Anything I need to know? I am dropping the front sub frame with the steering rack attached, I have disconnected the steering rack at the big rubber bush and am removing the 17mm bolts either side. They are an absolute nightmare to move, using a breaker bar I'm breaking my arms but they are moving. Brake pipes are disconnected and it appears the only thing left is to pull through the speedometer cable.

Never done this before so just want to check I'm not getting into anything nasty or dangerous before I drop all the bolts tomorrow. Any advice?
Many thanks.

Should not be too hard, I presume you are having difficulty with the radius arm mounts. I'll just say man the fk up

Do try to get some release oil into the thread barrels as sometimes they can detach internally. You can try squirting in from the bumper vents for the main bolts.

The thread barrels detaching was what I was mainly worried about. Manning up did the trick, the 1/2 liter of threadlock on each bolt certainly did what it was intended to do. I can barely type, my arms are shaking so bad. I do however, have a large rusty lump of metal on my garage floor ready for prep and paint.

YAY!

you want this

Would have been nice Dai!

I actually got a compressor, little draper 28l, brand new. Got it for nothing as a trade for fixing 2 computers at work. It came with a spray gun and other bits and bobs but I have to wait till we put the next draper order through to get a windy gun.

I'm a bit annoyed at living here in Ireland, got a quote last night for blasting the subframe. (Minus radial arm mounts) €80.

Hoping to get a better price from a firm that fixes radiators that I deal with through work.

Blasting should be pretty cheap, I got a load of parts done for £40 in the north. If its heavily rusted blasting won't work that well, seams and cavities will not be cleaned. You need acid dip or depaneling.

Ride_on wrote:Blasting should be pretty cheap, I got a load of parts done for £40 in the north. If its heavily rusted blasting won't work that well, seams and cavities will not be cleaned. You need acid dip or depaneling.

Should be cheap but not here in the rip off republic. People think their time is worth more than it is. When you can get a nice looking escort for the evening for the same price as an hour sandblasting something is not right. (Not that I frequent the ladies of the night, a guy at work likes to brag about his escapades)

The rust is not too bad, a few localised surface patches, it is mainly just to clean it for paint.

Lol I thought you meant a Ford Escort.

Or Ford Razzle / Ford Reader's Wives bum special....

Yep, powder coating / blasting is expensive down here Tony. Swings and roundabouts though, it's not like we're dropping the best part of 2k yoyos on council tax. €8.65 p/h minimum wage has to come out in the wash somewhere. I don't moan about it now as I know where the boat is

macplaxton wrote:Or Ford Razzle / Ford Reader's Wives bum special....

Yep, powder coating / blasting is expensive down here Tony. Swings and roundabouts though, it's not like we're dropping the best part of 2k yoyos on council tax. €8.65 p/h minimum wage has to come out in the wash somewhere. I don't moan about it now as I know where the boat is

True. Min wage=mad prices.

Give them a chance though, I'm sure the property tax will get there soon enough!

I know what you're saying but how much labour does it take to blast a crossmember, direct or indirect? Probably more of a case of supply and demand.

Ride_on wrote:Probably more of a case of supply and demand.

Plus a bit of milking it!

Got the 4 bits done for €40 in my local engineering shop. Could have had dip and galvanise for the same money but would be a week on wednesday before I got them back. It certainly pays to shop around.