First one done!
Time for a cuppa.

I spent more time trying to get the wire through the hole in the base of the spring than anything else. It's invisible if you're working on your back :/
The new plastic clips for the wheel arch liner seem to be too big, although they're probably not. I've got 4 secured out of the 6 holes. That'll have to do!

Told you, those bottom wire clips are a real pain. I tend to lift the bottom of the spring up so you can see where the hole is, align the clip so when I lower the spring into place the clip is somewhere close to where it needs to be.

Yes, I think that's where I ended up too.
Anyway - all done. Time for a beer!!
Pollen filters and a new H1 headlight bulb tomorrow. Happy days :)

I gently put a drill bit through the holes with a cordless drill to make sure everything lined up, from memory it was 3mm I think.
I also changed the clips for stainless steel nautical ones and I chamfered the point.

When I had such a fight getting the bottom clips out of my front bags I decided I wasn’t putting mild steel back in there - even if I never remove them again.

I bought something like 2 x 50cm of 2.5mm stainless rod from eBay and made up copy clips using a couple of sets of pliers. Same length of rod did the top clips on the rear bags when the time came.

It’s a bit of a fiddle getting the shape just right so that there’s sufficient tension on the clips that they don’t just fall straight out, but I’m happy.

Those are all good ideas.
I don't know if my front bags had been changed more recently or if they don't get as much salt as the rears, but the front clips came out easily. Just as well because the access is poor to say the least.

Once I'd made the decision to bend the front of the arch liners down under the wheel hubs and ignore the horribly rusted mudflap hardware, life was OK.