Is this suspension strut the problem

[Nicebutdim]

Gas blow torch and wd40 helps. Put copper slip on when you refit to help in future removal.

Thanks. It wasn’t as if they were badly rusty and I used plenty of plusgas. I think they must have been installed by the Incredible Hulk. I expected that once I’d cracked the initial thread they’d spin off nicely but they fought the whole way. A quarter turn per pull on the scaffold pole. Better than any gym equipment. They must be stretched or something.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Thanks. It wasn’t as if they were badly rusty and I used plenty of plusgas. I think they must have been installed by the Incredible Hulk. I expected that once I’d cracked the initial thread they’d spin off nicely but they fought the whole way. A quarter turn per pull on the scaffold pole. Better than any gym equipment. They must be stretched or something.

Possibly nylon lock nuts. ?

 

[Nicebutdim]

Possibly nylon lock nuts. ?

Don’t look like those. I’ll clean them up and copper slip them. If they don’t behave I’ll replace them.

 

[BlackC55]

Just as a little aside. The lower mounting bolts were ridiculously tight on both sides. I had to use a breaker bar extended with a 3 foot scaffold pole to get the moving and they kept up the fight right until the very last threads. Took me the best part of an hour to get the first one off. The rest of the removal was a breeze.

They can be very tight. Use new nuts as they are lockers. Wire brush the thread on the bolts and re-fit dry. No need for grease here. Copper grease is not often used anymore. Its a bit old hat nowadays.

 

[Bellow]

They can be very tight. Use new nuts as they are lockers. Wire brush the thread on the bolts and re-fit dry. No need for grease here. Copper grease is not often used anymore. Its a bit old hat nowadays.

Quite.
The stuff is best avoided. What oil there is dries out very quickly and the thickener base left behind act as a sponge soaking up all the water and salt from the roads - the last thing you want. If you are going to use grease (I do) use as water resistant one as you can find (to resist wash-off) and with the best mechanical stability (to resist oil bleed as the copper slip suffers from). Alternatively, fit dry and coat with underseal when done.

 

[Nicebutdim]

New front shock absorbers arrived today. The bottom spring seat is adjustable so it was necessary to adjust them to the same position as the old shocks. My new spring compressor made easy work of installing the struts into the springs. I re-used the old top mounts. Refitting the shocks onto the car was straightforward using levers to pull down the bottom suspension arm so that the horse shoe shock mount could be slid into place. New nylock nuts fitted onto old mounting bolts and torqued up with the suspension under load.

I set off for a short test ride with my fingers crossed. Success!! Rattle/patter totally gone. Gorgeous ride quality. Sorted.

So my initial thoughts were correct. The o/s suspension strut was knackered and caused the noise.

Thanks to all who contributed and pointed me in the right direction.