scotty2

Yes. Undo four nuts on the manifold (heat required!) and the clamp after the cat - you can see it just behind the cat in the picture. I suspended the exhaust by tying it up so I didn't have to undo any sensors. I used a Map Gas blow torch to make it easier. The car is now with its new owner, ready to be another learners first car. That's 3 learners from the same class in school who have owned the car (and the reason I decided to save it!).

MOT now passed !

Well, finished putting it back together and test driven. All seems well. Managed to get a good pedal by bleeding the brakes via the hose to hub joint. Been dropped off for an MOT this morning. Refurbished subframe, new control arms and ball joints, CV joint, new wheel bearings, discs, pads, gearbox oil seal, and a new fuel filter when I can get the old one off. It's still fighting me!

Update. Gearbox seal that was sent was wrong. Now have fitted another one with some black silicon sealer. All good at last! Spent Sunday afternoon re-assembling and made good progress. All was well until I found the screw that holds the disc on had been sheared off so I will drill it out and re-tap. Just got the NS calliper and disc to fit then it is brake bleeding time, without the bleed nipples as they are rusted in. I'll just slacken the pipes and see what sort of pedal that gets me. ETA photo of welded on pin.

Got the pins welded on. Right so installation is the reverse of removal... Gear selector rod oil seal was weeping so I ordered a new one to change while the subframe was off. Old one a bugger to get out but managed. Put new one in and refilled the box. Came back next day and oil all under the ramp. Leaking worse than ever now. Box drained and seal removed. New one ordered. Will need some sealant in the housing I think.

If I can't get a sufficient weld, I'll go down that route. Just ordered an XZN or triple square drive set. Also spent a few minutes on WIKI to try and find out why there are so many bloody different types... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives#:~:text=the driver bit.-,Triple-square (XZN),a 12-pointed star).

Right. I have decided to do the "bolt" conversion similar to the diff pins on a TR6. Sourced some M12 bolts, cut the head off and ground a taper ready for welding. Ground the chassis leg ready for welding too. Hopefully rebuilding will start at the weekend! ETA: What XZN size are the driveshaft bolts?

After another battle, the hubs and driveshafts are off! On the 6 Torx 40 setscrews that hold on the driveshafts, 5 on each side came free but one on each side didn't, and the splines tore in the setscrew. Had to grind the head off. Went back to the car next day to see if I would have to weld a nut on the remains of the screw to loosen them, and I could wind them out by hand! Has the car finally given up on resisting restoration? Captive nut job next. Maybe at the weekend...

Well, unusually for me, they were the correct ones. Can't get the bloody driveshafts out of the hubs now. Going to have to take the shaft and hub off as one. At least I have built up the replacement subframe, arms and roll bar ready to go on.

Got the Bugger! Worst job is now the replacement of the "captive nuts" Oh, and putting it all back together... On a better note, when pricing up ball joints, I can get whole replacement arms with ball joints for not much more, so to save work I have ordered replacement arms.

After a bit of neglect, I have started the exchange. Every nut and bolt rusted to buggery. I have had to change tack and drop the frame out with the wishbones attached as I can't get the strut bolts off. Or brake callipers. As predicted the front two "captive" nuts in the chassis are not. Gave up for a week then with renewed vigour, borrowed a plumber mates Mapp gas torch to free off the exhaust nuts - all 4 then came off without shearing. I then attacked the front mount bolts with a battery powered reciprocating saw which cut them off. Thought that was it but there are more bits to disconnect around the gear linkage. Hopefully then I can lower it down and finish releasing the strut tops to drop the bugger off. The car is not really worth it, but I've started and it is going to a good home...

Wire brushed, rustproofed and painted, ready to play. That was the easy bit... Thanks Rich. While it is being stripped down, I have got new discs, pads and wheel bearings to fit.

DOH! Done.

Great. When and where suits you?

I was hoping to do a quick swap rather than get the original repaired. For reference, which options are there from other models that would fit? To contact me offline - use "Scotty2" on Pistonheads for PMs. Don't know how to send direct messages on this forum...