Leads

[jimbo]

I'm now seriously hacked off!! Why is it that I'm finding even the simplest jobs a nightmare? I know I'm no master mechanic but this car is just the pits sometimes!

I cannot seem to get access to the other end of the ht leads. I tried to drop the diffuser but when one of the bolts sheared off i ended up breaking it, but even with it down i can't get access. Surely you don't need to drop the entire undertray??

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[robin]

Assume it's S1 VVC?

Access is a scunner, no doubt about it.

Last time I did it, it was on my old K16 S1. We deffo didn't drop undertray. I think we just leaned over the boot or maybe from one side and lacerated arms forcing under the manifold.

What's the betting that if you remove the driver's side wheel arch liner you'll get much better access. You might also need to release the manifold brace bar, but hopefully you can avoid that - if you do need to release it, only loosen the lower bolt and just swing it out of the way. Don't forget to tighten it back up afterwards!

Cheers,
Robin

[jimbo]

Cheers Robin, I'll give that a go. For reference, that's 3 times I've tried to remove bolts from the car (2 for battery clamp, now 1 for the rear diffuser) that have resulted in them shearing or spinning away merrily but not coming out. What should I now do about these? I have no idea how to drill them out and retap the holes if that is the answer, kinda hoping it isn't...

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[tut]

Mark's old car, a right shed.



tut

[robin]

Cheers Robin, I'll give that a go. For reference, that's 3 times I've tried to remove bolts from the car (2 for battery clamp, now 1 for the rear diffuser) that have resulted in them shearing or spinning away merrily but not coming out. What should I now do about these? I have no idea how to drill them out and retap the holes if that is the answer, kinda hoping it isn't...

Where the thread is in a so-called spire nut (threaded C-clip), you just use WMD to cut off the bolt head, mash out the old clip, insert new clip with lashings of copper slip. on the threads of the bolt when you do it up. Some people use stainless on the under floor stuff to avoid corrosion. Sure eliseparts or similar will sell a kit of stainless undertray fixings - someone on here is bound to have used them and can comment further. These are used on the undertray everywhere except the four M8 bolts in the centre.

Where the thread is in a rivnut you need to punch the old one backwards into the void it lives in, (it'll fall out somewhere, eventually), then insert a new rivnut. This would be the case for the battery clamp, for example.

Somebody will have a rivnut tool and you can order some rivnuts online - I've never actually done this so cannot give you a better pointer, but again somebody on here will if you start a thread "rivnuts".

Cheers,
Robin

[mwmackenzie]

Mark's old car, a right shed.



tut

Damn lucky someone bought it Tut lol what with the spinning bolt syndrome and all I'd have her back in a flash to be honest as I miss her dearly, if I'd not lost my shirt and just about all I had helping someone out with a business venture

[puffin]

If it's an S1 111S then the access is from the top, coming from the passenger side. I did mine the other week and it was certainly a bit of a tight fit and I scraped my arms a lot, but it's certainly doable. Depends whether you have huge man hands or not I suppose!

[jimbo]

Thanks for all the info guys, appreciate it

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