1981 Front stabalizer removal

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Tazzarti
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Location: Ontario, Canada

1981 Front stabalizer removal

Post by Tazzarti »

I just want to replace the rubber mounts on my front stabilizer, but I have no clue how to access the bolt.

There is a diagram on page 31-15 of the repair manual but all they say is to undo the bolt. The problem is that its sandwiched behind the bushing and under a frame rail. I wasnt able to even fit a 17mm wrench in, so I was hoping someone might have knowledge of removing this on the older body style.
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Brucey
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Re: 1981 Front stabalizer removal

Post by Brucey »

you mean bolt #5 here?

Image

Have you tried the 17mm ring spanner that comes in the toolkit? This has a very slim ring and several fasteners on 6ers are best loosened with the toolkit spanners, so this would not be a surprise.

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GRNSHRK
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Re: 1981 Front stabalizer removal

Post by GRNSHRK »

Pretty sure you have to lower the front subframe a bit in order not only access, but remove those bolts :cry:

Been a long time for me, but I would recommend supporting the engine while doing so, to take the load off the subframe when lowering it :-?
:mrgreen:
Bobbo
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olympia57
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Re: 1981 Front stabalizer removal

Post by olympia57 »

It can be done in situ but is an awkward job ,probably up there with door handle replacement and starter motor removal.........
Image

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I tried Brucy's suggestion as the OE 17mm ring spanner is an absolute god send but alas it didn't work for me and I wasn't going to grind that jewel down.
I resorted to grinding down a couple of old 17mm ring and open ended spanners in height and diameter to crack the bolt open a couple of threads and then dosed both of them with penetrating oil ( not WD40...) for a couple of days to ensure that the threads were clear and easy to turn even then it's a slow, half a flat at a time removal.
It was still a fiddle to get them out but there is just enough clearance once the bolt is fully unscrewed .
When refitting I used new bolts liberally coated in copper grease and cut them a few threads shorter than the originals which helped in the installation.
Good luck .
Don
1981 635 series 1
Tazzarti
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Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2014 5:49 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: 1981 Front stabalizer removal

Post by Tazzarti »

Thank you all for the feedback. My car is far away and I drive my tools in so I didnt have a ring wrench when i looked at her last week. This week a bought ring wrench, and the 17 mm wrench in the tool kit is a 17-15 open end that would not fit.

With the wrench i bought I was able to get one side off with a grand 30 min stuggle. The bolt (even with deep creep in there) was holding on till the last thread. The otherside, although super loose, somehow had less clearance. I got to a point where the wrench was stuck on the bolt and I was unable to turn it either way. (After a long struggle I got it off).

So next weekend I will be grinding down the ring and hopefully will never have to do this again. Dropping the frame rail does seem fairly easy and I will make sure to put a jack under the engine as well.

Thanks for the assistance so far!
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Brucey
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Re: 1981 Front stabalizer removal

Post by Brucey »

shorter bolts (or buying a cheap spanner to 'sacrifice'; maybe this is what you have?) would be my choice over grinding a nice Heyco spanner.

The correct toolkit spanner looks a bit like this (although this is an 18-19mm version)

Image

You can see it is flat, not cranked, and that the rings are very slim-walled. If grinding another spanner this is the sort of thing you should shoot for, although being flat maybe isn't the best thing for this particular job.

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tazzarti
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Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2014 5:49 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: 1981 Front stabalizer removal

Post by Tazzarti »

I ground down the cheap wrench I had and it was fairly easy to remove. Found out my my connecting rod nuts were basically welded on with rust. Needless to say Im now waiting for the ST Suspension 52015 kit to arrive.

Thanks everyone for your input!
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