Well, with the unseasonably warm winter we’re having in New Jersey I decided to do the top link bushes on Beryl. I’m keeping the standard springs in for now, I’ll fit the new ones when I find five minutes to design and make up the rear adjustable spring seats to accept coil over springs at the rear.
I used ratchet straps to compress the spring before removal. As soon as I removed it I placed standard spring compressor clamps on the spring just to be safe. I will say the ratchet straps worked well and felt safer than just undoing and waiting for that bang!
The outer bushes on the passenger side (rhs) were very worn. With massive concentricity.
The inner one that side wasn’t too bad but I had a replacement waiting and did it while out. The press being needed to push it and the bracket in position after removing the old one.
I’m now struggling to get the spring and top link back in place, I think I need to compress the spring a little further to align the inner bush bracket with the bolts. I’m giving up tonight and will continue tomorrrow.
Looking at the way the system is setup I might just do the outer bushes on the drivers side, I took a photo of the inner bush with my phone and it looks concentric and in good condition,
I’m sure the outer is still rough of course. think I can replace the outer bushes without dismantling the top link and spring from the car, that’ll save hours of swearing I’m certain!
Current state of play
There were quite a few shims on the bulkhead that removed (some I’d added myself due to heavy steering etc). I’m pretty sure these were compensating for the shifted outer bushes. I’m going to reassemble without them first, measure caster and camber and see if I need to readjust again after this. I think it’s going to be pretty telling when done.