[abecketts]

Hi,

I'm upgrading my 3.2 to eibach springs and will have 4 serviceable springs avaliable for £50 plus postage or distanced collection from mid Wiltshire.

cheers

Paul

 

[rjwooll]

Hi,

I'm upgrading my 3.2 to eibach springs and will have 4 serviceable springs avaliable for £50 plus postage or distanced collection from mid Wiltshire.

cheers

Paul

Hi,

I'm upgrading my 3.2 to eibach springs and will have 4 serviceable springs avaliable for £50 plus postage or distanced collection from mid Wiltshire.

cheers

Paul

Message sent.

cheers

Richard

 

[abecketts]

Just to clarify the springs are not Ti springs.

 

[rjwooll]

A set of Eibach springs is on the way (from Holland!)

Can anyone tell me how the rear seats are removed to access the suspension turrets? I can’t find a description online, but did see one on the 159 which looked tricky.

Thanks, Richard

 

[abecketts]

It’s not a problem. The base of the rear seat comes forward after you undo bolts at the front of the squab. Then there are two bolts that hold the back down, once removed you lift the seat upward so it comes out of the hooks that hold it. You’ll then need to remove the parcel shelf so you can see the tops of the shocks. The rear top mounts can be rusty and may not be salvageable which means you will need to search Alfa breakers or talk to Italiparts to see if they have any in stock as new parts are impossible to get. if your top mounts can be salvaged then clean them up and spray with hamerite to keep the tin worm at bay.

 

[rjwooll]

It’s not a problem. The base of the rear seat comes forward after you undo bolts at the front of the squab. Then there are two bolts that hold the back down, once removed you lift the seat upward so it comes out of the hooks that hold it. You’ll then need to remove the parcel shelf so you can see the tops of the shocks. The rear top mounts can be rusty and may not be salvageable which means you will need to search Alfa breakers or talk to Italiparts to see if they have any in stock as new parts are impossible to get. if your top mounts can be salvaged then clean them up and spray with hamerite to keep the tin worm at bay.

Brilliant - thanks very much! I hope the brackets are ok as the rest of the car is remarkably rust free (says he before looking at the suspension turrets!)

Cheers, Richard

 

[Scott1974T]

I seen Eibachs for sale on ebay that were from Holland, and at a very good price!

Yep, rear top shock mounts are going to be a major issue going forward for 166ers. I dread to think what mine will be like when the time comes.

 

[Mufasa]

It’s not a problem. The base of the rear seat comes forward after you undo bolts at the front of the squab. Then there are two bolts that hold the back down, once removed you lift the seat upward so it comes out of the hooks that hold it. You’ll then need to remove the parcel shelf so you can see the tops of the shocks. The rear top mounts can be rusty and may not be salvageable which means you will need to search Alfa breakers or talk to Italiparts to see if they have any in stock as new parts are impossible to get. if your top mounts can be salvaged then clean them up and spray with hamerite to keep the tin worm at bay.

I find removing the rear c pillar trim is required to get the parcel shelf out and I drop the cross member onto a trolley jack
(4 x 15mm bolts - WD40 and then breaker bar to open them). Gives you a bit of wiggle when you try to take the bottom of the strut off the 'pin' it's on.
I did this on my donor car only yesterday.
I'd allow most of the day to get this done TBH, it's a faff no doubt

 

[rjwooll]

I find removing the rear c pillar trim is required to get the parcel shelf out and I drop the cross member onto a trolley jack
(4 x 15mm bolts - WD40 and then breaker bar to open them). Gives you a bit of wiggle when you try to take the bottom of the strut off the 'pin' it's on.
I did this on my donor car only yesterday.
I'd allow most of the day to get this done TBH, it's a faff no doubt

Thanks Mufasa,

As I dont have the right lifting equipment, I’m getting the local garage to do the work after I’ve removed the rear parcel shelf. I think I can unbolt the seat back without removing the squab as I can reach the two bolts with a socket extension through the gap between the squab and the back.

Is removing the c pillar trim fairly straightforward?

cheers, Richard

 

[Scott1974T]

Thanks Mufasa,

As I dont have the right lifting equipment, I’m getting the local garage to do the work after I’ve removed the rear parcel shelf. I think I can unbolt the seat back without removing the squab as I can reach the two bolts with a socket extension through the gap between the squab and the back.

Is removing the c pillar trim fairly straightforward?

cheers, Richard

You just need to use a trim removal tool for the C pillar trims and pop it off at the fixing points. I had both mine removed only recently due to moisture getting in the back window and they came away very easily. Just take your time and work your way around them starting from the bit nearest the back door.

