locoboy
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| posted on 18/6/04 at 09:31 PM |
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Fiesta repairs
My would be brother in law if i were married has a 1.4 Ghia Fiesta MKII which failed its MOT today for a cracked rear off side brake hose and a worn
front off side tie bar bush.
He has asked me if i would do the work for him. Is the tie bar bush just like a track control arm bush on the lower suspension arm? - the reason i ask
is that i have not seen the car yet! Im pretty sure it will be evident which bush it is when i get to see it but just wanted prior advice.
And the rear brake hose shouldnt cause any issues should it? anything to look out for in particular with these cars?
Any help appreciated.
Cheers
ATB
Locoboy
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JoelP
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| posted on 18/6/04 at 09:38 PM |
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the hardest bit will be gunk and rust i suspect, shouldnt be too hard on paper. do you have an eazybleed kit? handy device...
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Peteff
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| posted on 18/6/04 at 11:22 PM |
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The last one I did was on a van. 2 bolts to the front chassis through metalastic bushes and a ball joint at the wheel end, torx bolt I think. Pressed
steel assembly thing, took no doing at all. The brake pipes are always an unknown quantity as the steel unions rust to the pipe and usually break it
when you undo them. Get some new ones ready beforehand and you should be o.k.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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locoboy
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| posted on 19/6/04 at 07:50 AM |
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pete, is the bush replaceable on its own or do you need to get a new arm?
Cheers
ATB
Locoboy
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 19/6/04 at 09:02 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
The last one I did was on a van. 2 bolts to the front chassis through metalastic bushes and a ball joint at the wheel end, torx bolt I think. Pressed
steel assembly thing, took no doing at all.
Sounds like your talking about a later model than colmaccoll's. Early ones had Metal rod bolted (2 bolts 17 or 19 mm. IIRC) to lower arm,
running forward to chassis with 2 large foam/ruberised bushes mounted on sleeve with washers fore and aft (22 or 24mm nut, UNDO FIRST. IIRC).
(Possible to adjust castor angle by adding/subtracting washers).
If early then bushes replaceable, if later model, bushes replaceable but cheaper to replace whole arm.
Enjoy.
[Edited on 19/6/04 by jollygreengiant]
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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ChrisW
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| posted on 19/6/04 at 09:45 AM |
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The bushes are replaceable - just about to change all the ones on my car for polys.
You'll need to undo the two bottom ball joint nuts. One has a proper bolt, the other the bolt is pressed into the ARB. You'll probably
get away with leaving the balljoint attached to the hub. Then undo the bolt holding the tie bar to the chassis (directly underneath the A pillar) and
you should be able to pull the ARB up far enough to slip the tie bar out. A vice and a persuader (hammer) will get the bush out and the new one in
then it's the good old Haynes trick of 'reassembly is reverse of removal'.
Shouldn't take more than an hour and remember to get the tracking checked once it's all back together.
This relates to the XR2s and Ghias - base models didn't have anti roll bars and I'm not sure how different that makes them!
I've got the bits off the car at the moment so I can take a photo if you like.
Cheers, Chris
PS - the bush jollygreengiant is referring to is the ARB one behind the front valance.
[Edited on 19/6/04 by ChrisW]
My gaff my rules
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locoboy
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| posted on 19/6/04 at 09:51 AM |
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Chris,
Photo would me most appreciated its an E reg 198!
[Edited on 24/6/04 by colmaccoll]
ATB
Locoboy
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Peteff
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| posted on 19/6/04 at 11:47 AM |
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Yes the one I did was 'N' reg with the bottom arm in one piece. I did earlier ones in the past and they aren't too big a job. Heavy
duty bushes were available for them if I remember right and were cheaper than standard.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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ChrisW
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| posted on 19/6/04 at 11:04 PM |
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Can get a photo - will be late tomorrow tho. The photo will be from a D plate 1.4 Ghia but my E plate XR2 is the same (I'm swapping parts onto
the newer one so I can get them powder coated without having the car off the road)
Deflex sell a complete poly kit for the car for about £60 but I doubt it's worth replacing just one tbh. I would suggest you change both sides
however!
Chris
My gaff my rules
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ChrisW
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| posted on 22/6/04 at 05:47 PM |
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Two photos here...
http://chrisw.net/stuff/fez_suspension/1.jpg
http://chrisw.net/stuff/fez_suspension/2.jpg
The first one is the car itself. The bush you are talking about (I think) attaches to the bracket circled in red. The ARB bracket, into which the
ARB bush sits, bolts on to the bolts circled in green.
The second pic is the assembly itself although I've just realised the ARB bracket is from the wrong side. The arrow is where your bush needs to
go and the bit circled in red is where the ARB bush bolts on, either side of the bracket. The lower balljoint connects where the ARB and the lower
arm join - as you can see, one bolt is pressed into the ARB.
Hope that helps! As I said above, the lower spec cars didn't have ARBs so I don't know how different that will make it. Your Ghia will
most likely have them but it's not a definate.
Chris
My gaff my rules
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locoboy
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| posted on 23/6/04 at 12:45 PM |
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Cheers Chris,
had a quick lok at the car last night in the rain! Its the front bush thats buggered the one just behind the valance, got that part this lunchtime but
it is a far smaller item than the original that is on the car. The one currently on the car is maybe about 60mm diameter and the new one is maybe only
about 40mm. so its just one rubber donut either side of the bracket then?
So when you say one bolt is pressed into the arb, you mean it wont come out so one will and the other wont? is it the outer most one?
I guess i had better not go at it with the hammer then!
[Edited on 23/6/04 by colmaccoll]
ATB
Locoboy
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ChrisW
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| posted on 23/6/04 at 01:04 PM |
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Col
It's the outer bolt on the ARB that is pressed in. Once you've undone the ball joint from the lower arm all will become clear!
When you dismantle the ARB bush there's a plastic washer type thing that sits in the bracket to hold everything central. Both of mine were
knackered and I've not decided whether they're needed yet but probably best to keep an eye out for it!
There's two rubber 'donuts', two big washers, and a metal tube in the middle. Once you get it all apart it should be fairly self
explanatory!
Chris
My gaff my rules
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locoboy
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| posted on 24/6/04 at 10:00 AM |
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Chris, Job done in about one and a half hours, many thanks for the info. Took it for a spin after i had finished, im quite surprised how much poke the
poxy 1.4 has 
ATB
Locoboy
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ChrisW
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| posted on 24/6/04 at 12:47 PM |
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No probs!
My purple car started life as a 1.4. Used to be the quickest car of all my mates at college apart from the chap with a 1.6 Escort but that was his
Mum's so it didn't count!
Chris
My gaff my rules
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locoboy
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| posted on 25/6/04 at 01:04 PM |
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The lad i did the work for, his girlfriend has a 1.4 pug 206, and the old fiesta is as quick if not just a bit quicker ! its a shame it corners like a
sponge 
ATB
Locoboy
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 25/6/04 at 02:05 PM |
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my wife once had an E reg 1.4 S model. They are a heady 75hp
I found it very average - it gasped up to about 106mph and by the time it was 6 years old the scuttle top by the windscreen wipers was beginning to
rust thro!
Ive done about 200k miles in 4 models of fiesta. Generally really relaibale execpt the cracked valve seat I had on my first 1977 950cc model.
atb
steve
[Edited on 25/6/04 by stephen_gusterson]
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