Lude Generation

Just need to have a rant!

Picked up some new coilovers a few months ago, at less than 5000 miles and £250 I couldn't resit.
Missing the top mounts which was a pain but not to worry I can swap my standard ones on.

Skip forward a few weeks as I was really busy and after an entire weekend of fiddling, swearing and getting rusty old bolts off I manage to get the front ones together and on the car.
So now my car is running on the floorpan almost
Go to adjust the locking collars and one of them is siezed solid. Another few hours spent trying to loosen it off and half a can of penetrating spray later all I had to show for my efforts was a bent C spanner and a damaged locking coolar.

In the mean time I think I can put the rear ones on and sort those out. So another few hours of swearing and trying to remove old bolts, I find the castle nut and ball joint on one side stripped clean. Another few weeks without a car spent sourcing a replacement pair of rear arms and £90 later I finally get it all together. Now my car IS running on the floorpan.

So today my new C spanner turns up and I'm greeted with this:

I'm naively hoping that it's the half a can of penetrating spray I put on a few weeks ago but deep down I'm certain that's oil from the damper leaking everywhere. It's all over the coilover, the lower control arm and there's even a nice puddle of it on the floor.
To compound matters even with a 600mm bar on the end the collar is still siezed solid.

I love my Lude. Still at least the C spanner I got for £6 was really good.

If a shock leak it doesn’t normally spray like that, just get a dribble running down the body.
If you really can’t move the locking ring and end up cutting it off, I do have new spares laying about which are possibly the right size.

Just a observation but you are trying to screw the top coller up and the lower one down if there’s room?
The marks on the teeth look like your possibly trying to turn it all?

The collars aren't too much from tein, it'll take you about 17 weeks to figure out how to order them though....

I bought some of these second hand, hardly used too. The adjusters had seized solid and it took me a few hours whilst they were off the car (still not fitted) to free them up, honestly I'd have had no chance doing it whilst on the car. You'll probably have to take them off the car and unsieze them on the bench.

After I'd freed them there was the smallest speck of rust causing the problem. The're now liberally coated in red rubber grease......

Thanks for the tips all, particularly Vtecmec as I took the coilover off and put it in the vice.

It took:
3 weeks of penetrating spray
Vinegar (one of the more unusual suggestions I saw online but makes sense.)
A reinforced C spanner
A vice
A 600mm breaker bar
A blowtorch
Me and my mum on the bar.

But I am victorious.

Front is all sorted, now just got to get the rear one loose!

rep to your mum too.

Well done man perciver and you will be victorious
Rep all round for the work