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16

Omega General Help / Re: Micksgarage and cheap wishbones

« on: 05 April 2024, 19:19:39 »

That's a very kind offer to do the work, and I'd be more than happy to assist in any way I can.  Do you have any recommended brands/suppliers for the springs/top mounts/bump stops?  I'll try and do some shopping and get all the parts together in the next couple of weeks

I've never found any benefit in worrying much about brands for car parts, although there are few I won't buy due to limited, anecdotal experience. It's really easy to waste lots of time searching some ultimate part recommended by a stranger on the internet....


I bought all four springs for my car from ATP for less than any of the UK suppliers wanted for one estate rear. All quoted delivery dates as to be advised. The ATP order, which included some other stuff, arrived in three days.


ATP no longer seem to list the top mounts and bump stops which is a pain, although various UK supplier do with the usual variance in prices. I would buy them, including the strut bearings(sometimes included with the top mounts, so be careful), from a single source who could supply them all.


Given that your rear springs have probably been replaced recently, I suggest that new ones should be considered nice to have instead of just change them. Polyurethane wishbone front bushes are essential, whatever else you decide to do. Some careful shopping should get all the parts as discussed for under £200 per side. This is not a cheap job, but will make the car drive like new.

Thanks Nick.  With regards the rear springs someone in an earlier post suggested that they are the self-levelling spec springs according to the LR code which is visible, and that I should swap them for standard springs to match the standard shocks that it currently has.  I think I'll go for the ATP rears as they seem very good value. If they fail in the next couple of years at least they are easier to swap (for a better brand) than the front ones would be.  Similarly the front springs supplied by autovaux *should* be a decent quality, as they specialise in parts for Vauxhalls (or is that wishful thinking?)

It seems to be the consensus that poly bushes are the way to go - do these need a press to fit? Thanks again for the advice 

17

Omega General Help / Re: Micksgarage and cheap wishbones

« on: 05 April 2024, 16:54:13 »

Kilen heavy duty springs would be my go to suggestion.

The standard SL springs might almost be considered dangerous when fitted with standard non self leveling shocks as the spring rates are much softer on account of the self leveling aspect of the shocks*

The naysayers will doubtless jump on this point, but at the end of the day GM fitted different springs for a reason.

Also, Atp wishbones are cheap, but the general advice is to replace the front bushes with Power flex poly bushes as a permanent fix prior to fitting the wishbones. Incorrect tightening of the standard bushes will see them fail almost immediately when the wheels are put back on the ground.

Thanks for this. I am now looking to replace all 4 springs.  Do you have a recommendation for a supplier who has the Kilen springs in stock? I've seen a couple on ebay but they seem very pricey.  I've found KYB springs for about £40 each which seem reasonable and ATP in Germany have a pair of springs for £47, which might be too cheap to be a decent product?

Also Autovaux have Suplex front springs for a very good price, anyone got experience with these? Thanks again 

18

Omega General Help / Re: Micksgarage and cheap wishbones

« on: 03 April 2024, 20:33:21 »

The spring with LR is a genuine GM spring for estate models with s/l suspension. Personally, if the s/l suspension was still operable with the  genuine s/l shocks, then the ride height will be correct and if LH and RH are a matched pair, I would have kept them,  rather than fitting aftermarket springs.
Never done it, as I like to keep my cars 'original', but the recommendation is to fit standard springs and shocks with the s/l disconnected.
Incidentally, a friend of mine fitted ATP wishbones, but they didn't last any time at all with premature bush failure.

That's interesting, I saw on another thread someone mentioned LK springs were for self-leveling so I assumed LR was a standard spring (never make assumptions!)
I like originality too wherever possible, but as I already have standard shocks fitted on the back I guess it makes sense to fit some standard springs to match them. In fact I think the rear shocks are a bit tired but I doubt I'll find any self-leveling ones to replace them with, certainly not on a tight budget.

19

Omega General Help / Re: Micksgarage and cheap wishbones

« on: 03 April 2024, 19:37:15 »

All a visual inspection of the springs will tell you is if they've snapped. But over time they lose some of their rate, which affects the ride height and quality which is usually such a gradual process the driver doesn't notice. The same applies to the top mounts, which look OK until you compare them to new ones that haven't compressed 10-15mm. A pair of springs are about £50, the top mounts with bearings(you can clean and re-grease them, but they're usually in a poor condition) about £30 per side, and the bumpstop/dustcover kit about £15. As you say, replacing these parts only adds a couple of minutes per side, most of which is swapping the spring compressor onto the new spring.


If the Omega front suspension wasn't such a fussy design requiring a full alignment after removing the struts for any reason, taking a gamble on some of those would be worth considering, especially as the cars age like this. But they are fussy, and a complete rebuild and alignment transforms even a car that seemed OK before the work.


How does  £125 to do all that sound, which would include a rough and ready alignment to make the car at least drivable.

First of all, thanks so much for your input so far, it's been very enlightening hearing from someone who is so familiar with the job.

I guess I was hoping that someone might be able to look at the springs and say something like "there's still paint on them so they must be less than 5 years old" or something similarly reassuring. The rear one has an LR marking on it, which I believe means it isn't the original self-leveling spring, although it might have been secondhand when it was fitted of course.

That's a very kind offer to do the work, and I'd be more than happy to assist in any way I can.  Do you have any recommended brands/suppliers for the springs/top mounts/bump stops?  I'll try and do some shopping and get all the parts together in the next couple of weeks

20

Omega General Help / Re: Micksgarage and cheap wishbones

« on: 03 April 2024, 19:21:54 »

Is it me, or is the edge of the tyre / rim on the first photo unusually close to, or even in contact with  the front strut?

Well spotted!  This was taken when I first bought the car and was getting the wheel alignment sorted, it's not like that any more 

21

Omega General Help / Re: Micksgarage and cheap wishbones

« on: 03 April 2024, 16:26:24 »

£780!!!


I'd expect to spend less than 2hours per side doing the job in the street. I say that, because I have, several times. I still have a box with the few parts you don't replace(mainly the rubber isolators and upper spring cup) to build strut assemblies before starting the job, which makes an hour per side entirely feasible.


Personally, I wouldn't be reassembling a 90,000 mile suspension without replacing all of the wear parts: shocks, springs, top mounts, bump stops, strut bearings, wishbones and track rods. That's because at 90k, it's well past the nicely worn in stage, and is heading for distinctly tired. Most of these parts wear imperceptibly, and it can take someone who didn't recalibrate their brain as that happened to point out just how bad they've become. Changing them all, with a proper alignment utterly transforms how the car drives.


Estate doesn't make a difference to the front springs, as they're all the same. Rears are different to saloon, but fitting the non-self levelling springs is a good idea even if the levelling still works(it's essential if it doesn't!).


I could do this whole job if you don't mind driving around London and into Kent.

I'm trying to get the right balance of replacing the right parts and not spending over the odds on what is now an old car.  It seems to have had new shocks all round at some point in its life, and the rear self leveling system has been disconnected.  However I don't know if the springs have ever been changed. Interestingly both rear springs were advisories for being "worn" at the MOT in 2019, but not mentioned in 2020 when I bought the car.

My natural inclination is to replace everything, but the labour costs were getting silly, although changing top mounts, bump stops etc obviously shouldn't add any additional time.

Couple of photos here which show the condition of the springs front and rear - worth replacing?

22

Omega General Help / Re: Micksgarage and cheap wishbones

« on: 02 April 2024, 15:17:02 »

I've managed to get hold of the ATP wishbones and steering arms. Spoke to my garage who usually do work on the Omega and they've quoted £780 labour to fit the above plus the front shocks,  I was expecting maybe 2 hours labour each side plus a wheel alignment.

Can anyone suggest if their price is reasonable, and/or can you recommend an omega friendly garage in the NW London - Oxfordshire area that might be able to assist?  Many thanks!

23

Omega General Help / Re: Micksgarage and cheap wishbones

« on: 22 March 2024, 23:22:49 »

What is listed there is what I fitted to mine.

If you want shocks, Sachs are the factory fit and cheaper than Bilstien and fit better in my experience, springs I can recommend Kilen HD.

Yes shocks and springs will take you to £800 territory but the rewards are in how the car drives.

