Project Plum - The Plan of Attack

[boost monkey 0]

Ok, i'm going to do the stud extraction from the subframe this avo, wish me luck!

[dirtytorque 0]

Ok, i'm going to do the stud extraction from the subframe this avo, wish me luck!

 

 

God speed.

:salute:

[boost monkey 0]

Subframes hate titanium nitride drill bits.

 

the stud extractor rounded off like it was made of cheese too!

 

Ah well, not sure what to do with it now, doesn't help that the wishbone is still attached by the tiny bit of stud left in!

[tonedef 9]

the stud extractor rounded off like it was made of cheese too!

Snap On

 

Yer gets what yer pays for :lol:

[boost monkey 0]

Ha ha yeah true.

 

Something made me think that if I had to beef it with en Erwin bolt grabber and a 2ft extension bar just to get the head to move, perhaps a little stud extractor dropped through the hole wouldn't actually do much!

 

Couldn't really tell if i was drilling the bolt out, or making a new hole either which wasn't very helpful.

[dirtytorque 0]

have you got a picture of this bolt.

Its winding me up now.

It must go.

[boost monkey 0]

it's the front horizontal wishbone bolt, 18mm head, approx 3" long.

 

2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfImage018.jpg[/attachment:2lmamao1]

 

Image019.jpg[/attachment:2lmamao1]

[CorradoVR6-Turbo 0]

only way ive delt with this it to burn/cut out the wishbone and use grips to get the rest of the bolt out... :(

[boost monkey 0]

Ah cheers mate, yeah I heard some people burn/melt the bushes out but this has a metal sleeve in it like the rear wishbone bush does! :bad-words:

[CorradoVR6-Turbo 0]

if you have a steady hand you can cut the insert in two,ive done it many times bud....but keep all your fingers :lol:

[boost monkey 0]

Interesting...what did you use?

 

I did take the drill to the rubber part in anger but didn't do much!

[CorradoVR6-Turbo 0]

my best tool............blowtorch :wink:

 

Try take it to a local garage to see if they can do this for you?

 

Or get some cutting discs for an angle grinder and take your time.either way its got to come out dead or alive :tongue:

[boost monkey 0]

LOL yeah!

 

The other end of the wishbone is free, so if I cut through the stuck end then I could remove 90% of the wishbone and just leave the little bit in the middle.

 

might be able to cut ut in half with a hack or something after that perhaps....hmmm.

[boost monkey 0]

Ok, so i've given up on the subframe for now and am concentrating on the cross-member i bought.

 

it's got a few patches of rust on so i'm gonna wire brush drill it back to good metal and then satin black hammerite it (the non-gloss version) this afternoon, so hopefully it will look reasonable!

[boost monkey 0]

the cross-member went much better than the subframe antics, and I have left the first coat to dry.

 

It's too cold to recoat it this evening so will do it tomorrow.

[Philuk 0]

have you got a hole right the way through the offending bolt? is so cant you use some sort of cutting device to cut outwards - ie cut the remaining thread piece into quarters and it will fall to pieces maybe - im not engineer just a thought :) lol

[boost monkey 0]

It's a good thought phil, and no i haven't got a hole through the entire bolt i don't think although it's hard to see what with having to peer through the wishbone bush!

 

I've whacked the wishbone a couple of times with a hammer and it's loosened up, but there still seems to be too much bolt holding the wishbone in place.

 

Mighthave to do n.o.s' plan and cut the wishbone up! I'm not planning to keep it anyways :)

[ProdigalSon 1]

Looks like you're having lots of fun - sorry to be missing it :(

 

And yes, I managed to be on holiday for a whole 8 days without checking the Forum :oops: :lol:

 

Keep at it bro, you'll win :wink:

[boost monkey 0]

Thanks bro!

 

VW texted me this morning to say my massive parts list is in.... let's hope it's not too £££ eh!

[boost monkey 0]

Luckily Dave was back at the dealership, and gave me club discount after some chatting which was cool (membership is in the post I'm hoping!)

 

Anyways, here's a quick snap of the bits:

 

Image021.jpg[/attachment:3gahn0lv]

 

Basically tons of steering parts (new rubber mount and holder, nuts and bolts to hold it to subframe) bolts for engine mounts I forgot to order, the brown box is full of PAS internal seals and replacement parts which look kinda interesting! Will have to see what these are at some point :D Also some misc/ bits like ARB mount holders and bolts, little things really.

 

The tube of steering grease didn't come, so I'm gonna have to investigate and see whether that has been discontinued or whether it was just omitted from the order. :salute:

[The_Dude 0]

Mmmmm, nuts

 

Seems like a serious amount of time, effort and cash is going into this mate. Well done, don't give up.

Any more thoughts on the offending wishbone? Have you tried voodoo? :vamp:

Or maybe a long drill bit? (apologies if this has already been tried)

[boost monkey 0]

Cheers matey!

 

I am not sure what to do with the wishbone now, the closest thing we have to an angle grinder is a Dremel which has tiny discs! I have been playing with the idea of swiss cheesing the wishbone wth the drill and then cutting between the edges of the holes, therefore reducing the strain on the Dremel... could be effective...

 

For now, I will be getting on with the cross-member which is actually looking rather good after leaving the first coat of Hammerite to dry over night. Plus I have a fair amount of uni work to be getting on with (I convince myself I can do this when the sun goes down :norty: )

 

I'd just like to take a couple of moments to say what a quality guy Dave @ Kidlington VW is! I just phoned him back up, as 2 parts were missing off my order (even though i checked it when I was there, oops) and the tube of steering grease which lubes up the mechanical workings of the PAS internals themselves is only available from Germany so he has ordered some for me, and also the reverse switch housing on the top of the gear change turret as I had only only 1 of 2 bits I needed.

 

I happily drive from East Oxford up to North Oxford (past the ring road, 20ish miles round trip) to go see Dave cos he is just everything you'd want in a parts dept: helpful, chatty, willing to go the extra mile to help you out, or give you advice on parts. So helpful*!

 

The guy I gave my order to 10 days ago was such a nonce, he didn't even bother phoning me to tell me that the grease wasn't in stock, he just left it off the order! :bad-words:

 

Gary is not Dave

 

Bro, I can see what you mean now! What a joker, I bet he drives a ford :roll: :brickwall:

 

*p.s. I'm not in love with Dave :eek:

[boost monkey 0]

Have you tried voodoo? :vamp:

 

I will ask Naboo if he has any Lotions and Potions! :lol:

 

[boost monkey 0]

cross-member is coming up so nice, and i hate doing spray work.

 

pics up tomorrow all being well.

[boost monkey 0]

Sorry groupies,

 

got roped into helping a uni mate into changing the suspension on his road car after his 2 cracked NS coil springs failed MOT!

 

plus he works for the BTCC team so maybe he'll put in a good word for me :salute: 8)