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Stripping the front struts on 1st gen RX7's isn’t as easy as it first appears as removing the lock nut at the top of the shock absorber is a bit of a challenge.
As can be seen in the following photos, once the plastic shield is removed to expose the nut, the lock nut is deeply recessed into the top mount and it’s virtually impossible to get a spanner on this nut and hold the shock absorber piston arm still at the same time given how tight the lock nut is.





The main problem is that Mazda put this lock nut on extremely tight and you can’t stop the shock absorber ram from spinning whilst you get a socket on the nut.
A ring spanner is also difficult to fit into the recess in the mount. If you were to hold the ram with mole grips low down, the ram would be scored and the 1st time the shock was compressed, the seal would be damaged and the shock absorber destroyed.

Luckily, there is an old trick to get this nut off without causing any damage. The strut can be stripped either on or off the car but it's easier to work on it off the car.

BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, GET SOME PROPER SPRING COMPRESSORS AND TAKE THE TENSION OFF THE SPRING




you need to grip the ram to stop it spinning whilst undoing the nut...

under no circumstances should you grip the ram here...



if you do, you will destroy the strut...

here's the trick...

Get a large flat blade screwdriver and prise the rubber dust shield and bump stop down the ram to expose the top part of the ram.

This top part can be gripped securely with a pair of mole grips as any damage this high up will not pass through the seal and damage it



Once the mole grips have a solid grip on the ram, undo the lock nut with an impact gun.
The nut will come off easily with this setup and the mount, spring seat, spring and rubber dust shield can then be removed...








then refurbed...



and put back together.... again, grip the top of the ram and use the impact gun to tighten the nut...




.

Brilliant!

I'll be going down that road soon enough and I'm glad to have read this writeup come that day....

Hi Ian
Thanks for the write up.

But how do the mole grips manage to get any grip on a perfectly circular highly polished piece of hardened steel. There is nothing to purchase on, it just slips.

bit of old inner tube round it might help

if you clamp them on tight enough, the nut will release before they start to slip.... good tip from Marc, to use bit of rubber

I think I've said this before, but I've always undone the nut while the struts are still in the car. Never had a problem with them not coming undone with handtools this way.

So i took out both struts, took them down to my local mechanic (who likes cash when the boss is not looking) impact gun and mole grips (as you said Ian, sorry for doubting) job done.

Carrying two heavy front struts on the Number 2 bus gets some funny looks though