GranSport (Fuji White) Running report

Chris155

Member
Messages
196
I sympathise.

I'd be interested to know which dampers you bought the car with. As others have suggested, the Skyhook system isn't to everyone's taste, especially if it's costing serious cash to reinstate versus a sensible alternative.

The dampers aren't the problem. It doesn't have skyhook, it has the standard dampers. I can live with that. In a lot of examples, I know that cars can handle better when they're not compromised by the need to consider 2 damper settings relative to a static spring rate.

I'm not saying this is factual in this instance though.

The issue with the rear suspension is that the upper arm ball joints (both sides) have significant movement in them and new arms are required at £1k / side.
 
Last edited:

hunta

Member
Messages
405
The issue with the rear suspension is that the upper arm ball joints (both sides) have significant movement in them and new arms are required at £1k / side.
Apologies, misunderstood where the money has had to be spent. There's no real way round that so far as I'm aware unfortunately.
 

Chris155

Member
Messages
196
There was an M8 bolt missing out of the top of the gearbox. All it does is clamp a pipe or wiring harness (can't remember which) to the top of the box. The bolt hole itself was hidden behind the wiring to the actuators (3,4,5) and a sensor (pressure?) above no 3.

In this pic I've lodged a torch between the boot floor and the actuator block, and it's shining light on a little ratchet spanner, which should give an indication of the position of the bolt;

IMG_8951 by Chris, on Flickr

And a close up...

IMG_8953 by Chris, on Flickr

I was able to confirm with the straw from a can of brake cleaner that it is a tapped hole that is open at the other end inside the gearbox. Which explains why it was gearbox oil and why it wasn't leaking at standstill.
 

Chris155

Member
Messages
196
Next job on the list... Upper rear arms, which had worn ball joints.

IMG_8955-2 by Chris, on Flickr

On the face of it, it seemed a relatively easy task, undo the ball joint (19mm nut) and the nut/bolt (22mm) through the bushes.

Of course, it's not that easy. We had to drop the rear subframe by around 15mm (but still keeping it on it's mounting bolts) to get the rearmost bush mounting bolts out. They have various C shaped shims either side of the arm inside of the mount, which is something to be aware of if you choose to do this yourself.

IMG_8959 by Chris, on Flickr

The ball joint is an odd setup too. The 19mm nut is a prevailing torque nut for a start, bit it needs to be;

IMG_8970 by Chris, on Flickr

The stud needs to unwind and come out from the ball joint socket, the prevailing torque nut means that this happens, in theory. The same applies when it comes to refitting it. The stud should wind into the ball joint, bottom out and then the nut should tighten up.

Thing about all this is, in order for it to come apart as it should, it needs to be free of corrosion.

The same applies to the nuts and bolts through the upper arms. I was talking to Stuart at Trident Spares and he was saying that in the case of these, they can corrode, expand and crack the pivot points open... Which is a bit worrying.

Fortunately, whoever replaced the arms before us (they were date stamped 2006, car is 2005) used a suitable assembly lube and it all came apart as it should;

IMG_8961 by Chris, on Flickr

And we put it back together with the new arms using copper slip... But I forgot to take a pic of it reassembled.

Next job was to put the rear end - bumper, heat shields, boot floor, electrics, battery & interior trim back in.

I'd made a half hearted attempt to clean the bumper one evening last week;

IMG_1467 by Chris, on Flickr

And the heatshield needed a clean as well;

IMG_1471 by Chris, on Flickr

The heat shield was easy enough, 10 min with some degreaser and a stiff brush was all it took. I also made some repairs around one of the mounts to the boot floor.

As for the bumper, I left it at my parent's house and as if by magic...

IMG_1473-2 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_1478-3 by Chris, on Flickr

I also gave the exhaust pipes a bit of a clean;

IMG_1475 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_1477 by Chris, on Flickr

Finally back in one piece;

IMG_1480 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_1479 by Chris, on Flickr

It's now nearly at a point where I'm happy with it, mechanically.

It could probably do with a service and a gearbox oil change.

The brakes are OK..

Back tyres are nearly on the wear bars, new ones have been ordered.

And it needs a new N/S track rod. I'm going to order that this week and once that's been fitted, get it in for tracking - It will have needed to be done after the rears arms, so it makes sense to do it all in one go.
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
Very good work. I did a lot of swearing when I discovered you had to drop the subframe to get the rear arms off too :)
 

Chris155

Member
Messages
196
Very good work. I did a lot of swearing when I discovered you had to drop the subframe to get the rear arms off too :)

Yeah, we were hesitant too but it is just 4 bolts (10 and 12mm Allen for future reference) and they're easy to get at.

I was looking at gearbox removal at one point. Have you done this? It seems surprisingly easy from what I've been able to find out;

Unbolt drive shafts
Unbolt torque tube
Remove the boot floor
Undo quick release for clutch actuation(?)
Disconnect the main electrical connection to the solenoids etc
Remove the cross member under the gearbox mount

And "just" pull it backwards and out?
 

philw696

Member
Messages
25,123
Totally Agree with the Guy's and admire your efforts on the floor.
A lot easier on an overseas car than a UK one that's seen some winter weather for sure especially if from Scotland as I did one in New Zealand that some one imported and it failed compliance.
It was a lot of work indeed.
 

Gp79

Member
Messages
1,393
Really great work, looks a great buy and very little rust but that more than makes up for any lack of history.

I bought mine with good history but as a Uk car came with rust....

60317

60318
 

Chris155

Member
Messages
196
Good work, do you do all this on your drive?

Yep, I have a carport / garage down the side of my house but it's only 3.2m wide. It's handy if it's raining but it is easier outside on the drive. I've changed a gearbox on a 156 in the snow before now so I'm used to it.
 

Chris155

Member
Messages
196
Totally Agree with the Guy's and admire your efforts on the floor.
A lot easier on an overseas car than a UK one that's seen some winter weather for sure especially if from Scotland as I did one in New Zealand that some one imported and it failed compliance.
It was a lot of work indeed.

Yeah, I would be reluttant to buy a scottish car for the same reason. Then again, one of the worst I've had came from Canvey Island. (South East)