- Joined
- May 17, 2009
- Posts
- 57,295
- Reaction score
- 36
Damn! You have been a busy beaver. Good work!
Thanks for posting pics.
Thanks for posting pics.
New Ride....and it's not a truck!
- Thread starter nubuilder
- Start date
Damn, you've been busting your ass on that thing!
nubuilder
Why buy new when you can restore?
No problem! I know you guys like them just a little.
Honestly, the work I've done really hasn't been too difficult, but it has been very time consuming. I don't regret anything I've done thus far at all. Now that the interior has been out once, it will be coming out again. I want to put some POR-15 on the rust spots under the carpet and add some sound deadening material too. I'm getting a lot of road noise from the back tires (I really can't believe how much I'm getting!). I also apparently have a module that someone broke off to get to without properly removing the back seat. I'll have to figure out a way to re-attach it is the way it's supposed to be.
Damn, you've been busting your ass on that thing!
Right now, my final hurdle is the trunk seal leak. Once that is done, the car will be good until I get tires. I'm debating doing new struts up front and shocks/springs in the rear. The front is a bit bouncy. After that, the car is probably going to need intake and valve cover gaskets, but that will come in the spring when the weather warms up.
Thanks for the comments and complements guys! I'll keep you posted as the work continues.
nubuilder
Why buy new when you can restore?
Finally wrapped up a project that took 5 month/5,000mi. This basically started with the car needing tires when I bought it, it was bouncy in the front, and the P/S rack was leaking from every end. I decided to just do everything at once and be done with it.
Front
MONROE 171685 Strut / Coil Spring / Mount Assembly x2
MOOG ES3452 Tie Rod End - outer x2
MOOG K8989 Stabilizer Bar Link - heavy duty design x2
MOOG RK620291 Control Arm - left
MOOG RK620292 Control Arm - front
Cardone 22-1002 Power Steering Rack - incl. inner tie-rods
Rear
MOOG K660168 Rear Suspension Toe Link x2
MOOG 80659 Coil Spring (pair)
MOOG K6690 Stabilizer Bar Link - standard design x2
MOOG K5341 Shock Mount x2
MONROE MA822 Shock Absorber (pair)
Tires
Cooper CS4 235/55R17 V-rated
Other Parts/Materials
Engine cradle - local junkyard
OTC Engine Support - OTC1725
POR15 - 1 pint silver, 1 pint black
POR15 Metal Ready - 1gal
latex gloves
wire wheels
scotchbrite pads
several paint brushes
This all started on April 6, 2013 at 158,696mi with replacing the front struts, front control arms, rear shocks, rear shock mounts, and rear toe links. In the process, I found I had a bent rear toe link on the passenger side and just how wimpy the factory toe links are compared to the Moog ones. No real surprises here other than the front end being higher than a kite.
On August 11, 2013 at 162,827mi I removed and painted the rear cradle. The hardest part of this was the stupid park brake cables and trying to pry apart some clips that hold the halves of the cables together. Needless to say, putting it back together was much easier. With the cradle removed, I also replaced the rear springs to try to level the car out more. Along with painting the cradle, I painted the sway bar, rear toe links, all brackets/hardware for the cradle, and a few spots on the underside of the car that were only accessible with it removed. The cradle was removed on a Friday night, cleaned/prepped/painted on Saturday, and re-installed on Sunday. To put it back in, we put the cradle up on stands and lowered the car back down onto it.
On September 7, 2013 at 163,670mi the front cradle was removed. The OTC support worked great. The hooks reached the engine hooks perfectly and it was definitely up to the task. When I removed it, the engine settled 1/8” to 1/4” even though it wasn’t holding the entire weight. Prior to this, I cleaned/prepped/painted the second one I got from the junkyard. This wasn't really necessary except for an unwelcome surprise I got when I removed my cradle. When we removed the cradle, to my surprise we found the front rear driver's side bushing was completely shot. The metal sleeve that was supposed to be part of the rubber bushing fused itself to the metal cup and ripped out of the bushing. Also, the bolt was severely corroded. Luckily, the cradle I bought had all good bushings in it. Along with the cradle, the P/S rack and outer tie-rod ends were replaced. The biggest problem we ran into was the torx headed bolts at the rear of the cradle that hold the rear mount for the engine/trans to the cradle. We were able to get one of them out, but the other one stripped out the torx head. We ended up welding a nut to it to get it out, then went to Ace and bought 2 new metric (I think 10mmx1.5 and 100mm long) bolts and a couple washers. They were a bit long, but that wasn't an issue at all. I didn't paint the front sway bar due to time and it also cleaned up nicely. We could have had the entire cradle out and back in in about 6hrs, but having to get bolts and a torx socket bit set us back 2hrs along with lunch.
