Purists look away now!
This was a temporary fix for front suspension shock absorbers that are old but functional.
The bump stops on my Z3 1.9 Roadster were missing on one side and completely perished on the other. Missing or non-functional bump stops are not a reason for a MOT failure in the UK, but they can damage the shock absorbers and other components if the car bottoms-out. As far as I know, you cannot buy or replace the suspension bump stops without replacing the whole suspension strut.
I'm surprised the above was still present !
I made temporary bump stops using two cylindrical exhaust mounting rubbers. These were about 40mm in diameter and of a similar length and hard rubber.
I cut down the length of the rubber using a craft knife (in one go), so that it could be stretched over the shock absorber and then I cut out the middle of the central divider, so that it was a snug fit on the shock absorber rod when the rubber was pressed together to close the gap. You want the central divider to be cut so that the rubber will lightly grip the shock absorber rod when in place.
Wrap paper around the shock absorber to protect it from excess glue before stretching the rubber over the shock absorber and then supergluing the rubber together and use two thick cable ties to hold in place while it sets. The cable ties were left in place and the excess ends cut off.
Picture shows the item immediately after gluing and before the cable tie ends and protective paper were removed.
So far it works fine and shows no sign of damage after about 100 miles!
This was a temporary fix for front suspension shock absorbers that are old but functional.
The bump stops on my Z3 1.9 Roadster were missing on one side and completely perished on the other. Missing or non-functional bump stops are not a reason for a MOT failure in the UK, but they can damage the shock absorbers and other components if the car bottoms-out. As far as I know, you cannot buy or replace the suspension bump stops without replacing the whole suspension strut.
I'm surprised the above was still present !
I made temporary bump stops using two cylindrical exhaust mounting rubbers. These were about 40mm in diameter and of a similar length and hard rubber.
I cut down the length of the rubber using a craft knife (in one go), so that it could be stretched over the shock absorber and then I cut out the middle of the central divider, so that it was a snug fit on the shock absorber rod when the rubber was pressed together to close the gap. You want the central divider to be cut so that the rubber will lightly grip the shock absorber rod when in place.
Wrap paper around the shock absorber to protect it from excess glue before stretching the rubber over the shock absorber and then supergluing the rubber together and use two thick cable ties to hold in place while it sets. The cable ties were left in place and the excess ends cut off.
Picture shows the item immediately after gluing and before the cable tie ends and protective paper were removed.
So far it works fine and shows no sign of damage after about 100 miles!
