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So I took the front suspension off my maestro. Although these are Leda coilovers they use the standard top bearings and those awkward slotted nuts.
They were a bugger to take apart and one of the slotted nuts was somehow damaged which caused some damage to the top section of the thread but the thread should be still useable.
The top bearings and that slotted nut however had seen better days. I thought I'd have a go at sourcing some golf mk2 top bearings to see if they are the same. Looking at listings on ebay they looked similar and I knew the hole was suitable for an m14 thread so it must be useable.
old top bearing, the ball bearings were dry and some had fallen out:
The golf ones arrived with big bushings pressed onto what looked very similar bearing housings, this pic is after pressing the bushings off:
Depending on how familiar you are with the top bearings you might notice they are bigger but essentially the same. Any modifications could be done with an anglegrinder to remove part of the bearing skirt so the bearing face makes contact with the spring cup. Just make sure if you do take this approach have a bucket of water close by and drop the bearing in straight after work to save the grease and bearings.
With some relief the montego/maestro bush fits straight onto the bearing, you can tell the bearings od is slightly bigger but nothing that will cause a slightly more compressed bush than the standard fitment.
So parts used so far:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3605031705...84.m1497.l2649
There you can see the large rubber bush that was easily pressed off. You may well be able to put in a vice and impact it off but a press will do it far easier! There was a good bit of flex in the bush before it let go.
Not fitted yet as I only sourced the part today is the slotted nut. This again is a golf/jetta part, nothing sensibly priced on ebay this time, instead I went to a vw site:
http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_spares_...umbStartPage=1
I'll update possibly next week now as the parts won't arrive till I'm too busy to do anything. Hopefully some useful info there for people wanting to replace and rebuild their front suspension.
They were a bugger to take apart and one of the slotted nuts was somehow damaged which caused some damage to the top section of the thread but the thread should be still useable.
The top bearings and that slotted nut however had seen better days. I thought I'd have a go at sourcing some golf mk2 top bearings to see if they are the same. Looking at listings on ebay they looked similar and I knew the hole was suitable for an m14 thread so it must be useable.
old top bearing, the ball bearings were dry and some had fallen out:
The golf ones arrived with big bushings pressed onto what looked very similar bearing housings, this pic is after pressing the bushings off:
Depending on how familiar you are with the top bearings you might notice they are bigger but essentially the same. Any modifications could be done with an anglegrinder to remove part of the bearing skirt so the bearing face makes contact with the spring cup. Just make sure if you do take this approach have a bucket of water close by and drop the bearing in straight after work to save the grease and bearings.
With some relief the montego/maestro bush fits straight onto the bearing, you can tell the bearings od is slightly bigger but nothing that will cause a slightly more compressed bush than the standard fitment.
So parts used so far:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3605031705...84.m1497.l2649
There you can see the large rubber bush that was easily pressed off. You may well be able to put in a vice and impact it off but a press will do it far easier! There was a good bit of flex in the bush before it let go.
Not fitted yet as I only sourced the part today is the slotted nut. This again is a golf/jetta part, nothing sensibly priced on ebay this time, instead I went to a vw site:
http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_spares_...umbStartPage=1
I'll update possibly next week now as the parts won't arrive till I'm too busy to do anything. Hopefully some useful info there for people wanting to replace and rebuild their front suspension.
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