Had a bit of a nightmare with the little ninja in the last week.
I took it for an MOT about a month ago, three weeks before it was due so that if it failed I could still use it whilst fixing it up. It did fail, but only on the trailing arm bushes, no advisories either.
It's a Honda so I figured it'd be an easy job; strip it down in the morning, shoot to Kwik Fit to use their press to swap the bushes, throw it back together and have it MOT'd by the end of the day.
Not so easy it seems. Being four link independent suspension it required quite some stripping down, including removing the hubs and everything. Not having the time or the help needed I couldn't get it fixed until the original MOT had run out, leaving me with no car at all. So I had to make time to fix it, and got it into the workshop last Friday.
The strip down went fairly well, only shearing one bolt, the trailing arm to LCA bolt was rusted into the bush, and seeing as the rest of the bushes in both LCAs were almost shot, I decided to order new arms for both sides. The parts supplier said they would arrive Monday morning, for about £30 each. Result, I thought. A little longer without a car but I'll just have to brave the weather and use my bike. So Monday came and still no parts, Tuesday came and finally they arrived. But lo and behold they'd sent the upper control arms instead, and the lower arms were £100 each, so that idea went out the window. Through research I found that the individual bushes were available from Honda for £15, so ordered one. I put everything else back together, leaving just the one LCA when the new bush arrives.
It showed up and looked good, so off to Kwik Fit we went. Old bush comes out, new bush goes i...
It doesn't fit.
So in the spirit of scrapheap challenge we cut the LCA to squeeze the new bush in, welded it all back together and put it on the car.
After a troublesome brake bleed, and a burst brake pipe, it was finally back on the ground and driving.
The rear tracking was well out due to bent trailing arms - a consequence of pressing out the old ones - so had it in for four wheel alignment after the MOT.
It passed the test on Wednesday but they didn't have time to track it till the next day, but I needed the car on the night so I picked it up and would take it back the next day. The drive that night down to a pub in the middle of nowhere was, interesting, on a rainy night with the back end sliding all over the place. Anyway we made it to the pub (the wench was a little scared by the time we arrived) and all was good. Had a drink or two, got back into the car and it wouldn't start; no fuel. So we had to walk to the nearest petrol station to get a fuel can. After an hour and a half we were back on the road.
So then yesterday I dropped it off for tracking. Got a call at the end of the day; they can't do it. Apparently it's so far out there isn't enough adjustment to get it right - it's toeing in at the rear massively - but I had a quick look underneath and it's not even at the end of the adjustment, so I'm going to have a crack at it tonight myself, and I'll bet I can get it a damn sight straighter than the orangutan at Kwik Fit.
So here we are, still with a bent car and a Monday evening deadline (going on holiday in it) and a rapidly declining amount of hair as I tear it out.
Anyway let's see how tonight goes, I'll get round to servicing it too, and hopefully have time to repaint the front wheels after they got ruined during my stint as a mud bogger.
k:
