John Speake

A progress report - it turns out that my thumping the PU (not too hard) was causing it to hit the bumper bar. The PU doesn't look deformed, but it seems on my car the clearance may be less than is usual. We fixed it (meaning my good friend fixed it) by inserting a couple of pieces of hard rubber sheet between the two parts.

However the annoying noise I was hoping to fix is unchanged ... definitely caused by the body flexing over uneven roads.

gazfish

I had a similar annoying noise, it was the metal strip that runs along the top of the plastic. The U nuts that the screws attach to had rusted away, sounded like the tools were rattling around. See if the screws will tighten or just spin.

Hilton

Hi John,

On my '87 (ex-UK) I had a similar knocking noise - the angle bracket at one end of this (thanks Rob for pic) had corroded through and the strut was flopping against the PU causing the noise - presumably corroded from road salt and moisture.

John Speake

Thanks Hilton, but my 86.5 doesn't have that bracket. My friend told me I was being to fussy about the noise for a 34 year old car, but it sure really annoys me ! It's definitely associated with body flex on uneven roads.
Now I am finally allowed to drive again after an 8 month delay due to medical problems, I will be able to investigate more easily.

Hi Gazfish - thanks for the suggestion. In fact we did remove that piece when investigating - all screws tighten correctly. The search continues !

FredR

John,

You need one or more of the following:
1. Weaker batteries in your hearing aid.
2. Louder exhaust
3. Instructions how to turn on the HiFi
4. A few AC/DC CD's

waynestrutt

FRED YOU HAVE BEEN AWAY FROM THE REAL WORLD TOO LONG

1. Weaker batteries in your hearing aid. THEY HAVE WIFI VOLUME CONTROLS
2. Louder exhaust NOISE ABATEMENT LAWS LIMITS EXHAUST SOUND TO 3 BLOCKS
3. Instructions how to turn on the HiFi ALEXIS DOES THAT
4. A few AC/DC CD's SHE ALSO PLAYS YOUR MUSIC

FredR

Indeed- but John and myself are good old Brit boys!