I managed to replace the front suspension on both sides.
Here are some notes/tips from my recent experience:
1. You can do this job on your own if you want to.
2. It's more involved than the rear suspension. It took my one day to do both rear springs and shocks, but it took me two days for the front springs and shocks (a day for each side). However, I am an utter beginner working on the floor with an amateur's selection of tools.
3. If you're replacing both the springs and the shocks, might be a good idea to go ahead and get new top mounts, bump stops, and strut protectors/sleeves too. If you get these 3 extra things it saves on having to dismantle the old struts to get the parts off that you need. This may be a big time-saver, as I've heard the top nut on each strut can be difficult to get off sometimes. Wasn't too bad for me, but I did have to go out and get a 21mm/22mm swan neck ring spanner to do the job.
4. Might be worth getting new drop links and track rod ends ready for this job too. If they're original they could be rusty as hell and/or rounded out and may well need cutting off. I had to cut off one of my track rod ends, but got lucky with the other one (and both the drop links were okay too).
5. I disconnected everything from the steering knuckle so I could take the whole thing out with the strut attached (thanks
@HughOR). Made the job a lot easier. This means that if the strut doesn't hammer out while still in place, you can take it to a bench and do it there. Most online videos leave the caliper and tie rod attached to the steering knuckle too, but I found it was much easier to just take them off (I also took the brake disc off as well for good measure). Plus, I really wouldn't want to have the whole steering knuckle + caliper drop down while attached to the tie rod only, as it's heavy as sh*t.
6. Getting the old shock out and the new one back in are the hardest parts of the job. To get it out, I used a chisel punch to open up the back of the steering knuckle as much as possible. Then I sprayed with WD-40, and whacked with a 4lb lump hammer (better than a 2.5lb). If it doesn't come out, take the whole thing off, and then you can hit the strut out from underneath whilst on a bench. To get it back in, spray grease made a world of difference, and using the trolley jack to help push the steering knuckle up in to the strut helped a lot too, then whack with a 4lb lump hammer from underneath. It takes some effort, but with the right amount of lube, wrangling, despair, and force, it will go back in eventually.
7. Refitting the top mount bolts was about as awkward as expected. But if you're dextrous enough, you can hold the strut with one hand, a bolt in the other hand, and look inside the wheel well to see if you're getting the bolt in to the threads. Still not much fun though, and required some jiggery and/or pokery to get them in. Using the trolley jack to kind-of hold the strut up was helpful.
The only casualty was the plastic windscreen trim that I snapped when getting to one of the top mount bolts on the one side. I don't see how I could have avoided it though.
Oh, and when I had the steering knuckle in the vice, I hammered the strut out on to my foot.
Thanks again everyone for the advice. It's like a different car now and I don't have to nurse it around corners like I used to.
