Post:Car Projects of Various Size
From Fozzee.net
This has been a crazy busy week. On Monday, Seth was over, and we worked on parts for his remote control car. The Mill-press seems to have a bit too much slop, and can't hold tolerances better than about 3 thou, which isn't adequate for the press fit we're trying to build. I think there's a better way to to the setup so as to minimize that error, but we ran out of time after things started breaking (like my indicator holder)...
On Tuesday/Wednesday night, I finally attacked the suspension on my car. The rear shocks were super easy to do; The second one took about 15 minutes, and the first a bit longer, just because I was figuring everything out. In the front, I unwittingly started with the terribly hard passenger side one. It looks like (based on the book and personal experience) that I'm going to have to remove the half-axle to get enough travel out of the suspension to remove the strut. The guys online say it's possible to "lower the subframe" enough to clear the strut, but I think it's just going to be easier in the long run to tear it all down... I also wonder if those bolts they're loosening should be replaced, if you have them loosened... I can't tell from the photo, but there's LOTS of stretch-bolts down there...
Two big lessons learned: One: PB Blaster is your friend. Two: while some people online talk about using crowbars or whatever to disassemble the strut from the lower unit (don't remember what that's called, it holds the wheel bearing and brake rotor), and there's an official VW tool (number to follow), a 1/4" square-drive-bit adapter works perfectly. Slip it into the slot on the back side (where the two halves meet, after removing the bolt), and twist it with a crescent wrench about 45 degrees. That spreads the clamp enough to easily move the strut in and out, and holds itself in place... I'd initially tried to modify a wonder bar clone, but I found that I couldn't hold the clamp open and move the strut at the same time.
Photos of the mill setup for the smaller car follow:
