Suspension cleanup (Front)

03/05/03

After being under the car to check what needed doing to the rear valance I noticed the visual state of my suspension and callipers. They were covered in surface rust and just did not look very super-car. As it was a nice sunny day and I'd just refitted my cam covers I decided to do something about it. So I jacked up the car, removed the wheels, and went at the callipers, springs and wishbones with a hand and drill brass brush. After the dirt and brake dust was removed and cleaned I simply masked up the disks and rubber work and sprayed the callipers with the red heat paint. I was not bothered about over spray on the suspension and just held a piece of card behind the calliper to reduce this. I allowed this to dry while I cleaned the other side then returned, Masked the Calliper and sprayed the rest with smooth silver hamerite as its strong and will prevent further rust from forming.

I also later decided to do the rear which can be seen here.

	Near side while cleaning with the brass brush.
	Masking. The disc and calliper was masked with two plastic shopping bags and tape along the edge to give a clean line (already removed). The rad pipes, chassis and arch were protected by holding a piece of card over that section while spraying. This seemed to be a reasonable solution and gave good results. Maybe I'll return and do the chassis another day. Notice the upper wishbone and spring not done. I was going to do that after in Yellow but after a test found it did not cover well.
	Off side Painted. Could be better but a still an improvement. Noticed afterwards I still had to remove the tape from the ball joint and gaiter end. If you look closely enough you can see a patch of yellow that on the spring from the earlier test. I dont think I let it dry enough before going over it with silver.
	Wheels fitted, You can now see the callipers!. Looks a little odd as the suspension still needs to settle after being jacked up. I must get some new drilled discs.