[pontiacstogo]

Quick update - I finally got ONE side done;



All three of the spring pocket bolts spun - the captured 'nut' simply broke away from the clip. I had to grind the heads off the two most forward bolts but I could not reach the rearmost one. Fortunately I was able to tilt the socket enough that the nut stayed in position and I was then able to wind it out.

I needed to do some cleanup under the spring pocket as there was a lot of surface rust. I ended up ordering new hardware from our sponsor - spring pocket bolts, front eye bolts etc. The biggest time factor in the project was waiting for those parts to arrive from the US. The new spring pocket bolts and clips are a much better design.

Everything went pretty smoothly once I got the spring pocket out. The only other problem I had was getting the top shackle bolt back through the new frame bushings - there's not much room up there and that bolt is not a loose fit - even after sanding it smooth and lubing it.

Passenger's side next. I'm hoping I don't have the same problem with the spring pocket bolts but I'm guessing I will.