear brake shields are well past saving but new ones are hard to get and require removal of the hub to replace them, so the worst bits have been cut off and then the edge tidied with a flap disc:

And finally, the majority of the reassembly is done this side, it just needs a droplink and a driveshaft nut.

A small daydreaming diversion.
The other day I saw a very neatly kept VW Mk.2 Golf GTI, in full early 2000's Max Power spec - smoothed, lowered, single headlamps conversion, 18s, smoked rear lights, all the usual bits. Now as a 15/16/17 year old I consumed modified car culture for breakfast, lunch, tea and supper, it was the hot topic in my circle of friends. We daydreamed about what we'd get when we were 17, what we'd do to them (regardless of being utterly skint), how we'd get mag featured etc. Smoothed Euro cars, lairy Japanese drift monsters,  even old skool US rods and customs, we all loved it. When we hit 17/18, we all had the usual selection of crap motors though none of us went full BarryBoys with crap mods. My mate Rich did have a very tidy black E36 318i that was slightly lowered, had 18" E46 M3 reps, a twin 3" stainless slash-cut exhaust and clear rear lights, another friend had a Mk.3 Golf (lowered and loud exhaust), and I had a Mk.3 Cavalier where I didn't bother with much in the way of external mods (aside from debadging and a set of 15s) but I did make sure it had a reasonable stereo setup - a basic Sony Xplod CD head unit and amp powering JBL 6x9s and door speakers. Couldn't afford a decent sub though.
Seeing the Golf the other day got me thinking about reliving my yoof a bit, and building my dream early 2000's car. I'd probably like something like my mate's E36, or a Mk.3 Golf (because they're not stupid money like a Mk.2), something like that. Subtle OEM+ styling (I was never over keen on piling tons of fibreglass tat on), make it go, handle and stop a bit better, make the engine bay look good, sort the interior, and finally, the point of all this rambling, the ICE build I always wanted. I'm not on about some mega SPL setup with eleventymillion subs and a stack of amps, just a good quality setup with decent bass, and the cherry on top, the head unit I aspired to owning but as a skint 17 year old could never afford. Many people wanted the Pioneer unit with the leaping dolphins display, like this:

But for me, it was all about this:

The Sony CDX M6-series flip front/mask head units, remote controlled or used with the optional steering column controls.
So yes, I'm contemplating buying and modifying a car purely so I have something worthy of fitting an old single-DIN stereo to. It won't happen quickly, but I think parts may start to accumulate. 
And now, back to wrestling rusty suspension on the Australian Immigrant.

Yeah, about that…
The back end has been much more of a fight than the front, despite there being less work to do. The rear anti-roll bar links are ok but not ideal, so I’d left them alone rather than trying to undo them. Instead I had to undo the rear ARB mount to allow the rear lower arm to drop low enough to release the damper. Reassembly however, is very much not the reverse of removal, because the lower end of the ARB mount clips into the subframe rather than being bolted:

To get it located and in position for the top bolt to go in, the droplink must come off.
Bollocks.
And then:

Double bollocks.
So off they came with the angry grinder, and new ones are in the post because somehow I forgot to order any when I did the massive suspension bit order from Rock Auto.
The rear brake shields are well past saving but new ones are hard to get and require removal of the hub to replace them, so the worst bits have been cut off and then the edge tidied with a flap disc:

And finally, the majority of the reassembly is done this side, it just needs a droplink and a driveshaft nut.

Added fun* part 2.
One of the jobs on the list was replacing the O/S/R ABS sensor. The ABS has been faulty since I got the car, and a bit of work with the diagnostics revealed no signal from that corner, and completely open circuit. Chances are then that it’s the sensor at fault. I undid the bolt holding it in, went to ease the old sensor out, and the head of it fell off, leaving the sensor body in the hub. Hmm, there’s been previous fuckery here methinks. Next step was to drill the remnants out, which went alright until the fresh out of the box new 10mm bit snapped its tip off halfway down the hole. 
Fuck.
I then undid the hub from everything securing it, and rotated it hoping the bit would fall out - no such luck. So next step was to remove the whole hub and driveshaft, to go to the bench. 
This was the moment I realised the whole job was fucked. 
The bearings hadn’t made any noise previously but rotating the shaft revealed a distinct roughness, and then I took a closer look at the thread on the outer end of the driveshaft. It’s fucked. Again, signs of previous attention by a chimp. So back to the breakers it was for the complete driveshaft and hub assembly off the breaker that has already given up its rear subframe, exhaust and a few other bits, leaving a gaping hole:

I didn’t take many photos as I was trying to make progress between rain showers, but one job I did manage was assembling the new strut:

Last bit of progress today was to get everything loosely assembled, so the next job is to waggle and jiggle everything into shape and bolt it all back together. I can’t complete the job until Thursday as I’m awaiting a small package of parts from Walkinshaw Performance, consisting of some shiny trinkets and more importantly, a new driveshaft nut (missing on the new shaft).
Hopefully the other side (which is a straightforward strut/spring replacement) will be less of an epic.

