Just a quickie - bit busy. I'll update with more info later.

This car...

http://club-xm.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4438




Suspension ECU no good. Also - may need a bit of welding to sills.

1 month MOT, long tax.

New rear spheres (3).

I just don't have time - I'm already busy welding my R30!

PM me for contact details.

I'll update later.

Apologies for rushing this all on here - I'm just keen to make sure it still has MOT and tax to make it easier to rehome should someone want it. MOT I believe is 02 April. Tax - Sept I think - I can double check if anyone's interested.

It looks like I might need to remove the rear trailing arm to get better access.

If I was to do this then, according to the Haynes manual, I need about umpty-nine different seals to put it back together (brake and suspension).

As I'm short of time - does anyone know if it's essential to replace all these seals or can I get away with re-using them just for now? Same goes for the nut that holds the trailing arm spindle - I assume this is a nyloc nut or similar and needs a new one?

Anyhoo - it might just be possible without removing the arm - but just in case, I thought I'd ask.

Thanks,

Tim.

Hi Tim

I think I would be inclined to feed a plumbers solder mat in the hole to cover and protect the cylinder/rubber gaiter from sparks. Then just work away on those dodgey cills. Only dissassemble if anything gets damaged enough to prevent a successful MOT.

John

Hi Tim,

As far as replacement of a whole rear subframe goes; I've dropped one off a GS/A and a Xantia
Xm and there's surprisingly few hydraulic joints fore to aft to worry about although don't forget
the height corrector linkage. The Xm has one forward (offside I think) subframe mounting tucked
up behind the fuel tank creating all kinds of hassles so I'd totally agree with John's comment
about working with the subframe/trailing arm/ram as is if possible.

As far as the rear arm removal goes, as well as the hassle of undoing the anti roll bar fastening
onto the arm you will need to undo the curly pipe where it runs along the arm and joints onto the
caliper (I wouldn't go near the other inboard end if you even could anyway) and then there'd
possibly be the removal of the rear ram pin onto the arm. It would get into even new levels of
hassle if the rear ram feed pipe and sphere needed undoing to get the ram out of the way.

Andrew

I just got driven indoors by the rain - although the sun looks like it's back for a bit now.

Thanks for the pointers John and Andrew.

In the long run, I think a new rear subframe is required.

So - I suppose the question for the future is, are they available or does anyone have a few spares ones kicking about?

EDIT: I'm starting to feel inclined to quickly finish off my R30 (it seems to require less work) and leave this as the one requiring restoration!

Crazy,

You realise it was only until last year I had three full rear subframes but had to bin them
as they'd outstayed their welcome. I do have one spare left but it's my only back up unless
I buy another or scrap another car I've got - we'll see if another get's scrapped!!

The rot in the rear subframes on Gs's saw a LOT of them being scrapped before even sill
and floorpan rust managed to do that task...

Andrew

As I need the space I am about to start culling some recovered Mk2 subframes once they are stripped. Most of the rears are estates and all the fronts are from 2.5TD's. Will keep the best 3 to have one of each as spares but the other 3 or 4 need to go.

John

Hi John,

I'd be very interested if one of the ones you are getting rid of is for a hatch. I'm guessing it will fit a series 1 okay? More likely to have 'extra bits' I don't need rather than missing important parts I imagine?

If/when you do decide to get shot I'd be really grateful if you could give me a shout. Thanks.

Tim.