OK, been a while as Life gets in the way as does the weather but aside from swapping the gearbox I have also undertaken to rebuild the whole front end unit with new LCA Bushes, Ball Joints and Tie Rod (track rod) ends.
There are numerous videos on YouTube where the LCA bushing is removed by cutting out the old with a gas torch and removing the Lower Control arms with 3 jaw pullers or even crowbars.
If your lucky enough to have a proper hoist and not working on jack stands, this may be the way you want to go but if you can afford a hoist then you should be able to afford the correct tools for the job.
I prefer to drop the whole front end out of the car as I find its a simple task and only takes around 20 mins to do if your organised and have the right tools.
I found that on inspection, it was time to replace all the ball joints and tie rod ends, LCA bushing and engine mount, with the front end out of the car I attempted to remove one of the Lower Control Arms with a crowbar. After much faffing around, I gave up in disgust, a lot of swearing and a few skinned knuckles (I didn't try removing them on the car as I cant fathom why you would want to lever against the underside of the body causing damage and struggle to separate the Inner Ball joint in a confined area).
I had already purchased the Bush press off Ebay a while ago as it was a great price from Germany, I have since purchased the correct tool to remove the Lower Control Arm (like the bushing kit, its also re installs the LCA).
The LCA removal/install tool is expensive for a one off job but I have 2 x Mini's, same for the LCA Bush press kit and I hope to be able to make them pay for them selves, should any gen 1 owners I come across need their bushing replaced or club members of the club I am in.
Back to the expense of the tools, I have no idea in Australia what a dealership will charge just to change the LCA bushes but considering the time it took me to replace both bushes plus remove the LCA's and reinstall everything, the cost was well worth it.
Time to remove both LCA's - 10 mins
Time to remove both LCA bushes - 10 mins
Time to reinstall both LCA bushes - 10 mins
Time to reinstall both LCA's - 10 mins
Considering I had the bushings and lower control arms removed, replaced and reinstalled in 40 mins with no swearing, skinned knuckles I feel it is well worth the cost and I never even looked like breaking a sweat and by use of the correct tools, I have never done a job so easily.
Attached images of the tools and of removal and reinstallation. The use of the tools is intuitive and doesn't require an instruction sheet, with the LCA tool, there is a 3 part bearing and should be greased up prior to use and all active threaded rods on both tools benefit from a bit of clean engine oil as a lubricant.
At the end of the day, I used OEM bushes (I had purchased them a while ago before I was aware of poly bushes and am happy with the decision). Depending on your club, if they have a club tool chest then it would be well worth having these tools for any members with a Gen 1. If your a back yard mechanic and work on Mini's they would be an investment on time saving alone and you work out what you want to charge for labour.
The image of the OEM bush I have marked to show an arrow, this is an alignment mark where you MUST paint a corresponding mark on the LCA Bush Bracket. Failure to do so will prevent the LCA's from being in the correct position when you reinstall the front end and you will need to remove the bushing and correctly re install them. If you choose to use Poly bushing, you can disregard this image as there is no alignment when installing Poly bushes.
the last two images are of the tool being used to remove the LCA.