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paul james
23-05-17, 07:03 PM
I could do with a definitive answer on this, as I've had some conflicting input so far.

Are both bolt holes on the mounting point on the shell for the control arm meant to be round? As on the sides facing the rear of the car on mine the hole is oval. Some people say its been worn this way, others say its like this from the factory and nothing to worry about.

I really can't remember what they were like when I first took the arms out. I could just weld a washer on to create a round hole this side, but it would be nice to know for sure what its meant to be like. I can't see a reason for it to be oval shaped though, from a design point.

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p638/pauljames14/20170521_161201_zps4bj6aml1.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/pauljames14/media/20170521_161201_zps4bj6aml1.jpg.html)
8valve-craig
23-05-17, 07:19 PM
They should both be round. That is worn and should be repaired.
Jonesfach
23-05-17, 08:05 PM
Round for defo.
paul james
24-05-17, 02:29 PM
OK thanks guys, time to get the welder out again then :-)
Benn
25-05-17, 01:14 PM
Knew it wasnt right.
Iain
25-05-17, 04:59 PM
Surely that'll be fine with a washer? What's going to happen if it's oval?
paul080803
30-05-17, 12:41 PM
Supposed to be oval. On the rear side only.

On my original 1984 nova, completely standard and 25k miles they are oval. On every nova I have ever taken the arms off they are oval, just on the one side.
boffer8
30-05-17, 03:29 PM
I had my arms off this weekend for routine maintenance so double checked this and on my shell too.

The rearmost holes are oval and the front most round, this was evident on both cars. One a B plate saloon and the other K plate hatch.

The rear most holes are not work, it is how the hole was made, oval. Not sure quite why this is other than to allow for building tolerance, as we all know the novas front to rear build tolerance is huge compared to modern equivalents.
paul james
30-05-17, 05:27 PM
Oh well, they aren't oval on mine any more! A bit of welding work this weekend has resulted in only round holes on my car :-)
I really can't see a purpose for there being oval holes, there better not be now anyway. I think that whole massive tolerance thing is a bit of a myth or rather exaggerated somewhat, sure it might apply to a few parts of the car (the rear arches in particular) but not the whole thing otherwise nothing would fit.
8valve-craig
30-05-17, 05:53 PM
I checked mine too. They are Oval, sorry. Quite possibly a build tolerance reason behind it agreed.
boffer8
31-05-17, 09:56 AM
If you look over the whole car, mounting holes for everything, nearly all have oversized holes and/or oval holes for adjustment. Its not a myth, tolerance stack up from front to back could be up to 30mm, someone had a sheet once that showed how much it could be out when replacing panels at Vaux bodyshops. I know on some modern cars (specifically a high end car manufacturer) BIW tolerance is 26mm from datum to rear of vehicle... even nowadays with all mod cons....