Information on how to replace shock absorbers.

You'll need 14mm and 17mm sockets, one of each preferably the deep socket variety and the other of each could be a ring spanner. Also a drift or 6" length of bar approx 8mm in diameter and a hammer. Ratchet driver, torque wrench, old screwdriver, spring compressors. Some of the bolts/nuts need holding both ends to stop one or the other turning, and the bolts tend to bind up in the holes so need drifting out. The drift can also be used to winkle the holes into alignment to reinsert the bolts on assembly. Some bolts may be very tight - you may need a breaker bar and/or a length of pipe for an extension! Bolt/nut sizes refer to the socket required, not the metric size spec.

Front:
1) Jack up and support car (very important), remove wheel.
2) Remove 14mm bolt/nut attaching link to anti-roll bar.
3) Remove 17mm bolt/nut attaching shock absorber bottom end to lower wishbone.
4) (Tip) Using a prybar, lever bottom of shock absorber inwards (only 1/2 cm or so) so that vertical 17mm bolt securing bottom ball joint tongue to lower wishbone is accessible to a 17mm socket, and remove bolt.
5) Remove horizontal 17mm bolt/nut securing bottom ball joint tongue to lower wishbone.
6) Pull wheel hub carrier outwards, to disengage tongue from lower wishbone. Be careful not to stretch the brake pipe.
7) Remove 14mm nuts securing top end of shock absorber to inner wing.
8) Push down on lower wishbone (a helper's foot is handy!) until shock absorber assembly can be released from its top mounting and rotated top towards you until it can be lifted through the hole in the upper wishbone and out from under the wing. Be very careful not to catch the rim of the wheelarch.

Remove assembly to a bench, engage spring compressors, compress springs until pressure taken off top mounting and remove top 17mm nut (under plastic cover on front units). Carry out work required. (Replace spring/shock/bumpstop-gaiter, etc).

Reassemble shock/spring unit.

Replace on the car in the following order, obviously reversing the action from above at each stage:
Assemble all bolts/nuts loosely. 8); 7); 6); 5); (Tip) Now insert an old screwdriver between bottom of tongue and wishbone to push the tongue upwards into position so that the vertical bolt can be engaged, insert the bolt (removed in stage 4 above - again it will be necessary to lever the bottom of the shock absorber inwards) and tighten it to about 60ftlbs. 3); 2);

Now tighten all bolts to correct torque. (14mm ones about 35 ftlbs, 17mm ones about 60 ftlbs) 1)

Rear
1) Jack up and support car (very important), remove wheel.
2) On nearside, remove shield protecting fuel filler pipes inside boot. On offside, remove spare wheel.
3) Remove 14mm bolt/nut securing bottom of anti-roll bar link to lower wishbone.
4) Remove 14mm nuts securing top end of shock absorber to body.
5) Remove 17mm bolt attaching shock absorber bottom end to lower wishbone.
6) Put jack under outer end of lower wishbone, and jack wishbone up until it is in approximately normal position.
7) Remove 17mm bolt/nut securing top of wheel hub carrier to outer end of top wishbone.
8) Disengage joint.
9) Lower jack so as to lower bottom wishbone, taking care not to stretch the brake hose, until shock absorber can be disengaged from its top mounting and the shock absorber assembly can be removed. Reassemble in reverse order.

It may not be strictly necessary to carry out steps 7 and 8, but it makes things easier! In theory you're supposed to do final torque tightening with the car on the ground, but I can never reach the bolts with my torque spanner. Fine if you've got a pit!

I'd like to report that the job was completed successfully. Sadly, this was not the case - as we got to step 9 on the last rear unit, a substantial amount of hydraulic fluid ran out of the shock absorber, and when the unit was removed from the car, it was all floppy. Some major internal failure had occurred - the operating rod had become disconnected from the piston (it seemed as if the threads in the piston had stripped). So now a pair of rear shocks are on order. (Always replace a faulty shock absorber as a pair, not just one side). My friend then told me the car had been rather bouncy, as well as hitting things! (12/01)