rmoltis build thread 96 aspire

[rmoltis]

i know how to double clutch, also how to shift without using the clutch at all.
for a car i want to still be able to daily drive.
its not something i want to deal with in an everyday situation.

but i have always liked the sound they make.

[rmoltis]

I just received my rear beam bushings in the mail today.
I ordered 2 sets. One to use. And a second set for future replacements.

I didn't realize how small they were.

They didn't have the bolt for me.
So I will have to have fastenal order me some whenever I decide to start replacing things.
I'll probably order new bolts for the rear struts at the bottom as well.
I've seen everyone's horror stories.

[drddan]

Spray some rust preventive on the bolt and nut, and never have horror stories of your own.

[bravekozak]

Anti-seize compound on all potential rustable suspension bolts works wonders.

[defprun]

Lol I double clutch 2nd gear in my Mazdaspeed if I feel like Im going to grind it. Now I never grind (and boy is this box prone to it) the festiva shifted better with the aspire box ><

[rmoltis]

Got my new king springs in today :-D.

It is nice knowing they were designed specifically for my vehicle.
They are standard height stiffer springs.
This way i retain full suspension travel and the capability to carry weight, and four full size adults.
And not bottom out.





I feel special.
How many people here in the u.s. or even america have a set of these?

[rmoltis]

just ordered my new struts today.
i looked into kyb catalogs for different countries and found the specific parts numbers for the front and rears.

here is a screenshot for other peoples future reference. this is for the aspire 94-97, and not for 97-01


the kyb excel g struts is the name replacement for the gr2's along with color change.
kyb says they are the same though.

i ordered the gr2's from america since they were $40 each with free shipping and were identical to the rears listed on the catalog.
but i didnt want to use the festiva gr2s up front so i ordered the ones specific to my car listed in the kyb catalog.

i ordered them through the rockauto european catalog.
they are the last piece of the puzzle needed to get my upgrade started.
now itll just be a matter of time and finding a garage to do it in. hopefully in the next month or 2

[rmoltis]

I mistyped some info. I am getting the excel g's for the rear not the gr2s.
Just sourced them locally because they were available. Same part # tho 340009.

[rmoltis]

struts should be here within the next few days from both shippers.
just today thought of a few more things to replace while im in there.

so i ordered a full set of front wheel bearings.

i have had cross drilled and slotted rotors on my last aspire,
then just slotted on the current aspire,
so this time i decided to try a set of just drilled rotors. ordered a set of those as well.

then for new brake pads i usually prefer ceramic pads, so i bought a set of ebc redstuff.

might as well do it while im in there...

so far i have:

new standard height king springs
nolathane inner control arm bushings
nolathane outer control arm bushings
nolathane swaybar to frame bushings
kyb excel-g front and rear struts
new c.v. axles left+right
new kyb strut boots x 4
kyb strut mounts front+rear
new rear beam bushings
new control arms
new outer tie rod ends
new inner tie rod ends
new drilled rotors
new ebc redstuff brake pads

im gonna see if i can start working on this all tomorrow. i have a friends garage for the next 10 days while he is visiting poland :-D
lets hope i dont run into any trouble along the way.

[rmoltis]

starting my suspension upgrade today.
it will be spread out over the next week or so because i still have some parts arriving through the mail,
and i'm sure i will have to have fastenal order me new bolts for any bolt i remove from underneath.
just to ensure they dont rust as quickly over time.

and tools, i guess i will just go buy them as i find out i need them lol.
i already stocked up on a few last night, prybars, soft/medium hard mallet, 2 extra jackstands, coil spring compressors.
will probably end up needing a breaker bar, some sort of press to press in/out the inner control arm bushings and new metal sleeve and possible the new rear beam bushings as well but not sure.
maybe a tie rod end seperator if i really feel like it, but i never used one the last few times i replaced them, but we will see how much they decide to fight me this time.

i will try and take pictures, but i tend to get lost in the work sometimes and forget.

[rmoltis]

Did some work today, got the car up on jackstands.

Removed the wheels and started going to town breaking loose and removing any bolts and nuts holding it all together.
I have every bolt in the front end broken loose or removed including the axle nuts.

The only nut that gave me trouble was one of the swaybar to frame nuts.
It was on so tight and was soft from being old that it rounded.
so i hammered a bolt extractor onto the head of it, and it broke free first try.
Which is funny because it is the first time the extractors have actually worked without eating up the bolt,
and it was on so tight it suprised me even more.

Tomorrow i will remove the complete spring, strut, strut mount assemblies and control arms up front.
Then get the knuckles/hubs taken off.

once the front is completely disassembled i will keep all the removed fasteners in seperate labeled bags for each side.
Then will proceed to the rear and drop the beam so i can get to the those beam bushings and shocks.
Will require me to remove some interior panels too.