Just be careful if you are removing the rear parcel shelf and you have DSP speakers fitted as it always pulls the wires off from the speaker cone the way it is designed and slides out. Remove the speaker covers first if you do and take a good look at the connections and how they interact with the shelf. If you don't have DSP then not to worry!

When I removed my seat squab a few years back to install DSP I just pulled it up and it came off the mountings no problem. It was very straightforward and easy to do.

 

[ferret-ears]

The parcel shelf "cover" is bolted through the metal it sits on. So undo the bolt under the cubby, then locate the 2 nuts under the parcel shelf in the boot, these are for the supports that a easily ripped off, as I found a chimpanze had previously removed the shelf from my car!!!!

 

[Marco166]

When you remove the rear parcel shelf ,make sure you have some kind of adhesive as the plastic brackets most likely will come off. Also this will be a good time to retrofit the sunshade if you dont have it , and to apply sound deadening material to the parcel shelf . you will see what I am talking about once you remove it. take care not to damage the c pillar trim , especially if its a facelift car (facelift cars have some sort of memory foam that gets damaged easily). spare plastic tabs will most likely be needed.
this is a job for the owner as most garages will just rip thse off.
extra care if the car has dsp, the cables get tangled and you risk damaging the speakers

 

[ferret-ears]

Thanks Mufasa,

As I dont have the right lifting equipment, I’m getting the local garage to do the work after I’ve removed the rear parcel shelf. I think I can unbolt the seat back without removing the squab as I can reach the two bolts with a socket extension through the gap between the squab and the back.

Is removing the c pillar trim fairly straightforward?

cheers, Richard

If you do remove the squab (I would recommend doing so, then you can check and clean stuff.) Unbolt the seat back then replace the squab as something to kneel on, as there are some electric connections underneath.

 

[ferret-ears]

I've got some photos of the parcel shelf removed (on my computer) which would explain how to remove it, if that would help?

 

[rjwooll]

Thanks ferret-ears,

I’ve got the rear seat backrest out and have removed the nuts under the parcel shelf and the screws along the lip hidden by the backrest apart from the two end ones for which I have ordered a right angle screwdriver. I don’t want to remove the C pillar trims if I can help it. I’m hoping that once these screws are out the shelf can be wriggled out. I have seen the comments about dsp speakers but I have no idea if I have these or not - what are they? Mine look as though they are screwed to the metal panel underneath the parcel shelf. I also have a roller blind fitted but I don’t suppose that makes a difference.

I’ll let you know once I get to the next stage if I need your pictures - many thanks

Richard

 

[Scott1974T]

3 ways to check if you have DSP.

In the sound settings on the ICS

Remove the cover to the left hand side of the boot and you will see the DSP amp sitting to the top of the cage

Pop one of the rear speaker covers off the parcel shelf. If DSP there will be a subwoofer there. If none, you dont have it😁

 

[rjwooll]

3 ways to check if you have DSP.

In the sound settings on the ICS

Remove the cover to the left hand side of the boot and you will see the DSP amp sitting to the top of the cage

Pop one of the rear speaker covers off the parcel shelf. If DSP there will be a subwoofer there. If none, you dont have it😁

There are no separate speaker grilles on my parcel shelf - just the fabric stretched over grilles cut into the shelf itself. No separate amp in the boot, and nothing in the ICS sound settings.

Thanks for the pointers!

Richard

 

[rjwooll]

A bit stuck today - had some time this afternoon to go back to my parcel shelf. Removed the rest of the screws but I can’t lift the shelf far enough so the bolts lift out of the holes in the steel crossmember. I could try using more strength but the shelf is only fibreboard and I don’t want to crease it. Something seems to be stopping it lifting any further with around 1/4” of the bolts still poking through into the boot. Also tried removing the C pillar trims in case this would help but the plastic clip behind the panel won’t release even with trim removal tools.

Would welcome any wise words!

Thanks, Richard

 

[ferret-ears]

C-pillar trim must be removed, I can't see how you could do this with them in place.
These pictures don't show the DSP speakers that I have removed.
N.B. this is a pre facelift car.

 

[rjwooll]

Thanks ferret ears - having the pictures answers a few questions. It looks like it will be difficult to remove the C pillar trim without breaking the fasteners; another design to be bashed in but not removed!

i guess I need to buy one of those eBay job lots of trim fasteners and hope for the best.

Cheers, Richard