Well, I started on the driver's front this morning. The original strut was shot, as expected after seeing the rear shocks. Swaybar bushings are toast as well. I'll be replacing the ball joints, sway bushings, strut mounts, struts, and going to the Turbo tie rod ends. I'll also be doing the Elephant Racing Poly-Bronzes on the a-arms. I am also modifying a SHO strut tower brace to work on the 911. Purchase cost on FleaBay new was $25 delivered, so if it works, great - if not, no biggie.

Couple of things:
The actual strut replacement's pretty easy. I used about 3/4 of a spray paint can's cap of antifreeze around the cartridge, as recommended. Even that was just a tad too much, and it started to weep out the top when the insert was slid in.

The 101 Projects book is proving to be inspirational, but missing quite a bit of info, and presumes you know what's required to remove the component in question. Example: I needed the Bentley to see what was required to remove the A-Arms completely from the car. 101 made it seem like the a-arm would fall out in your hand while removing the t-bar. Once you do figure it all out how things are attached, it's not that difficult, just time consuming.

Get some height when doing the front, especially if you have a chin spoiler. Can't tell you how many times I wailed my face on the chin spoiler.

Anyway, I will upload some pics shortly after I get the 1st a-arm done.

Edit: TIDBIT... pre-install the torsion bar in the a-arm prior to putting it back in (when using the Elephant bearings). The rubber is pliable enough to get an angle on it, the bearings are not (unless you want to damage it). Also, this goes doubly for those with the chin spoiler.

 

Having time to do the work is so crucial with me. The projects keep coming. Good to keep the confidence up.

Great project. I can see you with the three foot long pry bars skillfully ripping away parts to make way for new.

She's right and now she's tight!

 

Have ye not seen mine tool of vengeance?

I am of the order of the Knights Carrera! Have at thee!

 

On a more serious note... here are the morning's pics, with the A-Arm going in presently.

Front Struts Mounts (note the broken off nut):

 

and the a-arm upon removal:

 

the a-arm cleaned up in the vise, and the bushings as removed (which came off a WHOLE lot easier than the rear spring plate / radius arm's did:

 

"TOW HERE" and the arm about to go in:

 

great photo documentary! keep'em coming!

 

oh yeah... this little bugger's a PITA to install in the shroud-style brackets on the arms themselves. I rolled on side into the ID of the hole to get it under the lip, but then squishing the bushing outward was such a pain.

Left side's done with the exception of the tie rods, which I'll do tomorrow. I'm moving off to the right side while it's still daylight, and that'll keep the project focused on the rods tomorrow.

As I now understand it, you're supposed to remove / install the t-bars from the rear (cabin side) of the arm; this was a little vague as the small cover on the end of the arm itself by the front was supposed to be knocked out by the t-bar moving forward (or drill a hole & pull it out that way). As it turns out, my stands are in the way of the t-bar holes in the back of the arm.

I also didn't realize the front ride height was so easily adjusted (not counting the alignment, etc.). Ok, coffee break's over, back on my head!

 

Ok, it's almost 9pm, and the pass side strut & mount have been replaced. The strut bar mounting brackets are modified as necessary to work, unfortunately, the bar's just too long. The bar ends are left & right threaded, so even if I wanted to cut the bar, drill & re-tap it, the other end wouldn't work. Sooooo, I'll stop down at the hardware store tomorrow, pick up some rod stock & paw through all my leftover spherical rod ends & see what I can put together on that.

The pass. a-arm is out & on the bench, and I think I'll tackle that & the ball joint tonight if I can (time-wise). The pass strut was harder to install than the driver's for some reason - I wonder if there is that much difference between left & right, or if the strut mount was tightened more than the left so there wasn't as much play, dunno.

The process is much smoother after doing one side, for sure. However, I'm trying to keep a slow, steady pace so I don't fly through something & go "oops".

Anyway, that's the update for the evening. More pics on the tie rods tomorrow.

 

curious on how you cleaned up your a-arm?

 

The rears, the rubber was VERY well bonded to the metal, and needed scraping / sanding off. The fronts, the rubber bushings pulled right off using heat on the collars until the rubber started to smoke (a little). Twist the collars off, and the rubber expanded away from the metal arm, & I could push it off the arm with a screwdriver. The bushings came off clean enough that a very light sandpaper & degreasing would have been enough, but I carefully used the 3M abrasive discs on an air tool to clean it up both front & rear.

For the ball joint's large notched nut, an air chisel made quick work to remove, and the special socket for installation was pretty necessary. Some of the tq settings are pretty high (I think from memory the Ball Joint was like 187 lb-ft).

Finding fine enough cotter pins for the lock plate on the bottom of the ball joint was interesting though. I didn't have anything that small of a diameter, so I had to make a run last night.

Ok, breakfast with the boy's done, and I'm off to finish up the re-install & do the tie rods.

 

Update, Day 4...

Well, she's pretty much done now. Turbo tie rods are in, just gotta replace the shield under the rack, throw the wheels on & see just how goofy she looks height-wise. I think she'll look like a $1000 hooker with one high heel broken, personally.

Unfortunately it'll be at least next week before I can get in someplace local to do the height / corner / align.


WHAT AN EXPERIENCE. At times it's frustrating, but for the most part, I have thoroughly enjoyed spending the time on her. Thanks for letting me share folks.

 

more pics if you've got'em! BTW, I had a tough time removing my tie rods when i did my turbos...but i did mine with my a-arms and sway bars in, so i didn't have much room....also my tie rod end on the passenger side was really tough to remove..., but the ol' heat did the trick...

 

Fred: It's been fun following your story, now let your knuckles heal and have a great 4th!