AO

So today we had the big shock swap party at Brian's (Camboinc). The plan was to take Jordan's stock sport suspension with 50k on it and put it into Brian's car. Then take Brian's suspension and rebuild it with new shocks and install them into Jordan's car. I showed up at 9:30 and we got to work right away. Chaadster showed up around 10:00 am.

We ran into our first snag when we realized we didn't have any bolts to press off the rear rotors. Jordan rolled up around 10:30 and so immediately Brian jumped into the driver seat and took it for a spin to Lowes to get the needed bolts. This also one last chance for Brian to check out the stock sport suspension before we got too far along. Meanwhile, Brian's friend Rich showed up too. Now we've got a good crew working hard.

Here's Jordan & Rich working on the front corner of Brian's car.




Brian and Jordan roll back in around 11:00 and Jordan doesn't look too well. It turns out that the previous evening, several rum & cokes attacked Jordan and beat him to submission. SO we tell him to go and sleep it off.


We get back to work (albeit one light) and ran into another snag. The driver side rear pin on Brian's car decided the front nut didn't want to come off, so we messed around and finally decided we'd have to sacrifice the pin. We put some vice grips on the rearward threads and finally got the front nut off and the pin out.


We also tried to compress the springs and get the nut off the top, but it was clear that wasn't going to happen.


So Brian and his buddy Rich get on the phone and find a place that will swap out the shocks, so Brian is off again. We keep working and notice Jordan isn't in his usual spot anymore. Hmmmm? Oh there he is! Doesn't look good!


We get working on Jordan's car and get his front end apart. We had just finished installing the driver's front from Jordan's car onto Brian's car when Brian comes rolling back. But now (3pm) Chaad and Rich have to go, so now we're down to 2 plus Jordan. About 30 min. later Jordan's finally feeling better. By 4pm It's time for me leave. We now have Jordan's driver front installed and both of Brian's fronts installed. I got a call around 7 and they were just about done with Brian's rear. Oh that's right... the pin we thought we sacrificed on Brian's RR, well the shock place welded the nut back on. Hopefully it'll work out. But now that I think about it, I think they might have forgotten the washer. Oh well. Worst case, Brian, can get one overnighted and just swap that part out.

Look for more posts from the crew later.

Good times!

AO

Oh... and this is a picture for Brian!

BC

I don't think I ever want to come to a michigan work-party. Someone always seems to be ripped on, called homosexual, photographed while in a not-so-good light or position, or simply talked about poorly. And stuff breaks because its spent 10 years in the salt-belt.

Other than that, great stuff.

AO

What? So let me make sure I understand... what you're saying is that you don't like to have fun. Have you forgotten your mid-western roots?

bigmac

Nice job Boys, I am proud of you all! Mac

camboinc

oh golly, one more extra hleping of gay please andrew!!

at about 10pm jordan and i got both cars back together and rolling. think jordan's car is okay. we did have a couple of stuggles with the left rear shock fitment but he drove off and i havent heard from him, which i do believe is good news!

as andy-poo mentioned, the bolt on the left rear shock mount of my car gave us some trouble. i left my place around 130 to get the new shocksput in my olld springs for jordans car and while i waited for them the shop tried to fix the bolt for me. unfortunately, the welded version did not work as there is a huge amount of play in the whole assembly. looks like the machine shop did not weld the nut far down enough. there are still threads to grab, but not quite getting completely snug. i think getting a new shock bolt is the best ticket at this point.

so, I put the car back together to roll her in the garage. can drive her but did start it up to hear then new rumble...i got the RMB on, along with shiny new front rotors from roger t.
thanks again rog!

although i am tired, i got a great deal of satisfaction tackling this job, particularly when andrew left at about 4pm and i had to finish both rear axles with jordan- two guys who shouldnt be left alone together (another gay reference for you andrew). i mean the lack of 928 knowledge you twit!

didnt think we would be able to do it but it was rather straightforward... no **** brian, you did four corners twice in one day!

anyhoo, a HUUUUUUGE thank you and love and kisses to my new bestest pal and big toe, andrew molson, i mean olson.

also big props to my boy chaad and rich. I really cant thank you guys enough.

as i found at SITM, the 928 community has a heart of gold and i really am enjoying the collateral benefits of ownership since my car is still not right!!! just a great bunch of people willing to go well more than the extra mile for each other. thank you.

i'lll file another report in a few days when i get the new bolt. also, i'll post another thread but if anyone has an extra rear shock mount bolt/spindle-thingy, please PM me id like to get one right away.

thanks again fellas.

