I didn't take too many pics of any of this work in part because of all of the great youtube videos and such out there- there are much better resources to find out how to do these things! But this year to get through inspection I had to:
On the Honda- broken sway-bar end link in the rear. Had to chop the rusty bolts off since they were just spinning in the ball joints but otherwise an unremarkable job.
On the Golf: I knew I needed e-brake cables (those cables have been bad/binding for years but I've just struggled along with it) before the inspection. So I did those, and then literally on the way to the inspection the ABS light went on. Vag-Com tells me it's likely a bad sensor on the right rear.
Ok. So wait a few days for mail-order parts and then dive into it. Turns out it is way more of a pain than it should be- the existing sensors have to be driven out with a hammer and punch, completely obliterating them in the process. Then the new sensors have to be practically pressed (hammered) in- for me with the assistance of vise-grips as an on-the-car press. Along the way I figured it made sense to do the rear brakes 'cause it seems like I alwways have to and I had them all off anyway.
The front brakes _looked_ fine... but on inspection the rotors were too scored, even though I had plenty of pad left.. ah well, might as well refresh brakes all around.
Also the CV boot on the right side had a small hole in it and was throwing grease all around. I would have been happier not to have to remove the CV joint but I've done most of it enough times now that it wasn't too dramatic (once I had all of the parts which was a bit of a saga that I won't recount here). Most surprising is how the CV joint comes off the half-shaft with just a little spring clip.
Finally, not sure this would have been a failure point but I noticed my rear-most exhaust hanger was rusted out and broken. So I fabricated a new one- and for this I have photos!
