Making the BA a project work after crash
 

Hi guys,

Last week I was driving in the wet in the industrial estate and___. However, i went in a bit too fast, about 30 Kph and turned, the car just went strait and hit the gutter. :cool:

The result of that is the car won't drive :confused: , the rim that was on it snapped a peice off and the lower arm broke.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/14ce555c4...ampo7_1280.jpg

- Took off the wheels, started the engine and put it in gear, once the clutch is engaged only the side where the crash happened started to move... and the left side didn't move at all. This is weird as i crashed in the drivers side..

- Please help lol

http://24.media.tumblr.com/bb81c9865...ampo9_1280.jpg

- The lower arm of the drivers side snapped.

- this shouldn't be too hard to replace

http://24.media.tumblr.com/86874abf9...ampo2_1280.jpg

- At last the chipped rim haha

Now I am no expert in this, however I have some weird passion and love for fixing and making a car better. For some reason my mother apposes lol :)

If anyone knows or have experienced anything alike please, I need to the advice :)

Welcome to AGT :)

These don't have an LSD, so only one wheel will spin when it's up in the air. Did you try spinning the left one by hand to see if the right one moves?

You might have damaged something in the gearbox as well, but it looks like the LCA took the brunt of the force.

both should spin. if in first, passenger spin rolling as if forward. drivers side opposite.

as for the replacement parts. clearly the lower control arm is fubarred. but check everything it is attached to for damage also. ie-

lower ball joint
hub
hub bearings
upright
swaybar
swaybar links
k frame
driveshaft
layshaft - unlikely this is damaged
tie rod end
steering arm
steering rack

i done the same thing before on a different car. i think you were travelling more than 30kph considering the damage. speedo isn't correct in the wet when you lock up the brakes. i got my speedo down to zero while travelling 40kph on a wet skidpan once.

just by a whole corner section from a wreckers. ie get the whole hub assembly with the coilovers, driveshaft and lower control arm attached and replace the lot to be safe. should cost any more than $50-$100 as no one normally what those parts.

p.s. is that steering fluid in one of those photos? if so, i'd say you sterring rack is gooonnneee...

Thank you rupe :) first post, i thought no one would reply! faith
and thanks project r

I understand that the car doesn't have LSD though when both wheels are off, both CV's are free with out weight and shouldn't they both just spin, freely?

I hope I haven't damage the gearbox, hope it is just as you say the corner section, hopefully it as low cost as you say. I'll take the list when I go to the wreckers too just in case.

Another thing that i was wondering is whether I can get parts for the BA from other models and makers?
eg, ford laser (some models can just swap parts?) or other 323 that have the same suspension layout?

and do you know any good wreckers in Melbourne I can visit ? :)

Pick-A-Part in Kilsyth have a I4 BA Hatch in stock at the moment with everything you need.

Better to stick with parts from a BA - they're easy to find parts for.

Yeah unlucky. I did similar only damage was a bent sway bar link end. But big ballon tyres mean you can ride up on some gutters.

As said lower control.

The reason one wheel might spin not the other is wear. on really good condition diffs' they spin both because all surfaces have even amount of resistance and friction on worn diff's even if one tooth is chipped. ( it is a G-box) it will hang up on it. If you turn one in the air the other one should go in the opposite direction. If not - you have proven power to one wheel. So unless the other sides driveshaft is snapped. It's all internal damage.
You will know as you will or should hear it.

Also as listed check everything.
You might think only LCA but I admit my incidents were higher speed. But I did one straight on at 50km/h - everything drove sort of okay after I replaced wheels and tyres - tyres exploded on impact. Only when it was on the alignment machine could you see LCA bent BACKWARD - 10mm. Apon replacing - K-frame piece bent 5mm out. could not get toe to align with rear.

Cheers Rupe! I just checked the website and they're selling the whole car so I might just buy that as I need other parts for the car too. This is wonderful, I was getting worried it was going to cost so much. But fingers cross the parts are good or relatively good, haha.

Rod, yeah unlucky right on, and as Project R pointed out I was probably doing more than 30.. but I will never know the moment was fast. Much like, "Nek Minnet" hahaha god.

thanks all :)

you'd be able to get the parts from 1.8L kj lasers also. mechanically they are the same, so all parts will swap over.

you may be able to pull parts from a 1.6 kj. but the coilovers and driveshaft (depending on MY) wont be suitable.

Try and grab the whole k frame as a sub assembly with lower control arms left in place.
Aligning the whole undamaged unit to the shell will help in determining if the shell has been tweaked in the impact. Grab the steering rack too.

My shell had hit a curb in its life, the buckled spare in the boot instantly knocked $1500 off the purcha plse price. The rim was in way worse condition than yours and yet the car still aligns perfectly and measures up fine every wheel alignment.


Fill that shed full of tools, you seem to have the space for it at least.

Thanks for the replies and awesome tips, again thank you.

I've acquired all parts relevant to make the car go, gearbox, arm, cv's, and i even got clutch "total", and the hubs that hold the baring for the wheels.

My other question is, how much should i tighten the clutch plate and or have you seen any other post about replacing clutch? :)

I'll up load some photos soon,

This is amazing, a noob making progress, thanks to all

Will

PS, how do I lower the car?

Just take it one step @ time. You'll make it all work :)

To lower the beasty you'll need low springs. King Springs off EBay prolly the most affordable. You should really replace struts too, especially if they are getting on. This way, it won't bouncy bounce down the road ;)

Concerning tightening clutch plate. Do you mean what to torque down pressure plate bolts?

If you want a set of kings I have some sitting doing nothing. Rears have Koni dampers but front are factory units and still OK... for now.
$150 and I'll throw in a V6 strut bar.