Really struggling to fit front damper/spring

[pasmith73]

I'm building my 270S and just cannot fit the bolt through the top bush of the front dampers/springs. I know the holes are lined-up because a shorter M8 bolt goes in easily. But when I try the correct bolt I just can't get it in. Of course there's no clearance to get any type of tool on it. I've tried using pliers on the bolt shank to turn the bolt, and it does turn, but it's not going any further into the hole.

What am I doing wrong? Been trying for literally hours now :-(

Thanks.

[downsman]

It is tricky. On my Seven, I decided I was just going to bend the aluminium skin out of the way to make future access easier.
The other thing that might help is a ball ended allen key or driver.

Also make sure you have the lower end of the damper free, so you can wiggle it round to move the bolt into slightly different positions.
Have you managed to get the bolt cleanly in the thread without the damper there, I suppose it might be a dirty thread.

[pasmith73]

Thanks for your reply.

The bolt goes in fine without the damper in place. And I know the holes are lined-up because a shorter M8 goes through easily. I can't get an allen key on the bolt because there's almost no clearance (I can only just fit the width of my finger between the top of the bolt head and the chassis part behind it).

I have tried pushing the bodywork outwards, but it only moves a tiny bit, and springs back to the original position when I let go.

I think my fingers are just not strong enough to turn the bolt by hand.

[DCL]

You may have to wriggle, or rotate the shocker as you hold as much pressure on the head of the bolt as you can. As said, the body may need 'bent' out the way to allow the bolt to be square to the holes. That may seem extreme, but it can either be bent back or left for future access. It not an area that is readily seen.

[downsman]

When bending the alloy, it was easier on my car to push it in rather than pull it out, but of course they may have changed it in the last five years.
Good luck

[CharlesElliott]

You need to bend the skin in to allow you to get onto the head of the bolt. Once bent in, don't try to bend it back.

[pasmith73]

For the bending - do you mean pushing from inside the car so that you are pushing the panel outwards? I have tried this with my fingertips but there was hardly any movement in the panel, and it sprung back when i let go. I don't think my fingers are strong enough.

[downsman]

No, I had to push the skin into the car from outside. However, if this doesn't look right, phone Caterham for advice.

[pasmith73]

Thanks for your reply. I thought some other comments i had read were suggesting that the skin is pushed inwards too. I think I really haven't understood this correctly. If you push the skin inwards, what does this allow you to do? I would think that this is pushing the body panel even further onto the bolt?

[griffchris]

Does this help? (thanks to Mr Angry on blatchat)

[pasmith73]

In that photo the bolt head is already up to the shock absorber bush. I can't begin to insert the bolt into the first bracket and into the bush. My bolt head is way further back, behind the body panel.

[nigelpugh7]

If just built my Superlight twenty, which is basically the same car as yours.

I didn't have any problem this time getting my top shock bolts in, I assume they were already fitted to the chassis like mine were from the factory just to make sure the threads are ok?

On my alloy bodied car I found it really easy to ouch the alloy body panel,in towards the car from the outside and use my other hand to push the bolt through the outside and through top of the shock.

Then i used a Allen key socket on a small gimbal to,tighten it.

Don't be afraid to really push the panel, it's surprising how much it will move with the right amount of force.

Lots of pics on my blog that might help with your build too.

http://superlighttwenty.blogspot.co.uk/

[downsman]

You need to remove the bolt, push the panel in from outside and the insert the bolt from outside the car. You'll never be able to insert it from inside the panel.

[pasmith73]

Thanks very much. That's where I was going wrong. I was trying to present bolt from inside the car. I'll have another go tonight. Cheers.