Begin front end Evolution (big brakes, etc)

[85crownHPP]

upper controll arms from a 92
16" steelies, 2 good 225/60/16 gooyear eagle RSA's, 1 3/16" swaybar, spindles, hubs, and all brake parts off a 99 p71

total cost: $110

Hopefully I can get on this soon for now Im going to mount the two stock tires and two 235/60/16 to ride on for now, as a constant reminder that I have a big brake swap to do

[zwack88]

Sweet! Looking forward to seeing you get this stuff on! You got a great deal too.

[grandpaslincoln]

:poop: :poop:

[mrltd]

Heck of a deal there....

[gadget73]

Indeed, very good price. Are the hub bearings nice and quiet? I had to replace one of mine.

[Grand Marquis GT]

Great price!!!

You going to sand all the parts dowwn, and paint them to look all clean?

[Blaze86Vic]

He better

[85crownHPP]

but of course!

The wheels for sure and I plan to use the wire wheel bit on the dremel to hit the spindle and caliper. I wont paint the hub since it hides, and they sound and feel good by the way, Im going to re-use them. possibly the upper pall joints from the 99 too. They are easy enough to reaplce down the road... The rotors look ok, I plan to turn and use then, also the upper A arm bushings look great, so I may just buy new lower bushings, lower ball joints and pads.

I have a few questions still, for those that know:

- does the lower ball joint need to be 98-02 to match the spindle? will 92-97 work? what about the original ones?

- the brake line on the 99 was one of the wierd ones with a 'T' in the end - do I have to use this hose, and if so how does it get plumbed? can I use a 92-97 hose? does it have to be a p71 hose? (is there a difference in 99 police brakes from 99 civillian?)

- also any difference in tie rod ends? Im going to replace all four and need to know if I can use 4 original ones or do I need two old and two new style?

- I mashed up the backing plate getting the spindle off, and its riveted on. Can you get replacement backing plates for a 99??

[p71towny]

Im a little curios myself. I plan on doing the swap but the only yard parts I'll be grabbing is the caliper brackets, the rest I'm gonna get new so the towny can be better than evah! Course this is after the new engine, rear suspension, gears and trak-lock, ...............Ugh

[gadget73]

Tie rod ends need to match the centerlink. If you're keeping the original 85 centerlink, you need 85 tie rod ends, sleeves, pitman arm and idler arm. The old outer tie rod ends fit into the new spindles with no troubles. I also kinda want to say the ends themselves are the same and just really the sleeve length is different but thats also not a promise. My car has 86 steering parts bolted to 00 spindles and it works fine. Price is the same either way for the parts, but if you want the newer stuff you'll have to spring for a new centerlink. I think the geometry is a little better with the tie rods being fastened more outbound and the centerlink itself is more flat instead of having the bow like ours have.

Lower ball joint needs to match the spindle. I'm not 100% sure the year you need but I want to say 92-02 is the same. I do know the original 85 one won't work.

Upper ball joints can be any from 92-02, but the early 90s ones give visually better geometry. I doubt it makes a bit of real difference though.

I have one used and one new hub bearing on mine. If they're quiet, I say go for it. Not a major operation to change later on if needed. I would suggest new bushings, just because you can get the whole set of poly ones pretty darn cheap. The lower ones are probably more important than the uppers, since they're bigger and will allow more slop when they go but might as well go all the way. I want to say the bushing set I got was under $100 for uppers and lowers for both sides. Like $65 comes to mind but don't quote me on that.

[85crownHPP]

call me king slacker - I just ordered my bushings and some extra lube

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com...ts.asp?cat=701

[91LTDProject]

I gotta get crackin on mine and go get some parts from the yard for the swap. My front brakes are toast, started squealing on the way home from Scotts. All my brakelines need replacing also, thanks to my countries extensive use of road salt. Gonna head to the yard monday to see what I can find

[85crownHPP]

the bushings arrived - they test fit nice in the upper arm I burned...

Im planning to re-use the upper balljoints i got from the junkyard with the donor uppers (TRW - stock???) to free up some money for the 9xx pound performance replacement springs. This way, i dont have to be chicken about compressing the springs for re-installation

Im getting all tingly... I still have to buy shocks and all new steering parts too

Also - I learned that you want the brake hoses for a civilian car WITH ABS - this will give you the drivers side hose with only one fitting, unlike the non abs p71.

[Nathan in MI]

Cool, mang! Can we count on a full writeup on this at the end?

Oh, and dunno if you noticed or not, but you've got a PM.

[85crownHPP]

yes!!!!! yes!!!!!!! ooohhhh yes.

I plan to make a landmark *official* GMN big brake thread.

now you have a PM

[85crownHPP]

also, some burning questions of mine........

do calipers "dry out?"
say i have the crazy idea of re-using these I have off the junkyard car, which have been stored for over a year with the far end of the brake hose uncapped
Should I expect the seals to be shot??

would I be crazy to re-use the hoses??
if nothing else becuase of dirt contamination Im sure...???

also - whats good to use as far as a protective oily substance to smear on new and/or used-and-cleaned chassis parts as an alternative to painting them??
I never liked being able to "tell" that something's been painted... (aside from originally...)

[mrltd]

If the stuff looks OK, then reuse 'em. The stuff is pretty cheap, it's your decision....

[gadget73]

Calipers don't dry out, they do however rust if they've had no fluid at all in the. Brake fluid isn't exactly much in the way of corrosion protection but its probably better than nothing. If they don't stick after you put them on, and they compress OK, they're probably fine.

TRW would be OEM ball joints. If they're not floppy you're good. The lowers wear out faster than the uppers anyway. Handily they're also the ones you absolutely must change, so its not a big deal. Uppers are pretty simple to do, don't even need a press or special tools.

I wouldn't smear any greasy stuff on the chassis parts. It'll just attract dust and look horrible. Paint them with rust-oleum or something and it should be OK. Semigloss or flat won't be real obvious that its been painted like a glossy paint is. If you really don't want to see fresh paint, then spray some undercoating on after the paint dries. I didn't paint my lower control arms and they're rusty as hell. Need to get under the car and paint them.

[Nathan in MI]

There's that "fresh casting" paint you can buy too that's the color of freshly made cast iron. Maybe that would be the look you'd want?

[85crownHPP]

hhmm I might try the used calipers... hoses are pretty cheap and I can turn the rotors at work.
Im thinking it would be easier to hold off on the steering parts for now, to shorten the downtime and since replacing all the steering stuff at a later time would be just as easy, and fast enough to do it at the shop.

cast iron paint eh??
I just hate prepping greasy rusty parts for paint... and feel like an asshole whenever I just wire brush something and spray over whats left.
Whats that super degreaser/rust stripping method with the buckets of crap and electric current????

and I just ordered the Speedway Motors springs lets do this. I have some more old bushings to melt...