rmoltis build thread 96 aspire

[rmoltis]

I can not use my left hand at all. The other fingers are too connected.
There are 3 bones in your finger it was my left pinky.
The bone broke right where the lowest knuckle on the pinky is. A piece came off.
You could see any movement could cause problems.

The wrong twist or grab is really painful.

I've had 5 broken bones total before this incident. 4 of them being all at once.
Usually there is no pain.

But in this case there was a lot of soft tissue and a nerve that was crushed.
So there is a lot more pain involved

Doesn't seem like an injury that would put you back. But I'm pretty useless right now.

[sketchman]

That's crazy. I pulled a tendon or something in my left ring finger when I was in high school. I have no control over the last bone now because I didn't let things heal or get any medical attention, and it was black and blue for months.

So yeah, let it heal.

[Advancedynamix]

Sorry to hear that. Well, the 'spire will wait patiently for your paw to mend.

[rmoltis]

That's crazy. I pulled a tendon or something in my left ring finger when I was in high school. I have no control over the last bone now because I didn't let things heal or get any medical attention, and it was black and blue for months.

So yeah, let it heal.

i personally wanted to popsicle stick the finger and call it good.

but with stories of fingers healing upside down and having to be rebroken.

or the ligament issue you mentioned and losing mobility.

i spent the $100 to get treated
seems all is well so far.

Once the site heals i need to go follow up with a doctor.
they called us back later the same day i broke it.
for extra x rays.

they think there may be a lytic lesion in the same area around where the break occurred inside the bone.
this could be a possible reason as to why this particular break is so painfull.
and possibly what weakened the joint causing it to be at a higher risk of breakage.

no need to spread panic
as this is just a theory on these dark spots on this pinkys set of bones.

will need follow up visits to see.
so im not really worried at all.

But if it is tumourous.
It just goes to show you.
Better have it checked out just incase.


My friend in pa recently noticed tingling sensations in his pinky and feet.

Most doctors dismissed it.
But he forced them to do body scans.
by going to the er and demanding that specific service.

Where they found a tumour growing at the top of his spine inside.
Growing and pinching on nerves.
They had to go in and cut it out.
He now has less control of his hands, some "bodily functions",
and numbness from waste down but can still walk.

He was lucky he caught it so quick as it is a stage 3 most aggressive fast growing type.
He is retraining himself now to do things he cant anymore.
I visit him almost daily.

[rmoltis]

Today I went over to diagnose the not starting problem.
Which just turned out to be a bad battery after 5 months of sitting idle.

So I went to costco and bought a new one.
Came back and installed it.
It starts everytime now.

Then I proceeded to torque down my lug nuts.

An appointment has been set for tomorrow
to get my tires rotated and alignment done.

Maybe I can bring my woman and she can shift while I steer with my good hand.

[rmoltis]

I got my car home today.
very slowly. Meaning speed limit or under.

I used my right hand to drive but during shifts
i would rest my left forearm on the wheel to keep it driving straight.
Then resume with my right immediately after.

I can definitely tell my front tires have some toe out on both sides.
Possibly even some positive camber.

I don't like either.

I was hoping the drive would settle the springs.
We will see tomorrow when it is all aligned and tires rotated.


Initial impression besides the bad alignment caused by suspension change.

Were good.
Suspension seemed supple enough to give a much firmer ride.
While still flexible enough to soak up the rough terrain that we call the streets of pittsburgh.

The polyurethane bushings have eliminated any slack in the front suspension.
Weight transfers from front to back are much more apparrant.

When i am in deccellerration the nose dives and when in gas the front rises more.
The lack of energy absorption retains tolerances while transferring the extra energy into
The suspension to do all the work.

Nvh went up very slightly.
Although the ride is firm while driving and cushy over bumps.
There are new vibrations transmitted into the cabin i can feel.

They are small but there.
I'm assuming the dynamat dampening material
helps dampen structural vibrations introduced via these new bushings.
So i cant for sure say how bad they would be without said dampening material.

Car is sporty.
Response has gone up.
I notice a marginal increase in power delivered to the wheels
Since it doesn't get eaten up through absorption in the bushings.

Will now need to talk to advancedynamix to get advice on alignment settings.
Gotta get this thing dialed in.

[rmoltis]

Today I had firestone do a baseline alignment.
Forgot my wheel lug nuts key so I didn't get the tire rotation and balance yet like wanted.

But with the settings adjusted to their optimum towards factory.
This before and after gives me a good idea of what needs to be altered in order to get everything back where it is needed.



I discussed the final results alongside the results I desired.
And the alignment tech got me some camber bolts and proper shims ordered where neccessary.

