OK, I got a big brake upgrade done. It looks really fucking stupid tho. My car is all crooked and silly looking. I guess next week I'll have to do another one so both sides have matching hardware. I was pressed for time, so we did the driver's side, and next weekend the other side along with the steering box and brake lines will be replaced. I'm not driving it, so no worries about the car being horribly unsafe due to really wierd suspension action. The old bushings were dead. The lower control arms were fairly off-center and the rubber was really dry and cracked. The metal brake lines under there look pretty scary too, so rather than wait for one to explode, they get replaced. I also changed one of the motor mounts while the control arm was out. It becomes pretty darn easy without all that junk in the way. The hardest part was getting the loose motor mount wiggled out around the crossmember between all the other junk that sits around it, such as brake and steering lines. The old ones are in fairly sad shape. The engine would rock pretty badly when shifting through the gears, and the mounts were original dry rotted junk. I was going to do them with the engine swap, but they were too hard to access. They're total cake with the suspension apart, and I highly reccomend anyone who has the lower control arms out for any reason to change the motor mounts while you're in there. It takes less than an hour per side to do if the control arm isn't in the way.
The new front springs have fatter coils and are about an inch shorter than the old ones. They also make the car sit a good inch higher, since they're higher rate and not worn by 20 years of use.
We also can confirm with absolute authority that one must use 98-02 hub bearings with 98-02 bridges and rotors. The parts store didn't have the correct bearings in stock, so going on a whim, a rumour, a hope and a prayer, we got the 92-95 (i think thats the years, its late) bearings. The earlier bearing puts the rotor about 1/8" closer to the bridge, which is enough for the rotor to press into the bridge very nicely once you install the wheel (or spacer in my case). Rotor jammed into bridge = no go. It does make torquing the wheel spacers on very very easy tho. Ended up tossing the bad bearing on just to get the car out the door. I'll change the bearing out next week or something when I have time and money. My employer decided on monday to change my pay date from 2/1 to 2/3. Meaning the cheque would be mailed out 2/3 and might show up 2/6. Currently I'm so broke I'm almost amazed I got home. I have about $15 in the bank, and $8 in my pocket after laying out cash for parts. Needless to say, I was not even a little bit pleased about this since it pretty much fucked me over. I barely had the gas to get home tonight even after putting $10 in the tank.
Oh. I also got to use the GMGT grinder on my shiny new caliper. I felt somehow inspired by it's owner as I sat there grinding on brand new parts. :cutit:
The new front springs have fatter coils and are about an inch shorter than the old ones. They also make the car sit a good inch higher, since they're higher rate and not worn by 20 years of use.
We also can confirm with absolute authority that one must use 98-02 hub bearings with 98-02 bridges and rotors. The parts store didn't have the correct bearings in stock, so going on a whim, a rumour, a hope and a prayer, we got the 92-95 (i think thats the years, its late) bearings. The earlier bearing puts the rotor about 1/8" closer to the bridge, which is enough for the rotor to press into the bridge very nicely once you install the wheel (or spacer in my case). Rotor jammed into bridge = no go. It does make torquing the wheel spacers on very very easy tho. Ended up tossing the bad bearing on just to get the car out the door. I'll change the bearing out next week or something when I have time and money. My employer decided on monday to change my pay date from 2/1 to 2/3. Meaning the cheque would be mailed out 2/3 and might show up 2/6. Currently I'm so broke I'm almost amazed I got home. I have about $15 in the bank, and $8 in my pocket after laying out cash for parts. Needless to say, I was not even a little bit pleased about this since it pretty much fucked me over. I barely had the gas to get home tonight even after putting $10 in the tank.
Oh. I also got to use the GMGT grinder on my shiny new caliper. I felt somehow inspired by it's owner as I sat there grinding on brand new parts. :cutit:
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