I have a set of BOGE shocks I bought a while back which I believe are from the same factory as the Sachs ones.  Haven't got springs, how strongly would you recommend changing these (it's a 2003 estate with 90k miles on the clock)?

Cheers!

24

Omega General Help / Re: Micksgarage and cheap wishbones

« on: 12 March 2024, 09:26:59 »

Thanks for this, I was leaning towards the ATP kit but there seem to be mixed reviews on here. Good value though given that the track rods are included in that kit 

25

Omega General Help / Micksgarage and cheap wishbones

« on: 11 March 2024, 20:16:17 »

Looking at getting new wishbones for my Omega and came across an Irish website called Micksgarage.com.

They have wishbones for £24 a side plus £5 postage.  Are these a bargain? Or just too cheap to possibly be worth risking putting on my car? Anyone used the site before? Cheers

https://www.micksgarage.com/d/wishbones/vauxhall/vauxhall-omega/omega-estate-1993-to-2004/19179-2-6-v6-180-2597/products

26

Omega General Help / Re: cambelt 3.2 elite gates

« on: 18 February 2024, 22:48:38 »

……..
Surely  they didn't stop making them on the same day they stopped making the cars

No, but the dealer is only obliged to supply spares for up to ten years after the final build date I believe. This still makes any ‘new’ belt very old. 

Maybe. But Gates would have carried on making them as it was apparently not just an excluvie GM part.  I. Any case these belts are not made of tissue paper, but strong rubber.  I believed that it is the use of them on a very hot engine, with the massive tension over 4 years / 40k+ miles that destroys them eventually, not time spent in a spares department.

I bought a Gates belt kit from Autodoc in 2022 and it had a date code of 4 35 8DS.  I believe this is Day 4, Week 35, 2018. Although I suppose it could also be 2008...

27

Omega General Help / Re: Mirrors dont fold on impact

« on: 24 November 2023, 10:48:24 »

If you catch a mirror, you often do break them before they fold in, just from the impact.  If you haven't manually folded them for a long time, they can partially seize in that position.

As others have said, best bet ts replace the mirror entirely (note Elite mirrors need to come from an Elite donor due to memory function) from some from a breaker/ebay etc.

Dead easy to change, 3 bolts behind the triangular section, but I seem to recall the doorcard has to come off for some reason that escapes me now.

Just to point out that although the other car's mirror was in pieces, the only damage to the Omega mirror was a bit of a scratch. Built like a tank!

28

Omega General Help / Re: Oil Change

« on: 24 November 2023, 10:46:48 »

Even then it's still cheaper than Autodoc. And whether you get stuck with the VAT or not is chance anyway. But for the sake of argument, buy five bottles and it's €24 per bottle delivered. And five bottles will do 4 V6 services. Add in the filters at £5 each and you can still do an oil change for less than Autodoc will sell you not enough oil for...

Not that £32 is particularly expensive to begin with

What's the cash over the counter best price from a Vauxhall dealer?

The point I was trying to make was that at the time I needed to buy oil Autodoc had it for £21 for 5l, which was cheaper than I could find it anywhere else.  I was buying some other parts from them at the same time so didn't have to worry about the postage.  I agree at £32 this week it's probably not competitive, but just wanted to mention it as it's genuine GM oil which in another post on here I was advised was the best for our beloved motors..

29

Omega General Help / Re: Mirrors dont fold on impact

« on: 23 November 2023, 16:11:33 »

The heated pad is bonded between the mirror and backing plate.

As Dave says, you can get a pair of complete mirrors for less than £40.

The glass falling off and apparently inability to fold the mirrors manually suggests previous bodgery. May as well fix it properly. The colour is irrelevant as the casings simply unclip.

That's useful information about the casings unclipping - thanks.  I am going to replace the glass as it's the quickest option and I'm missing having the passenger mirror more than I would if it was a smaller car. I'll try and get a new pair of mirrors and fix it properly when I've got a bit of time. MOT is coming up soon so I may have more pressing issues (although last year it only needed 2 drop links!).

30

Omega General Help / Re: Oil Change

« on: 23 November 2023, 14:20:52 »

Last year I managed to get genuine GM oil from Autodoc for about £20. Its £32 today, but they often have promotions where the price drops by up to 40%:

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/opel-gm/14429902