Bill Ball

Impact gun! It's very hard/impossible to get both nuts to come off the rear pin w/o an impact gun. I have an electric 250 ft-lb gun that does the job, but air tools would be even better. Same thing with the spring compressor. Looks like you had a lot more compression left in that rig or is the rod not threaded very far? Anyway, since I've been told I don't know how to install shocks, I better just shut up! Looks like you gotter done and you'll all be twice as fast next time, especially if Andrew does something more than just take pictures.

camboinc

exactly bill. that's all that guy does when we have one of these things anyways... no work and all pics makes andrew a gay boy...


seriously though bill, the bolt came out okay but throught the front hole where the clearance is bad. my buddy rich banged on the bolt so hard, all threads were chewed up. i cant bitch since i probably would have done the same thing. more importantly, though because these three guys were doing my work while i was driving around for parts with hungover jordan..

after this foul up,we made sure that the other bolts came out the back.

get it andrew.. from the back? oh i bet you get it.... that's why you have all those suspect pictures and cartoons and such

by the way, what is a such anyways?

AO

Don't get me started into a homo-war, you know you'll win! (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Glad to hear you got both rolling. Sorry, i couldn't lend a hand till the bitter end, but the wifey had to go to Londaon, and with the kids and all...

Let me know when you get her all finally together, and we'll take her out for a test drive.

'Night!

Bill Ball

With impact tools you CAN get both nuts to spin off the pin. And yes, the front nut must come off regardless of which way you remove the pin because the large end washer in front will not clear the hub. Still, I prefer to remove both nuts and pull the pin towards the front because that leaves almost all of the pin still in and there is less problem with getting things lined up on reinstallation. But either way is OK and if you pull it to the rear you only need to break the front nut free, so most people do it that way. And maybe it's better if Andrew just takes pictures and such.

jorj7

Sounds pretty scary to me. Next time we pull the shocks, I'll be keeping an
eye on you....

chaadster

Hehehe...that pic of Jordan kneeling in the bushes is TOO funny! That was one of the funniest things I've seen, because I've never seen such a solemn vomiting!!

Anyway, I'm glad that you guys got the job done. I'm sorry I couldn't stick around to see it through, but I had to get to work. Maybe if I'd something other than Nat Ice for beer, I coulda been persuaded to stay longer, Brian! I mean, I'll work for wine, and even Pilsner Urquell, but Nat Ice??

Just ribbin' ya man...good work getting things back together. Enjoy the new suspension.

Oh, BTW...does the way my hand is cocked in that first pic look a little, well, gay? I gotta stop hanging around with you guys, because next thing you know, I'll be painting my rotor hats to match the car!!

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Lizard928

I just did this job on my car, I swapped in bilstein eibach setup, took me 30 min per corner, not counting waiting for the other half to run and get a 14x1.5 tap and die so I could clean the threads on the pin and part of the nut.
I took the front nut off only and pulled the pin out the rear, and used alot of antisieze on the pin on reinstall.

camboinc

Chaad,
for the record, that was jordan's nasty ice. i would never serve such swill at my house. had i not been driving around for parts and tools like a schnook, i'd have offered the sam adams, bass or harp, sitting coolly in my fridge. wine wise, i always have some good value california cabs like j lohr, stonestreet, st francis among others lying around. my bad! please, do not hold the yugo of beer against me.
Andrew, i'll give you a jingle when its complete. a used pivot arm bolt has been ordered from INTNL and 2 day air.

thanks fellers!!

oh yeah, great pic of jordan praying out in my back yard. god what do my neighbors think! he was barfing right at the bike path that gets used quite often during the day!!

Mrmerlin

For all of the rear shock swappers, if your doing this it is recommended to remove the lower shock mounting pin ( big rod that goes thru the rear suspension ) and clean it off and roll it on a smooth surface, this pin can bend due to hitting curbs and fouled up jacking methods, if its bent your rear suspension will not be able to accurately realigned, I have replaced more than a few of these pins when doing shock replacement. Stan
PS remove the front nut then drive the pin out the rear