Thread: A new car!
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Unread 04-17-2012, 01:20 AM   #55
GlenL
Workin' on it
 
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Oh yeah. Another good set of work done.

This round was the front suspension. I had some Koni shocks and Eibach springs to go in along with rebuilt calipers, fresh pads and new brake hoses. Simple enough.

So I pull the wheel and start checking out what's there. The ball joints and tie rods looked nicely tight except for one problem: Aluminum balljoint carriers on both sides. Amazing. Weren't those recalled in 1985? Never replaced? Both were still tight and looked good but can't stay on the car.

I had one used balljoint on hand, two later adjusters and then bought a new balljoint. I got a Raybestos brand from Rock Auto for about $100. The box said "Made in Germany" so guessing it's a re-boxed Lemfoerder bit. Looks nice enough.

Getting it all apart wasn't too bad. The bolts are all fairly sticky but come out eventually. The balljoints were tough and I busted the shaft on my lever-action balljoint tool. Found the right bolt to put in and then it all came apart.

Getting the shocks out was pretty tough. The car had the original non-adjustable shock mounts on it. For some small dimension difference I could barely work them out even with the lower arm removed. Like those springs are 1/4" wider or something. Lots harder to get out than to put in the new ones.

One of the brake calipers was missing a guide pin for the floating caliper. That side had a bubble in the brake hose, too. Pretty dangerous failures possible with those.

The front rotors were surprisingly fresh. No visible wear on the surface. Just one problem: the discs were on the wrong sides. The spiral fins inside the disc should be turned in the direction that'll force air out. Not surprising to miss that, I suppose.

Also re-packed the wheel bearings. Maybe should have had new bearings put in but the races looked fine.

It all went together fairly well. No problems getting the brakes bled. Did fronts and backs again and the pedal feels pretty good. Not like stainless lines but good. I'll bleed them another time or two this summer as the bubbles collect and can be pumped out.

With the rear wheels off I adjusted the ride height. It measured at 140/142 in the back and I'm going for 160 there and 155 in front.

Dropped it down and made some preliminary adjustments to the alignment. I wonder how the factory set the alignment. Probably with that winch thing they show in the manual to pull the car down.

No progress on the electrics and drove it off without the PS belt on. I forgot about that. No problem. I'll get it in the next round.
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