Finally, on September 9, 2013 I took the car in to have the tires mounted, balanced, and the car aligned. Surprisingly, the alignment wasn't off as bad as I thought it would be. I couldn't be happier with the results!!!! The car rides smooth, quiet, and straight. No more highway death-shake either! A great big thanks goes out to my buddy Keith. Without his help and the use of the shop he works at, none of this would have been possible. I can never repay him for all of his help on all my projects.
Any questions, comments, and/or concerns are welcome.
Front
MONROE 171685 Strut / Coil Spring / Mount Assembly x2
MOOG ES3452 Tie Rod End - outer x2
MOOG K8989 Stabilizer Bar Link - heavy duty design x2
MOOG RK620291 Control Arm - left
MOOG RK620292 Control Arm - front
Cardone 22-1002 Power Steering Rack - incl. inner tie-rods
Rear
MOOG K660168 Rear Suspension Toe Link x2
MOOG 80659 Coil Spring (pair)
MOOG K6690 Stabilizer Bar Link - standard design x2
MOOG K5341 Shock Mount x2
MONROE MA822 Shock Absorber (pair)
Tires
Cooper CS4 235/55R17 V-rated
Other Parts/Materials
Engine cradle - local junkyard
OTC Engine Support - OTC1725
POR15 - 1 pint silver, 1 pint black
POR15 Metal Ready - 1gal
latex gloves
wire wheels
scotchbrite pads
several paint brushes
This all started on April 6, 2013 at 158,696mi with replacing the front struts, front control arms, rear shocks, rear shock mounts, and rear toe links. In the process, I found I had a bent rear toe link on the passenger side and just how wimpy the factory toe links are compared to the Moog ones. No real surprises here other than the front end being higher than a kite.
On August 11, 2013 at 162,827mi I removed and painted the rear cradle. The hardest part of this was the stupid park brake cables and trying to pry apart some clips that hold the halves of the cables together. Needless to say, putting it back together was much easier. With the cradle removed, I also replaced the rear springs to try to level the car out more. Along with painting the cradle, I painted the sway bar, rear toe links, all brackets/hardware for the cradle, and a few spots on the underside of the car that were only accessible with it removed. The cradle was removed on a Friday night, cleaned/prepped/painted on Saturday, and re-installed on Sunday. To put it back in, we put the cradle up on stands and lowered the car back down onto it.
On September 7, 2013 at 163,670mi the front cradle was removed. The OTC support worked great. The hooks reached the engine hooks perfectly and it was definitely up to the task. When I removed it, the engine settled 1/8” to 1/4” even though it wasn’t holding the entire weight. Prior to this, I cleaned/prepped/painted the second one I got from the junkyard. This wasn't really necessary except for an unwelcome surprise I got when I removed my cradle. When we removed the cradle, to my surprise we found the front rear driver's side bushing was completely shot. The metal sleeve that was supposed to be part of the rubber bushing fused itself to the metal cup and ripped out of the bushing. Also, the bolt was severely corroded. Luckily, the cradle I bought had all good bushings in it. Along with the cradle, the P/S rack and outer tie-rod ends were replaced. The biggest problem we ran into was the torx headed bolts at the rear of the cradle that hold the rear mount for the engine/trans to the cradle. We were able to get one of them out, but the other one stripped out the torx head. We ended up welding a nut to it to get it out, then went to Ace and bought 2 new metric (I think 10mmx1.5 and 100mm long) bolts and a couple washers. They were a bit long, but that wasn't an issue at all. I didn't paint the front sway bar due to time and it also cleaned up nicely. We could have had the entire cradle out and back in in about 6hrs, but having to get bolts and a torx socket bit set us back 2hrs along with lunch.
Finally, on September 9, 2013 I took the car in to have the tires mounted, balanced, and the car aligned. Surprisingly, the alignment wasn't off as bad as I thought it would be. I couldn't be happier with the results!!!! The car rides smooth, quiet, and straight. No more highway death-shake either! A great big thanks goes out to my buddy Keith. Without his help and the use of the shop he works at, none of this would have been possible. I can never repay him for all of his help on all my projects.
Any questions, comments, and/or concerns are welcome.
nubuilder
Why buy new when you can restore?
Yep, fit it all in the trunk!
Before ride height.
Old VS New
Bent in 2 directions!
Just after setting the car down with new stuts (hadn't moved yet).
All ready to go back in!
I think I got my use out of the rear tires...
OTC Engine support.
You can fit 4 tires and 2 trims in the car without using the front seat!
The end result.
OldCracker29
I've been knocked down drug out and left for dead
Dayum, that thing looks great. 
Darkanion
The space intentionally left blank.
+1 to what Jeff said.
Nice job!
You put a ton of work into that as well as some $$$. I do see one thing, you need to replace that rusty fuel filter. Looks like it is the original one.
You put a ton of work into that as well as some $$$. I do see one thing, you need to replace that rusty fuel filter. Looks like it is the original one.
Looks awesome!
Very nice.
