Changing sway bar bushings on a 1995 Protege

[Estlander]

Hi Everybody!
I have a 1995 Protege and i would like some helpful comments from people who have replaced, or are familiar with changing the front sway bar bushings on that car.
I have a loud thump coming from the front driver's side wheel. I suspect it's the sway bar bushing. And even if it's not, i still would like to change those bushings, because when you jack up the car and look at the bushing, you can see a gap. So it's not tightly pressing around the sway bar.

But my problem is getting that half-a-ring clamp off that is held down by two bolts. I can get the one bolt off, but the second one i have no access to, because it's on the other side of the clamp very close to the firewall or the car's body, whatever you wanna call it. There simply is no room to put your socket wrench on it. On most cars it is so easi to change those bushings, but on a Protege it seems impossible. And that's the only way you can get to it. There is no way of getting to it from under the car or from a side somwhere.
So, please, if anyone is familiar with changing those bushings, let me know.
Thank you

[Estlander]

So, nobody has changed sway bar bushings on their 2 gen Ptotege's? Surely Protege owners who have 100 000 miles and over on their odometers are in need of new stabilizer bar bushings. What do you do, just accept that awful thumping sound when going over every little bump?

[Flash75]

Try finding a repair manual for your car, try you local library. I have a shop manual for a 2002 Protege 5 and it tells me you have to remove the front cross-member to remove the sway bar. That information may apply to your car.

Clifton