Got my aspire brakes

[oxbrain]

So this is what you get for $100 at a junkyard.



I only asked and paid for the calipers, knuckles and rear axle assembly. The guy said he gave me everything because it was easier to unbolt the whole thing than seperate it. So now I might not need to get new drums and rotors after all.

I think that all I'm missing are the tie-rod ends and I need new bushings since the ones on there are really bad.
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[Safety Guy]

Yep!

I got the same parts with the exception of the Aspire front sway bar and control arms. Only I paid around $215, IIRC. Actually now that I remember it, they just cut through the ends of the sway bar.

It's so cool that it's easier to take them off that way, ain't it?

BTW, in case you weren't aware, don't use the Aspire sway bar and control arms. Someone did and was not too impressed. Lots of work for questionable gain. You probably already know this but I just want to make sure you knew it!

Karl

[SimonTuffGuy]

Not a bad price at all...

I hate yards that you can't pull your own stuff from tho.

[aithanmier]

eh, for most parts i'd agree...but pulling suspension parts without an air impact wrench...let someone else jack with it but then i already have an aspire parts car hehehe.

[oxbrain]

Well, this car was sitting under a stack of two other cars so jacking it up would have been a little precarious. They let you pull stuff if you can get at it, I also snagged a blinker cover from a poor rotting festy in there, the guy didn't charge me for it. Ofcourse being the genius I am I set the rear drum on it and broke it so now I need another one. ops:

The reason I don't want the aspire sway arm/control rods is because the car already understeers badly enough and they would only make it worse, right?

What if I added a pipe to the torsion bar to make it much stiffer and it made the car oversteer, would it be worthwhile then?


Can I use the festiva tie-rod ends? most of the yards I'm calling wont let me have them without buying the whole steering rack.

[mattswabb]

Don't use the aspire control arms, they are a different lenght. The aspire tie rods have a different size taper than the festiva so you need them.

I replaced my control arms, sway bar bushings and added KYB struts with FMS springs. The car handle so much better. Not sure if adding a pipe will help.

matt

[oxbrain]

I plan on doing about the same stuff. I won't bother stiffening up the rear till I know if it's needed or not.

I probably won't be able to get these brakes installed till next month since I have to order stuff, I'm thinking of just ordering the new struts/springs at that time and saving a tiny bit on shipping.



Unless it turns out that I just killed my engine by running it low on oil ops:
It was leaking before, but I thought I had fixed it. Hadn't checked the level in about 3 days then I was out driving and went around a corner hard and the oil light came on, then the engine knocked a few times. Now you can smell burning oil and there is a rattle at higher rpm. I changed the oil and drained out 2.5q and put 3.5 back in, not sure how fast it's burning yet, but it's drivable. I might have to put all my suspension stuff on hold and work on that motor swap. I shudder to think of a b6t on 4" tires and iffy brakes.

[BigJim]

15" mag on my festiva

Do i need all you have buy to to be able to but 15" mag??? on my festiva?

[oxbrain]

If you found wheels with a festiva bolt pattern you could probably make them fit without any of the stuff I got.

The reasons to get aspire brakes are for the bigger front brakes, better ebrake, more common bolt pattern, and better rear sway bar.

In that pic it shows the front sway bar, struts, springs, control arms, and the rear struts. All of which you don't need. What I still need is the ebrake cable(the one there is cut), all brake lines(also cut), both tie-rod ends, and a set of 4x100 pattern wheels. I'm getting new bushings and probably new struts/springs since now would be the easiest time to put them in.



In other news, I just scored big time. One of the aspires I've seen around town had an "unfortunate" accident and is now totaled. Sum of the damage is it got sideswiped and the cost of repainting is more than the car, so the car went to the junkyard and I have first dibs on the parts off it. The guy who owns the yard also hates small cars and doesn't like them on his lot, so he will probably give me great deals. I just have to wait for them to process the car and I can start grabbing.


I'm thinking of getting the calipers off it since the ones I have I'm not sure if they are auto or manual. The dimensions listed are 20-22mm for auto and 16-18 for manual, and the calipers I have measured to 19... They look brand new, not worn, but I can't tell.

[vw40life]

is the brake swap hard at all

[mattswabb]

is the brake swap hard at all

Not to bad of a job. You need to be able to bleed brakes and there is a possibility that the steel lines on your car may be rusty and may need replaced. This will add a bit to the job. I think getting everything apart is the hardest part. The halfshafts will be tight, same with the ball joints. If you have everything ready such as new pads, rotors etc. it should take most of a day to swap.

matt

[oxbrain]

I'm planning on starting the swap on a saturday morning. If nothing fights me then it shouldn't take more than a few hours. Judging by what I've done so far it's going to take all day and could take longer since I don't know what I'm doing.