Update:

Right, I've been working on the car since Thursday morning, but unfortunately have been struck by a couple of issues, hurdles and hinderances that have hampered my progress (mostly the car's fault, but a little bit my fault).

Thursday saw my applying all of the primer coats and all of the gloss black top coats. I went for VHT black on the hub carrier thingy's as I estimated they would get very hot what with having to carry the brake disc. It's on the hob in the picture below in order to heat it up prior to spraying (the first time I did it it all cracked because it was too cold two weeks back). I also used the VHT paint on the inboard end of the drive shaft for similar reasons although maybe it will never get hot enough? Similar idea over the hob prior to spraying.

I had to touch up lots of the new Ford parts that I had purchased. The new LHS front spring had an unpainted line where it had clearly been hung from whilst being powder coated. The new strut spring tops were scratched and dented so I sprayed these also. Ah well...

I also removed the front brake lines to flexible hose bracket for a clean up. Tried to source new from Ford, but they are no longer available. So they have gone to my local plating firm to be restored. The rust has got inbetween the two plates and started forcing them apart, so I've ask them to remove the rust in the acid and then braze the parts back together prior to re-plating. See picture below. We'll wait and see how they come out...

Friday saw the sub-assembly of both front struts, a nice milestone. These have subsequently been fitted to the car - hand tight.

I tried to fit the poly-bushed front lower track control arms, but found that one side inner bush housing was three mm wider than the other. Therefore, with the polybushes, it does not fit in the car. I thought about hacksawing some material from the bushes, but if I do this I'm affecting the overall behaviour of the bush when compared side to side. I think I'm going to take it to a local firm to mill off 1.5mm of the material from either side. This lower track control arm must be a non-OEM item as the castings are slightly different to the other three items that I have around me.

I've also fully sub-assembled one hub with the new bearings, bar calliper. However, it is very, very tight when turning the hub carrier thingy in the hub itself? Getting over the initial stiction is remarkably difficult, getting easier once moving, but still noticeably tight. This doesn't sound right to me. The bearings rotated freely prior to inserting the hub carrier thingy? Any thoughts?

I already mentioned about the screw up on the front bearing grease seal...grrr...

I also forced myself to re-paint a load of the parts as I managed to spray red oxide primer around my entire garage by accident. Surely caused by my being tired late on Firday night. Very frustrating, but I've cleaned all the parts now.

I also did a bit of rust proofing on the inner arches and strut towers. The car was not too bad actually.

Here are the pics, third showing where the "magic" and general lack of skill takes place:
















Your thoughts on those points raised would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Alex