Time to improve the suspension.

[oxbrain]

The rearend is done!

I did an eyeball alignment and didn't notice that the passenger wheel is a little wonkey. I torqued the tie rod down, and now I can't get it back out. Is the only way to adjust alignment to remove and rotate the tierod ends or is there another way to bring that wheel back to straight?

I bled the brakes, the old fluid looks like muddy sand, the new stuff looks like pee.

[Motoxpress]

Keep us posted Ox Can't wait to see the finished product.

Will

[oxbrain]

Used a torch to lightly heat the knuckle and the tierod popped right out. I got it closer, but noticed that the camber on one side looks a little wierd. I decided that instead of me trying to eyeball it I'd just have a shop do it and scheduled an alignment for tommorow at noon. There is still a little more toe than I like to see, but it should be fine for the 30 mile trip to the alignment shop.

Got the battery back in. On the battery tray there are three bolts, the aft most one is broken off at the head. I've tried drilling it and just decided to run without that one. I'll put a clamp holding the battery to the tray and it shouldn't wiggle enough to be a worry. I plan on relocating the battery in the next couple months anyway.

So the only thing left is to grease up the tie rod ends and I can test drive it. I lent out my grease gun(DOH) so I'm waiting for my father to get off work so I can borrow his.

I ordered new rotors and rear shoes, I haven't decided if I want to spend $60 on good pads, or $20 on "standard" pads. I'll decide and pick all that up on my way back from the shop tommorow. The junkyard rotors and pads will have to do until then.

It's going to be some slow driving to the alignment shop and back tommorow on wierd alignment, unkown brake rotors and pads.

[mattswabb]

Torch? The easiest way to get a tie rod out is just remove the nut then take a hammer and wack the spindle on the side where the tie rod goes thru. A few hits and they pop out.


$20 pads are fine. I have them on both my swaps.

[oxbrain]

I was using a hammer, the damn thing just didn't want to budge. I didn't bust out the propane torch, just a little butane one.

I'm thinking I'll go with the $20 pads and get better ones if I'm ever unhappy with them.

[oxbrain]

So I drove the car today. The trip to the alignment shop was hairy, I had one wheel almost dead on, the other was 3 degrees off on toe. Camber and caster was dead on.

After the alignment I drove about 50 miles and in a word, WOW.

The ride is rather jarring. You feel every single bump in the road and speed bumps feel like a kick in the ass. Not quite kidney popping, but it will take some getting used to. The car feels completely planted through it all, like a rollercoaster, bolted to it's rails. The front end grips so much better than before. Bumps in a corner don't throw you into understeer, aside from the jarring, they don't seem to affect the car one bit.

The rear springs aren't as good as I was hoping. They aren't really progressive as much as dual rate. The low rate is too low, and the high rate is too high. Sitting, without me in the car, the low rate section compresses almost completely. This means that off a bump they compress the rest of the way and you slam onto the high rate section, which feels almost like you are hitting the bump stops. This gives the car a "lurching" feeling when you hit larger bumps, as the rear impacts and rebounds harder. I feel that a single rate spring, inbetween the two would give a better ride.

I am running on the 155/80/13s on some old honda wheels. They don't rub anywhere from lock to lock or in hard corners. I went into an empty parking lot and goofed around a bit. I love how the car handles. Grip is easily doubled. There is a slight hesitation as the front wheels grip and the rear gets sorted out, then the rear pushes and the whole car just rotates around. I had to stop as I was falling out of my seat and damn near broke the shifter trying to hold myself in. ops:

Overall impressions,

Before this swap, the suspension was 2/10, now it's 6/10. With better rear springs it could be 7/10.


Now I just need to fix a small brake leak and get my new rotors and pads on. The hose-hardline nut on the front drivers side is cross threaded or something and leaks under heavy braking. Not too much, maybe a drop or two per second of super hard braking.