Disassembling the front suspension, part 4
I had a couple of days off from the garage to take care of some other business, among them doing some work on my new garage getaway car and go-to-work transportation: a 1997 Fiat Punto 55 S. It’s quite a difference from the majestic growl of the 166 V6, but the 71 km rundtrip to work every day was killing me in terms of fuel costs. We still have the 166 though 
As far as the Montreal is concerned, I finally found the time to go to the Würth store and buy some threaded steel rod in 8.8 quality for the front spring removal. Each length is 45 cm and was fitted to the spring pans before I left the garage tonight. The brownish colour on the rods are because of the copper paste I used on the threads. The easier the long nuts can turn, the less torque the threads will have to withstand. That’s the theory anyway.
I have also removed the front anti roll bar, but unfortunately I managed to twist off the front screw in the driver’s side bracket when removing it. There was apparently rust in the threads on the inside, probably because the outer screw is somewhat exposed to the elements. The inner screw came out easily, but it too had rust on the threads. Destroying it is a bit troublesome since the screws extends into a closed box in the engine compartment/chassis member, making access from the inside impossible. I’ll have to drill the remains out and replace the threads like I did on the rebound strap brackets. Although I hoped to avoid destroying anything when disassembling, the lower valance area is in poor condition; lots of paint and undercoating flaking off, and quite a bit of surface rust. Looks like the wire wheel is coming out again before it’s time again for the usual underbody paint treatment.
Tomorrow the driver’s side spring is coming off, and then the rest of the multitude of parts that are still on the car. It’s probably going to be another couple of weeks before I can whip out the paint brush and start priming …
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