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Late mk3 upper front strut bushing swap

 

the right way to do this is with late mk3 front struts and springs since the top of the spring is smaller on the late mk3 and the strut is smaller on the mk2. but i didnt have mk3 springs so i did a combo of parts. works fine and no issues. ill make a note of the difference.

 

so first things first. Here is the difference between mk2 and last mk3 strut bushings and spring caps. mk3 also has a bearing that goes between the bushing and spring cap. on the mk2 bushing the bearing is built into the bushing.

left is mk3 and right is mk2. second pic is opposite but its the only close up pic i have.

 

Now on the the how to. this one is pretty simple.

 

before jacking up the front of the car you will want to loosen the top nut and remove the strut cap. underneath you will find another nut with two slots(this nut is not reused) in the top of it. if you dont have the special tool for it like me you can use a pair of needle nose pliers to unscrew the nut.

 

slowly jack up and support the car with a jack stand when the wheel comes off of the ground and reach up under the fender and remove the bushing and spring cap.

 

now set the mk2 spring cap on the ground, mk3 spring cap on top of that. then bearing(flat side down) on the caps and bushing on top of that. the bushing should spin freely of the caps. yes there will be a little side slipage but it wont slip once its in the car.

 

now that you know what order they go on your on to the tricky part.

place the pieces one at a time on top of each other on the strut and then very slowly lower the car making sure the strut goes through the hole in all of them until the wheel is on the ground. then place the mk3 strut cap and nut onto the strut and tighten it down. the tip of the strut should stick up past the nut no more then a 1/4". any more then that and somethings not lined up right. you will want to raise the car back up again with out removing the top nut and stick your hand up there and feel around for something missing.

 

if it all looks good continue on the other side with the same process.

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