My 2nd appointment for the final "tuning" of the alignment is this friday.
Where he also penciled me in for my lifetime tire rotation and balancing.

That rear toe in and toe out.
It looks to me as if the twist beam needs adjustment back to center.
Simply because the positive on one side correlates with the negative on the other side within only .01-.02°
Tech says toe needs adjusting. But his concept may just lead me to a permanent crab walking situation lol.

So far it is a little bit better. But still needs more.
Hopefully advancedynamix's recommendations on alignment settings is good.
Because some will be shimmed permanently i.e. the rears.

I hate paying for labor for someone else to work on my car.
The cost of labor to do all this would cover approx the amount to completely rebuild the rear drum brake systems.
But alas. I don't have fancy laser guided alignment machines.
So it must be done.

I will rebuild the rear brakes systems afterwards just to make sure they did a good job.

[nitrofarm]

I think your right on with the beam being "Cocked". Do you get any weird driving symptoms as is? That front caster is kinda wacked also...

[rmoltis]

I think your right on with the beam being "Cocked". Do you get any weird driving symptoms as is? That front caster is kinda wacked also...

So the car had some sort of previous incident where they hit something and it slid down the right side of the car.
No huge damage I have a new fender in the closet and the headlight and turn signals have been replaced already.
And the passenger door outer metal was popped out and smoothed kinda when dynamat was installed.

So hopefully after all of this effort I can get things back into spec.

The only symptom I get is the car wants to steer lightly left (I mean the offset is .41/.42°)
Which makes sense looking at the printout.
But tech says the twist beam is not adjustable when the fsm I swear says to find its centerline and make sure
It is adjusted center again.

Don't the brackets of the twist beam where it connects to the body.
Have slide points for adjustments or does it have to be shimmed?
I'll look it up in my fsm later.

[nitrofarm]

You could put caster plates on it. But it would be nice to have someone pull that caster back into spec.

[rmoltis]

You could put caster plates on it. But it would be nice to have someone pull that caster back into spec.

Im not even sure how that would be done.

Seems like mostly caster controls forward stability of the car while making steering input more difficult.
Or removing forward stability for reduced input difficulty.

Im not opposed to fixing it. Just depending on cost may be put on hold for a while.

[nitrofarm]

I was referring to a frame straightening machine. To pull it back into spec (the Caster) . You might be able to get a local school that has the equipment to do it for free.

[Movin]

The high carbon steel that would have to give for caster adjustment usually will bend one way a little but crack going back or bending very far. Maybe the lower control arm to sway bar could be rubber bushed enough to obtain desired specs?

[Advancedynamix]

The high carbon steel that would have to give for caster adjustment usually will bend one way a little but crack going back or bending very far. Maybe the lower control arm to sway bar could be rubber bushed enough to obtain desired specs?

Yup. You can adjust with washers to reduce caster. Also, the holes in the sway bar mount plates can be massaged a bit to increase caster.
What does this car have for sway bar bushings?

I'm not sure if shimming the beam where it mounts will solve your problem. You may have a bent beam, or the people doing the work don't have the equipment set up correctly. I'm very weary of having my alignment done at alignment shops, especially on cheap cars. They don't seem to take it seriously when your car is old and economy orientated. And you don't need lasers to do an alignment. I've set up plenty of professional race cars with stuff you find at any home depot.

[rmoltis]

Yup. You can adjust with washers to reduce caster. Also, the holes in the sway bar mount plates can be massaged a bit to increase caster.
What does this car have for sway bar bushings?

I'm not sure if shimming the beam where it mounts will solve your problem. You may have a bent beam, or the people doing the work don't have the equipment set up correctly. I'm very weary of having my alignment done at alignment shops, especially on cheap cars. They don't seem to take it seriously when your car is old and economy orientated. And you don't need lasers to do an alignment. I've set up plenty of professional race cars with stuff you find at any home depot.

It has nolathane brand oem type fit polyurethane bushings all up front.
front sway bar to frame bushings, inner control arm bushings with sleeve, and sway bar to control arm bushings.
They all were a perfect match for what they replaced.

All bushings installed and torqued down to the factory shop manual specifications.

So far I wanna give a big thumbs up to these polyurethane bushings.
They really tighten up any slack in the front end you may have.
The steering response has gone up a ton.
And hopefully once aligned to where I want it.
It will stay close to those settings for years to come


In the rear it had new twist beam body bushings, oem part from korea.
And I made sure that the front and rear arrows were oriented properly upon installation.


Those front right readings really where from the previous owners accident.