I have been back under the car again for a short break from work and think I probably will get a soft wire brush for the grinder and give it all the once over. There are enough 'little bubble' on the original grey paint to suggest more rust lurks beneath.
The reason I was back under the car was to try and remove the three remaining nuts holding the rear ARB on.
The first one I had reasonable access to so having decided that it was not coming off using any nice method I resorted to cutting a groove into it with the Dremel and then beating seven shades out of it until it moved. Pipe pliers helped once it had freed a little. Watch out for shattered cutting discs when doing this, goggles perhaps?
20180122_165300 by
WCA!, on Flickr
The next two nuts promise to be more challenging because of where they are located. They both do the same thing which is to hold a rubber bush in place between the car and a plate that hooks in at one end and bolted at the other. We are working at the bolted end.
20180122_165613 by
WCA!, on Flickr
The challenge is that the ARB blocks access on two sides of the nut, the bracket blocks another side and the final side is blocked by a metal plate that appears to be part of the old exhaust hanger (possibly?).
So basically you have a rusty nut to which you have no real access except with a 13mm socket that just spins.
20180122_165420 by
WCA!, on Flickr
The passengers side is slightly better as it doesn't have the exhaust plate but there is a different bit of metal blocking access to close to use a short 13mm spanner. The ratchet ring spanner shows how tight space is as that will not fit over the nut because the ARB blocks it.
20180122_165545 by
WCA!, on Flickr
I have quit for tonight and am on a client site tomorrow so you all have 24 hours to solve the problem.
My current thinking is to buy this set of rounded bolt removers for £12 but am happy to be told better:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-b...FYmk7Qod9q0Ekw