Aspire swap help!!!

[Bert]

I would like to try that when I get a new jack.
Mine lowers if you don't pump it constantly, so it could get a bit dangerous

This is why they make jack stands, and why they tell you never to get under a car that is supported only by a hydraulic jack.

[sickfleming]

This is why they make jack stands, and why they tell you never to get under a car that is supported only by a hydraulic jack.

Of course lol. What I meant was that I don't think my jack is powerful enough (or in good enough condition) to lower the car by itself, with jack stands supporting the rest of the car. Unless you meant lowering it a different way

[sickfleming]

However, when my gf was lifting the trailing arm with the jack while I was underneath trying to line up the strut mount, she went a little too far and the jack stand started tilting ohsnap

[Safety Guy]

Be careful there!

I've never used compressors to do my rear shocks. Then again, I've only installed cut Aspire rear springs, so they probably make it a bit easier on reinstallation.

Karl

[sickfleming]

Well it was indeed an....."eventful" experience thanks to rust, seized bolts, indecisive weather, low funds, lots of errand to the parts store and junkyard, sharing my gf's car, and playing , but it is now COMPLETE!!! :toothy7:

....well, the rear anyway lol. As soon as I get photo bucket to work with the phone, I'll post some pics

[sickfleming]

Let's see if I can get some pics up...

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Aspire trailing arm. New brakes, bearings, etc. Original wheel cylinders and e-brake looked okay.

[sickfleming]

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Wheels are off of a '98 Protege on left. 14 X 5.5 I believe. Little rusty but they cleaned up pretty well. $15 each.
Tires are 175/65/14. $10 each. I haven't really seen anyone using this combo, but they do fit my setup with decent clearance without spacers (New Aspire spec Sensa-Tracs in the rear, Festy springs)

[sickfleming]

I had to use my girlfriend's dad's old post war-era Sears drill gun (neat lil thing til it gets hot haha) to take out a seized strut bolt with a snapped head, only to realize the stock struts were shot. New struts came the next day

[sickfleming]

Trixie up on blocks...obviously



Old trailing arm and passenger side strut are out!!!



What a mess...

[sickfleming]

I'm gonna turn in since I can now work tomorrow. I'll take/post more photos when I get home. In the meantime, enjoy our cats doing what they do best. G'night folks!

[Bert]

Clean looking collection of Aspire goodies you have compared to what you find up here! You will notice a few brake hose brackets had to be adapted (if you used the Festy hoses) and you will be keeping an eye out for Aspire body-arm brackets over the long term I'm guessing. You may discover that the side to side alignment is off a little bit. With Festy wheels this doesn't matter but once you go to wider wheels this may become noticeable in that one side rubs and the other doesn't. Easily correctable (you'll have to slot the mounting holes of the body bracket and re-locate the mounting pin alignment hole).
Once you've got the fronts done you'll never regret having swapped and you won't be replacing shoes and pads anywhere near as often and tangling with rotors will be a piece of cake. And the car will stop on a dime! Some folks swap the master brake cylinder for a Protege or Aspire version but I never did and haven't had any misgivings.

[sickfleming]

Clean looking collection of Aspire goodies you have compared to what you find up here! You will notice a few brake hose brackets had to be adapted (if you used the Festy hoses) and you will be keeping an eye out for Aspire body-arm brackets over the long term I'm guessing. You may discover that the side to side alignment is off a little bit. With Festy wheels this doesn't matter but once you go to wider wheels this may become noticeable in that one side rubs and the other doesn't. Easily correctable (you'll have to slot the mounting holes of the body bracket and re-locate the mounting pin alignment hole).
Once you've got the fronts done you'll never regret having swapped and you won't be replacing shoes and pads anywhere near as often and tangling with rotors will be a piece of cake. And the car will stop on a dime! Some folks swap the master brake cylinder for a Protege or Aspire version but I never did and haven't had any misgivings.

Yeah, my car previously spent its life in Ohio so I can only imagine how rotten the typical JY finds are. And yeah, those brackets are a pain but I grabbed the aspire brake hoses, so they fit.
And yeah, I'll keep an eye out for the brackets. I don't really notice that big of an alignment difference, but could you elaborate on what you said about that?

[Bert]

Yeah, my car previously spent its life in Ohio so I can only imagine how rotten the typical JY finds are. And yeah, those brackets are a pain but I grabbed the aspire brake hoses, so they fit.
And yeah, I'll keep an eye out for the brackets. I don't really notice that big of an alignment difference, but could you elaborate on what you said about that?

We're talking side to side centering of the wheels under the car. Mine were off about 3/16 inch which was enough for 175/70-13s to rub on one side every time I hit a bump. Once the body brackets were shifted 1/10 inch (half of 3/16) all rubbing disappeared. I could have rolled the fender lips I suppose but this fix was more polite.