Not a lot going on at the moment as I’ve been rather busy with work, but set to this morning to clean up a set of single leaf springs I picked up months back. Lots of surface rust removed with a flap disc in the grinder meant that the air in the garage was a little thick by the time I’d finished 
Glad I remembered to put the dustmask on first 
They’re obviously original bushes that have welded themselves into the spring eyes as they’re a pig to get out 
After a looooooooooong time and one bent screwdriver it’s now two down, two to go … but I might just see if the local garage is open tomorrow and ask if they can press ’em out for me. After that, they’ll get a coat of Hammerite and get added to the (small) pile of fresh bits waiting to go onto the car.
EDIT 27/10/07 :
Dave : The nearest one in the pic looks like you have left the metal sleeve in there. That needs to come out. The easiest way I have found is to jam a chisel into what is the underside of the spring. It opens the eye out enough to get it out easily.
Be careful though, the chisel can twang out and fly off for quite some distance. Another option with yours at that stage is to open a hacksaw, put the blade inside the bush and cut through.
me : They’re both still in there, to be honest. I was going to do some reading up to see if they needed to stay or go as I wasn’t sure
Dave : I think you will find the ride comfort will suffer with your new springs, they are much more “bobbing up and down”. The ride height will go up at least an inch too in my experience. Unless you are fitting lowering blocks you will also need the correct single leaf U-bolts, the others don’t have enough thread. (too long)
me : I’m giving the single leafs a try to see if they eliminate the general sogginess that’s there at the moment, on a suck-it-and-see basis. If they don’t work out, I’ll be going back to the multi-leafs 
Either way, they’ll never be as firm/harsh as the Impreza’s setup 
New lowering blocks, u-bolts and bushes are all either in the post or waiting to be ordered
Dave : Mine are still held on with bent threaded bar. 
me : I remember you doing that quite some time ago and promising us that it was only a temporary thing until the u-bolt shop opened on Monday 
mk1nurburg : single leafs are such an improvement. are you goingt o get an axle location kit for it? helps alot in the ‘steering where you wanna go’ department.
i got my bushes out with an old, but sharp drill bit and mauled the shit out of the bushing until i could beat it out with a suitable sized screwdriver lol
me : Might go with an axle location kit as the next step, once I’ve at least got what’s there sitting firmly in new bushes. My problem with them is that I can’t see how they could help much – but accept that those who’ve fitted them say they do I’m open to all the possibilities – in my mind it just makes more sense to anchor the axle to something solid (like the chassis) rather than something movable (like the springs).
mk1nurburg : well yeah deff ancoring the axle to the shell/ chassis (via 4 link setup = most obvious) would be the best way, but for a 5 minute bolt on job and about 1/8 the price if you do it yourself then its a deff advised upgrade.
Graham : i think the best way to get old bushes out is with a blow lamp and burn them out, it takes only a couple of mins with a blowlamp to get them really on fire, then go have a cuppa by the time you have drunk your tea, the bushes will be gone, and not a hammer, chisel or swear word in sight, as long as you did it outside and the smoke doesnt go straight in the nearest window