Front suspension repair done

The car is progressing slowwwly....

Brake callipers have been restored, fitting new seals and some fresh paint. Fortunately , the pistons where in very good condition. The callipers where very dirty and full of old brake fluid in poor condition. But now they look as new

All the front suspension has been renewed and installed. As you can see in the following images, change in considerable. Now it's looking beautiful. I finally ordered 2 new king pings with their respective fulcrum pins. In theory I just needed one king ping I only had one in bad condition, but with suspension/brake parts, it's always best to fit things in pairs. Original fulcrum pins where a pain to remove and plenty of wd40 and force and up & down movement was needed to remove them. Once cleaned they where ok, but as I had previously order new ones, it was much better to use them. The 2 very important cork gaskets where also installed. When we dismantle the hubs, the bearings from one side came apart, and as I had some new ones, we also fitted them. The stainless steel braided brake hoses where also installed, but first they where wrapped with heat shrinking electrical tube.

Some nice photos of the original situation and the actual situation:

The stainless steel exhaust tube is already installed. The system is made by Falcon UK, and is beautifully made. But as I previously said, I made an error on my order.... Most catalogues, including the Moss one, states that mk3 1098cc cars should have straight exhaust systems, and only the 1275cc car and on will have the double exhaust system with an "S" shape. So that's what I ordered, thinking that the double exhaust system on my car was maybe an error a mechanic had made on the past, or maybe there was no single exhaust system available at the moment on the dealer and they just fitted the double one. But after reading the Terry Holder's "original sprite & midget" book, I found the following: " for Europe, a new twin silencer box system was introduced, the rear silencer being mounted transversely behind the tank". So yes, the 1098 would have had a straight single system, BUT for  Europe cars, there was a double system. Therefore Moss catalogue and others, are incorrect, and I have spent my money buying the incorrect one. I will buy the correct one in the new future, and hope to sell locally the single one to get some money back.

Next steps are fitting new rear brake and suspension parts, engine-gearbox-rear axel oil change, and adjusting tappets and co2.... I hope next year I can post new updates!