Once that all is done and i have all fasteners removed throughout.
I will proceed to fastenal and ask for new replacements for as many things as possible.
Things were starting to get old in this salty environment up here.

I also have a rust bullet kit coming by mail.
So i will wait to reassemble everything because along with rustproofing the undercarriage.
I wish to also use it on as many of the components being removed as possible too.
Get everything ready for winter.

So far so good.

On a side note, does anyone on here have some rotor screws for the aspire in great shape?
One of mine had to me impact wrenched out, it was soft and corroded and needs not be reinstalled.
Or do you guys think i could get them at fastenal too as well.
They seem like a special screw designed to sit flush and a certain angle to hold the rotors in place.
Any help would be appreciated.

[rmoltis]

spent a few more hours today.

on the driver side front i got everything disassembled: control arm removed (gave me a hard time but got it removed), knuckle disassembled and removed, and c.v. joint removed from the knuckle but not the trans yet.
removed the strut/spring/mount assembly removed and broken down/ disassembled.


the strut was blown, it would not even return from a depressed position


on the passenger side front it gave me troubles, i spent quite a bit of time trying to get the c.v. axle splined side to come out of the knuckle
but to no avail. I tried using lubricant hoping it would run down the splines and help but it didn't help any.
I have a hard rubber/plastic hammer i was using to hammer on it as hard as i could and nothing.
I tried using a metal hammer with wood over it, and without wood over it. so i didn't get any further than that.
once the c.v. joint comes out i can remove the knuckle and strut/spring/mount assembly removed and broken down, any ideas?
control arm was also removed (it also gave me a hard time but i got it done).
I also broke a brand new socket adapter 1/2' to 3/8" which was on a 1/2' breaker bar with the 17mm socket i was using trying to break loose a nut on the strut where it connected to the knuckle lol.
good thing it has a lifetime warranty, i will exchange it for a new one tomorrow.

i will also spend a few more hours on things tomorrow after work.

[rmoltis]

got my passenger side front finally got finished being broken down,
i got that stuck c.v. axle out by renting a 5 ton 3 jaw puller and using it as a press instead.
a few really tough turns with a prybar stuffed between for opposing leverage to keep it from rotating and it broke free
then removed knuckle, then removed the struts assembly and broke it down and removed spring, strut mounts, etc.



the strut on the passenger side was also blown and wouldn't uncompress


here is a picture of my knuckle.
they are both in decent shape, just old.


discovered why i have pedal vibration when i brake the other day. it was a corroded area from when i let my car sit for almost half a year when i moved here. along with a couple salty winters


these rotors need to be turned, but are still in great shape
will probably make a for sale thread for them later.


and last but not least, heres a picture of my bump-stops/strut piston guards/boots
they are made of rubber and still seem very durable. my replacements aren't made of rubber, but rather plastic boots with a plastic/hard foam looking bump stop much larger than these ones.
i am still undecided on whether to reuse the old durable ones or the new ones.
i think i am still leaning towards the new ones just because i like new.
i may offer them up in a for sale thread later as well.


also called around the u.s. and got a bunch of new oem bolt replacements ordered today.
still have a couple left, but things are looking good.

[rmoltis]

havent had any time at all to work on my aspire this week.
i pulled a 66hr workweek in 6 days.
but today i had the day off and ran some errands picking up new sockets and adapter etc.

the only real thing i got done in the couple hours i was there was removed the rear shock/spring assemblies and removed interior panels to access them.
i know not much, but i am still waiting on bolts in the mail.
i will still need to go to fastenal as soon as i drop the rear beam.

do you guys disconnect your brake lines before dropping the beam?
i feel like i will have to but wanted to ask if it sits directly underneath if it will even matter.

all my shocks including the rears were all blown lol, owners running the oem shocks until the day they sell their vehicles, what a shame.

[rmoltis]

i also have some comparison shots of the king springs vs. the aspire oem springs side by side.
in all pictures the black ones are the oem springs, and the yellow/orange ones are the king springs.

rear springs side view


rear springs top view


front springs side view


rear springs top view


the king springs look a lil bit shorter, but the oem springs were also compressed to fit into the spring/strut/strut mount assembly.
so i think the lower height is because they don't need to be compressed as much to fit in the assembly.
probably to compensate for the increase in spring rate.

im excited to get these things installed.
for now though i have the old coil spring isolators top&bottom/ front and rear sets.
i am going to check out energy suspension and look at their selection of universal polyurethane coil spring isolators.
then see if i can find a comparable set to match the setup. fingers crossed