Just another little job completed today on my
2002 1.4 BBY project Resurgam.
Aligning the sub-frame assembly to the chassis.
Guide pins arrived from eBay (£15 including p&p), the tools are at the ready and off we go:
Essential Torque wrench, axle stands, extra jack and grease for the pins.
1. Disconnected the bottom joint between the drop links and the anti - roll bar.
2. Loosened the four new bolts that thread through the sub-frame, consoles and hold the steering rack in place, they weren't torqued yet and maybe didn't need to do this but I didn't want to risk swinging on anything when the car was on the axle stands should I have needed to at a later stage.
3. Loosened the four console stretch bolts that were only partially tightened when I installed the new arms (18mm socket).
4. The car was then jacked up onto axle stands and the four bolts that hold the console in place were removed.
5. The sub-frame is now free to move in any direction you wish, it's still connected to the car via the dampers and steering joints and moves around easily.
6. There is enough 'give' in the assembly to be able to carefully push down on each front wheel allowing enough room to insert the four guide pins. The flat edge of the taper sits in the centre of the hole (and not as shown in the first picture, the taper should be the other way round) and the 6 mm hex head bolt screws into the captive nut to hold it in position. Tighten to 20 NM as per instructions.
7. The hard bit is almost done ... I found it easier to jack the sub frame upwards into position and protected it with a piece of timber ... it was not difficult to manoeuvre the assembly around and basically the console holes will slot and position over the taper on the guide pins. Keep jacking the assembly upwards until all the gaps are closed and they will align themselves with the pins and in theory the correct position. Possibly easier if you have a second person to simply jiggle and hold the sub-frame in place ... but a second jack worked fine.
8. Take each guide pin out in turn and replace each with a new stretch bolt. I tightened to 70 NM at this stage until the torque wrench clicked..
9. Reconnected the drop links and tightened the four steering rack bolts that were loosened earlier.
10. Back on four wheels and stretched each of the four console bolts a further 90 degrees.
11. Job done ... and they look centred and vertical, always a good place to start!!
Looking good and ready to roll!!
Steering alignment to check when I take it for a test drive and then make sure all the bolts have remained tight.
Next job is to replace the rear coolant pipe, thermostat and housing, only just ordered the parts and will tackle it when they arrive.
Thanks for reading and hopefully it may inspire someone to do this simple and satisfying job. Regards from Tom
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