Will have Eibach Pro-kit installed myself this Sat.

[chicaboo]

Did you jack your car up on grass???

[platypus]

ewwww well spotted.... i made the assumption all the **** was thrown on the grass

[chicaboo]

No I can clearly see grass behind an elongated strut hanging down with no wheel on it!
Bag Hang! If you can jack on a "flat level firm surface" you don't have to worry about the car falling on your soft tender body parts. A personal phobia of mine...

[chicaboo]

Actually I even find exposed aggregate finished driveways a little dodgy too, as the jack visibly slips as the car lifts!

[Cloudland]

haha! good eyes but no, chica - i'm not jacking the car on grass, i had this aggregate surfaced carport, (3 edges are) surrounded by grass.

and damn it, front endlink bolts - i mean both side, refuse to get off and all get rounded.

i'll head to my friend at a tyre shop tomorrow morning to see if they can replace the nuts with almighty air tools.

btw, a 14mm socket gave up when i did the front, i can't believe it, it splitted.

[chicaboo]

Hehe, damn it must be close then. But good of you to play it safe, nothing ends your day of fun like a car partially falling on you...
Get this, I paid some farkers $290 to install mine with an alignment, at the time I felt like I paid too much, but now I am continually feeling better about it after reading your experiences...

Argh, now for that farken exhaust.
Gav.

[platypus]

yeah just noticed on your strut top 14mm bolts, you need a long socket!!! two long sockets you need for this car are 17mm 14mm and a 19 mm plug socket

[Cloudland]

Originally Posted by chicaboo

Get this, I paid some farkers $290 to install mine with an alignment, at the time I felt like I paid too much, but now I am continually feeling better about it after reading your experiences...

actually i've been thinking if i should pay someone to have other 3 replaced - i had my fun and i know what's going on under there, now it's time to finish this asap.

but on the other hand, i've invested a lot of time into this, and i know a few tricks that the mechanics might not get it at first (or at all, like the washer). and i doubt if any local mechanic has every done Eibach pro-kit on a SP20, i mean they are not all that common here in NZ. Their single most significant advantage over us is probably they have air tools.

I'll post the picture of the failed socket later. I'll not buy any MIC tools, with or without brandname - we did have some really sturdy tools made in China, but cheaky exporters/importers only strike on cheap products.

[Cloudland]

Originally Posted by ahb11m

yeah just noticed on your strut top 14mm bolts, you need a long socket!!! two long sockets you need for this car are 17mm 14mm and a 19 mm plug socket

very deep socket indeed.

[Cloudland]

Originally Posted by Cloudland

I'll post the picture of the failed socket later.

[chicaboo]

That's gay, did you round off the nuts too? So long as you didn't hurt your knuckles from slipping and bashing them against an impervious part of the car, you'll be right.

[twilightprotege]

in other words, never buy from supercheap!

i like repco stuff coz it's an ok price and has a lifetime warranty. if that happened 20 years after you bought it, take it back and they'd replace it no questions asked. just as long as there isnt signs of the socket being beaten by a hammer

[platypus]

thats why i love my Kamasa tools... quality from West Germany (yes they are that old)

don't get that design in sockets... i found it eats bolts easier... try somehting with a patterning more like this:

[Cloudland]

that socket broke before it could further round the edges. actually the one that's responsible is a wrench, which has a close end like the image in ahb11m's post. i thought they bite harder, it looks they really do.

i went to the tyre shop this morning, they can't get it off neither, so the boss made a booking for me with a mechanic shop around the corner, but they won't be free until tomorrow. i have to drive another 60 KMs with only one corner lower - this is not gonna damage the tyres, is it?

[Cosmo Dude]

Six sided sockets are better for high torque bolts. The design shown in ahb11ms' pic are easier to use.
Don't know about 'KING DICK' branded sockets though

[platypus]

hehe, was looking for pics, not moby's father

[mrpayner]

Kinchrome have that design on their socket sets.. Really very handy!

Looking under the wheel arch there seems to be some serious over spray happening there.. Did you have some panels resprayed at some point?

AP

[Cloudland]

not to my knowledge, MrPayner

[platypus]

if it was overspray, it would be on more than the panel work... looks like standard production stuff... my car has a mix of bright white, and dull white... i'm guessing one is undercoat... then that tar spray goes over that anyway

[mrpayner]

This is the overspray that i'm talking about.. it's yellow, the colour of the car. It wouldn't be from the factory, as they paint the car with nothing on it but the shell.. They wouldn't have any of the underbody plastic on there at all..

Did you buy the car brand new Cloudy?

Adam