Suspension assembly... part 5

Saturday was a frustrating day, but there was progress... got the backing plates reinstalled back on the car...

the replacement fuel tank arrived... tho when I saw the box it came in I had my doubts how straight it was gonna be!

Still fighting to get the last control arm bushing back out. Going to go ahead and get another bushing from NAPA to have on hand just in case I need to go postal on the one that's in there now! Also cleaned out the trunk and interior so I can get started cleaning them up for paint....

Next week I hope to get the last control arm bushing popped out and the rear brakes wrapped up....

WISH ME LUCK!

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Suspension rework.... part 2

Well after taking last weekend off to attend the funeral of a loved one, now all the rear bushings have been removed, lubed and reassembled with the freshly plated hardware...

I have one stubborn front upper control arm bushing that will not come out, but I have an idea to try next week to see if I can get it to release before going on to harsher methods! LOL

Also got the fuel and brake lines blown out and the rear brake line cleaned and attached to the proportioning valve...

My new Spectra fuel tank (made in CANADA) arrived last week, so I unboxed it to inspect and found a few dents in the bottom side. Had they been in the top side, which is hidden from view, I could have lived with them but since they are on the exposed side, I'm having Amazon send me a new one and picking this one back up...

Well, until next week.....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Suspension rework.....

The platers got my hardware done so I stopped on Friday and picked it all up....

Saturday consisted of rework. I happened to be on the Energy Suspension website week before last and watched a short video about their bushing lube. In the bushing kits I bought, there were small tubes of the lube that I thought were for lubing the bushing joints just prior to final assembly. I noticed during the assembly of the front and rear control arms that when I cycled them thru their range of motion, they made a popping/squeaking noise that I thought the small lube packets would resolve when applied during the final torquing of the fasteners, but the video said to liberally apply the bushing lube to the entire bushing and sleeve PRIOR to assembly in the bushing shells.

So on Saturday, I began the disassembly of the control arms, popping the bushings and sleeves out of the arms, lubing them good and putting it all back together and reinstalling them on the car. MAN, what a world of difference it made with everything lubed up good during the reassembly process... The pieces slid back together with ease and the popping/squeaking noise is gone! Energy Suspension SHOULD recommend the purchase of a small tub of bushing lube with each kit sold... would have made life MUCH EASIER!!!

Until next time....

ZEBRA 3 OUT