Oh what a week. An “uninsured family member” has ding’d every bodel panel on the near-side and also managed to bend the n/s front suspension. As even fully comp insurance does not cover these situations I’ve got to repair it myself to keep the cost down. The first thing is to get it roadworthy which means fixing the suspension. The n/s fr wheel points about 10 degrees left when the o/s is straight, and the ARB droplink is snapped. So, I’ve dismantled the suspension to remove the wishbones. The lower wishbone os obviously bent and that explains the wheel position. The upper wishbone looks OK although the long mounting bolt is very slightly bent (0.5mm at the centre over about 150mm length.) If the upper wishbone wasn’t too expensive I’d just replace it but I haven’t found a non-mazda source. I’m also trying to decide whether to replace the bushes with rubber or poly (a poly set for both sides from mx5parts is the same price as one side in rubber). So, 2 questions:
If I replace the bushes on the one damaged side will I suffer from not replacing on the other side? Rubber or poly?
Anyone know where to get an upper wishbone for a good price?
I’ve now replaced the lower wishbone with a new Mazda part and bushes. Now I need to adjust the alignment so its good enough to drive to the dealer who will do a 4-wheel laser alignment for £50 (cheap!). Right now I think its got negative castor which means that one wheel has a mind of its own.[:S]
£50 is cheap - cost me £105 because everything had to be adjusted. Getting the car there was truly scary - wheels in the gutter and 25 mph with hazards flashing !
Just adjusted the camber and castor as best I could with an engineer’s protractor/level thing, then set the tracking with a Dunlop tracking gauge (borrowed from my work motor club). Now drives absolutely perfectly [:D] I’ll get the alignment checked anyway but at least I know it was just the wishbone that was bent. I’ve fitted a second-hand front wing (exact colour match) so now its the door and and rear wing to sort out.
