It's been a while since I posted an update on here. I have driven BOP over the summer but it felt sloppy & I decided to rebuild the rear suspension like I have done with both Hazel & the 2000, which are both much sharper now (& probably safer).
BOP was over the pit & I noticed what I though was water under the back end, but it turned out that it had dropped most of the brake fluid out of the calipers, so it wasn't going anywhere! At least I was taking the suspension out, so what's a caliper rebuild whilst I'm on?
I got a bit of a shock when I had a good look at the previous owner's 'repairs' to both the off-side de-dion elbow & the leading part of the lower link:
I'm not sure the word 'repair' is relevant here
. There was around 10mm extra width in the bottom of the elbow too, which must have contributed to the slop. At least some of the bushes were better than this (just a little...):
The new one is of course on the left of these 'before & after' top links!
BOP is now totally suspension-less at the back end. I am supporting it with axle stands & bars at the rear jacking tubes, with extra wood planks across the pit & up to the car's floor. I've also got an extra axle stand at each side just touching the back of each sill (just in case) & part of a tree stump under the rear sill as well. It's a lot of car to be overhanging!
I did notice a trace of oil on one side of the diff, so I'm replacing the differential seals as well. The front to rear brake pipe twisted a bit when I disconnected the rear end & it's a bit pitted, so I've taken that out, too! Might aswell do both rubber brake hoses at the back & the short fixed pipe to the n/s caliper whilst I'm on...
When I got underneath, the o/s bump stop mounting wasn't great, nor was the steel web in front of it, so both have been replaced.
I've scraped off the loose underseal & sprayed new 'shutz' all over, so that should keep it weatherproof for a while.
I'm looking forward to getting it all put back together, hopefully over Christmas, although the diff may take a while further to refurbish!