Have I made a boo boo?
 

Is it possible to remove the front driveshafts with the brakes off the car? I didnt really think ahead....

Erm..... possibly by putting the wheels back on and putting a socket through the centre of the wheel with the car on the ground. Only option left to you really apart from decent air gun which should also work.

don't have an air gun (yet :( ) will the trick of swinging a breaker bar right then yanking it left work?

Worth a go, but unlikely I'd say as these should be torqued to 186Nm. Which is rather tight!!!! :)


If you buy new nuts you could always grind most of the way through it then chizzel and hammer to split it. Should come off easily then. Last resort that though.


If you can get a centre cap off, wheels on and car back on the ground I'd be trying that first through the centre cap with a long breaker bar.

when its in gear cant you undo it

I'll try it tonight. It might however mean putting the suspension back on also :p Should've thought this through before I started. Live n learn eh this is my first restoration job.

You may be able to hold the disc by wedging a screwdriver in the middle of the vents. Be careful not to snap the casting though. If the suspension is off too then you may just be better to take the whole shaft complete with hub to your local garage to use their windy gun. They'll undo it in no time!

Just be safe, rebuild it back as much as possible, or cut it off most other ways can work but high chance of damage to you or car

I think im going to invest in a windy, as I need compressed air for my caliper pistons too! Whats a decent type to buy? Trying to avoid the too cheap brands but also cant afford £££

Why not search for a better quality second hand used one?

decent size compressor required. Go for a make that gives lifetime support if possible like Snap on, Halfords Pro, etc. Won't be cheap though but if you buy cheap they don't work very well.


It in not just easier to pop the drive shafts out of the gearbox and take the assemblies without struts to local garage? They'll have decent tools that will actually work.

it probably is easier to do that , but i'm going to be restoring this car for a good year, so it will come in handy i think, as im sure i can get sander attachments, drill attachments, etc etc for other parts of the restoration process

In my experience, some air tools are a god send and some worse than electric.


Air Impact gun = Brilliant
Air ratchet = Slow, loud, not powerful enough.
Air saw (uses hack saw blades) = brilliant. Quite literally the best air tool you'll buy.
Air sander = Noisy, uses lots and lots of air and you have to stop lots = I'm now using an electric sander again.
Air spraying equipment = only useful if you have a LARGE compressor and a very good moisture trap system, but then it's excellent.

cheers , i'm only going to get a compressor and impact wrench for now, thanks for the advice

I did the same thing but if you can re attach the caliper . Put a screwdriver in the vented part of the disk and turn it tull the screwdriver hits the caliper.

To remove the piston just use a reguler tyre inflator .you can cut the rubber brake line and you need an attachment (you get them for blowing up things like lielows etc)for the tyre inflator that you can push and hold onto the end of the brake caliper line. You could even use a foot pump this way. Be be warned if the piston is seized in it will suddenly and without being able to even see it .shoot out of the caliper . Also you cant do them one at a time you need to put something between the pistons to stop them coming full out . Hope this helps

The drive shaft bolt is tight but its not that bad. The long bolt through the rear caliper and lateral arm is a real ******* . In fact all the bolts on the lateral arms are a *******

I once got the hub nut off with an RAC 12v windy gun (although not strictly a windy, an impact wrench). That £30 saved my bacon.

If you are restoring and get a compressor get yourself a sandblast kit, Ideal for cleaning up all brackets etc ready to paint

cheers for the piston tips - willl be trying that this weekend.

funny enough i accidentally bought the 12v impact wrench from machinemart yesterday. was in a hurry :p got home and was like ffs how am i supposed to use this ****! trading it in at the weekend

weighing up the cost of a £150-200 cabinet which wouldnt fit some parts in comparent to just driving the parts down to my local sandblaster who will also powder coat them,,, i think in the end its probably cheaper just to outsource this task but i'd love my own blaster!

haha, the RAC one was awesome, got the seized shock bolts off, centre hub nut and takes the wheel nuts off for added sheer laziness :) Best £30 investment I ever spent! Maybe I got lucky with mine.

Completely agree. I have the sand blasting attachments for my compressor but after weighing up buying a decent sized pot, cabinet or somewhere to do the work that I could get messy/dusty I have still never used it. Always got professionals to do it instead.

no i mean the car is on axle stands with no battery in!

Why not put rhe caliper back on and do what i said with a screwdriver