[Steering & Suspension] Rear suspension is a mess!

[Gadgetman]

Like I wrote in my old thread about my engine, I broke a torsion bar in the rear suspension...  

I've now managed to get the crap out from under the car, and the damage so far is;

Recon rear axle with grease nipple bought and arrived.

The old one was finally removed from the car yesterday.  Daaaang how much rust there was...
The brakes are hanging by the pipes, so yayy, shouldn't need a bleed.
The rear mounts(rectangular rubber blocks) were completely destroyed. They're still hanging under the car, while the metal around them is still on the axle frame.
I removed one shock absorber bolt to free the righthand side brake, but the other bolt on that is a bother.

New shocks and rubber blocks have arrived... 

Is it possible to buy the shock absorber mounting bolts somewhere?

New hub bearings and the cap for them is on order, but the Gods only knows when they'll show up.

When I removed the righthand side brake, one of the bolts holding it in place(M10x25mm with allen-head?) was too rusted and ended up rounding off inside, so had to get a bolthead/nut extractor set to get it off.

Tonight I'll mostly work on scraping rust, hitting it with a rust eater, and Hammerrite.

That is, after stopping for a few more tools at the local HW shop.
(I like shopping for tools... )

[Gadgetman]

Okay...
One of the rear mounts for the axle(rubber blocks with metal frame around it) is just plain wrong!
And I ordered 2 of the same. The part numbers on the boxes are the same, even, so it's not the store that messed up but the manufacturer.(Delphi)

But I NEED the upper shock absorber mounting bolts!
(The head is just a lump of rust. There's no way they'll hold a tool when I start tightening up the nuts.)

If anyone know where I can order a pair?

[polar]

Have you tried Citroen?

[Gadgetman]

The local shop is a bunch of monkeys who I won't allow near my car, or even just the parts for it.
I may be able to stop by a different Citroën shop one of these days, though...

[polar]

I understand where you are coming from but half the time the problems arise because the guys on the tools are always under pressure and never given enough time, by the people in charge who have never picked up a spanner in their life.

The only time you will find me at Citroen is for parts i cant sorce from anywhere else.

[Gadgetman]

Yeah, but I brought in my 1998 Berlingo to them to swap the engine(with a secondhand 1997 1.4i that I had sourced), and they tried to swap the ECU from the broken engine over on the working engine. And no, they were NOT the same model, and of course, the broken one had SAGEM injectors, and the working engine had 'Fattie' BOSCH injectors. It was a whole lot of fail all over.
And no, 'ECU has to be coded to the BSI' is not a good explanation as not only doesn't a 1998 have a BSI(that came in 2000), but as a Citroën shop, they should also have the tools and support necessary to do the reprogramming.

So they did a whole lot of completely unnecessary work, which they tried to bill me for... Yeah, right!
They knew I NEEDED the car before a certain date, but didn't bother to call me when it was finished... And they threw away the broken engine!
(By Norwegian law, that engine was MINE. And there was still a lot of good parts on it. )

[Gadgetman]

Got the old bolts off the old axle assembly. Ended up using a 2lbs lump hammer to pound the 14mm hex tool into them...
They may be usable after all, if I can do the same when mounting the new shocks on the new assembly.
(No rust or other damage on the bolts other than the rust on the head.)

Did a bit of rust removal down under today, since it was possible to reach...
Then mounted the connector and pulled the wires for the trailer hitch(How long ago did I mount that hitch? ) since I spotted a rubber cap that looked as a good place to pull the wires inside.
And did the handbrake wires. They're the originals, and they've been stretched so much that even with full adjustment there's barely any grip even when I pull the handle all the way up...
The Righthand side cable came out easily...
The lefthand side, not so. Th sleeve was loose, but somehow the inner wire was catching on someting...
I finally gave up and used a bolt cutter to cut the wire, then pulled the sleeve.
Then I found out what the wire was catching on...
The cap around the end of the sleeve had come off the sleeve and was still stuck in the mounting hole under the floor. And of course, the hole in the cap is only large enough for the wire, not the nib at the end, so the nib was hitting the cap.
That cap is madeof plastic... that was partially rotten, so when I tried to pull it with pliers, I only got the outermost part.

The solution was a long piece of M6 threaded rod. Just had to screw it into the remaining bit, clamp some heavy pliers around te rod, and give it a whack with my lump hammer.

The company I ordered new hubs from(Autodoc )... couldn't deliver, they finally admitted yesterday!
And I ordered before easter....
Found a seller on eBay and ordered there instead.

[Gadgetman]

My car is now mostly back together... but...

I need the protective dust caps for the hubs.
They need to be 60mm diameter, with an outer lip out to about 64mm to fit, but the set I got was 60mm at the lip.

Does anyone know where I can find the right ones, or at least the Citroën Part number for it?

[jj9]

Look them up.... https://www.catcar.info/citroen/?lang=en

.

[Gadgetman]

Hm... When I select my car and engine size, and locate the rear axle parts, the pictures I get is a slightly different axle assembly, with ABS Hubs.

I'm beginning to understand why hub kits with the cap is twice the price of those without.

And not a single seller is able to list the size of the caps.

And no, the old caps are not in a shape that lends themselves to reuse...