Added fun, part one:

This may look like a pile of rust, but it’s exactly what I need for building up a refurbished rear subframe assembly for the VXR8. All the arms and wiring will come off, bushes will all be pressed out, and the bare frame will go for sandblasting and powder coating. Then it’ll have all new bushes and arms, and finally it’ll get swapped into the ‘R8 sometime later this year. It’ll be an as-and-when project, as I don’t currently own a press (10t press recommendations welcome, currently looking at one from SGS), but it’ll keep the car usable and stop me using up so much of my swear allowance trying to fit the new arms and bushes in situ to the current rear subframe.

Not much progress today, but I did get the rear damper/spring/topmount assembly apart, with the topmount cleaned up and painted:



Yes, the paint has a case of the runs. It’s protective only, not decorative.
Tomorrow I’ll get the strut back together with the new damper and spring, and then I’ve got some added fun* to attend to.

Today I got the O/S/F back together, and started on the O/S/R. Now the original plan was to do as I've done with the front, all new suspension bits throughout. However, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Upon jacking the rear end up, it became obvious that although solid the rear frame was a bit crustier than the front, and access to some of the bolts would be a proper nightmare without dropping the subframe, something I have no facility to do. I did toy with getting some longer bolts with the correct thread so I could just lower the frame a few inches, but rather helpfully a local specialist breaker has a subframe in stock, so I'm collecting that early next week. The new plan is that the dampers and springs are being fitted because they're needed to match the front, but everything else is going to wait - the back end isn't as rattly as the front anyway. The new subframe will be stripped, blasted and powder coated, and then built up with all new components and bushes ready to accept the current diff, driveshafts and hubs, and then I'll try and organise with the garage that does my MoTs for them to do the swap. They've had some oddball stuff in before (including a very tidy E28 M535i) so a simple subframe swap (especially one ready built) shouldn't faze them.
I also noticed when I did the front that what I thought was standard kit coming off is actually at least aftermarket springs, as they are the same overall length as the new dampers and springs going on:

Not a bad thing in itself as at least the car won't ride any lower.
I've also known the car has a blow from the exhaust at the rear ever since I bough it, so today was the first chance to get a good look at the problem:


I've seen some shit bodges but these are really rather special. The backboxes are proper Walkinshaw stainless steel jobs, but they've been bodged to a pair of straight through pipes of a different diameter. Luckily last week I collected a secondhand Walkinshaw cat-back system because I already knew thanks to the previous owner that the exhaust fitted wasn't particularly great - I just didn't realise how 'not great' until today  There also isn't any form of crossover pipe between the two banks, usually there is an X or H pipe (as there is with the new system) but these just have two straight runs of pipe back to the mess behind the rear wheels. Can't wait to get this car back on the road though, it should drive and sound so much better.

And all back together. Just the other three corners to do.

The brake dust shields look grim, but they’re not rotten, so from this:

Via a tickle with a wire wheel and a flap disc to this:

And then a coat of dog dick red Hammerite-ish aerosol to this:

Only the MoT tester will ever see them, so colour-coding the shields is entirely pointless. Much like life itself.
Anyway, once it has dried (the other one will get similar treatment when I do that corner), it can go back on, the brakes can get refitted and that’s everything done on the N/S/F:

Everything has been tightened up, I’m sure there are torque settings for most of it but the standard FT measurement of tightness as applied by a fat gorilla is more than adequate. That unpainted hub carrier is still niggling me but I’m not falling down that particular rabbit hole, I want to use this car this year. Anything unpainted will get lagged in ACF50 anyway. 
More tomorrow.

Final bit of removal for this corner was the old track rod. The track rod ball joint felt alright to be honest but splitting it from the track rod end is never a fun job, so new kit throughout is the way forwards. 

It also allowed easier access to fit these:

And then the new track rod and lower arms went on, along with the hub. 

Once these are tightened up it’ll be the new spring and damper to fit next.

The morning’s progress:

The old alternator was here. It moved to here:

And was swiftly removed from the cradle. Bearings definitely shot, it was very rough. New one perched just to the left, genuine GM spec (made by Mitsubishi Electric in Japan) from Rock Auto. The pulley is slightly different, I guess it contains some sort of damper or overrun bearing. Same size though, so no point swapping. The alternator cradle did require some attention from a file as the new alternator wasn’t a smooth fit into the casting, and this did cause some swear words to be used as I thought I’d taken enough off and only found it needed a bit more after I’d spent half an hour attempting to fit it. Still, all on now. 

The next N/S/F Only job is the steering rack bush. The O/S is fixed, this end is supported in a rubber bush. It’s not vital to replace but everything else is being done so I might as well. 

The ARB bush is also off, and it appears someone has already upgraded them to polybushes:

Red, so probably a Pedders bush. I could just put it back on, but I have a pair of new Superpro bushes so that’s what is going back on. 
All JGF.