Just got an Aspire Trailng Arm

[RichardLSU]

Just pulled one off an Aspire on Saturday with only 87xxx miles on it! The thing was in great shape and I couldn't figure out why it was in the junk yard. Oh well, thats my gain I suppose. For 59 dollars (including tax) I got it. Really easy to pull out, the hardest part was figuring out how to remove the e-brake cable.

I'd like to rebuild it, you know, take it apart, clean it, paint it, put in new bearings, drums and pads. Anything else I'm forgetting? The bushings looked to be in great shape but I'd like to replace those as well. Does anybody know where I might find some? Does anybody have any experience doing this?

Thanks guys!

[FestYboy]

^ what you have is the rear beam or rear axle (same thing), a trailing arm is an indepentant piece that locates the axle (front or rear) longitudinaly in relation to the body.

in either case, that's a great deal!!

i'd remove and dissasemble the backing plates and then clean and repaint with POR-15. this will keep them in the shape they are now for decades.

[RichardLSU]

Lol, my bad. I'm mechanically inclined but NEVER have I worked with suspension parts, asside from rebuiding the front end of my old pickup, which consisted of only a few bolts. Don't know the terminology at all but I'm getting the hang of it. I'm trying to keep myself busy with small projects and ran out of stuff to do around the house so I decided to tackle the suspension on the festy, one piece at a time.

My plan is to tear everything down, clean, paint and reassemble with new bearings, drums, springs, etc... I haven't torn into the brakes yet (its all sitting on a couple saw horses in my garage) so I don't know how bad it looks in there. Spins freely though and no scraping noises. Are wheel cylinders hard to find for these things?

[FestYboy]

wheel cyls. can be had nearly anywhere.

[RichardLSU]

The reason I asked is because I remember how hard they were to get for my 63'. Had to have them rebuilt out of state.

[Safety Guy]

Shouldn't have any trouble getting either Festiva or Aspire wheel cylinders or rebuild kits.

Karl

[BigElCat]

Hey Richard...you do realize you'll have two different lug bolt patterns, don't you?

Different wheels on front and back?