tyroelite Posted March 17, 2004 Report Posted March 17, 2004 Well, Spring break for me was great. I got my new Coilovers installed! Funny story actually.... We began the install at around 2:00PM at a garage across the street from my friend. We expected this to be a great place because it has air tools and stuff but as we jacked the car up and attempte to take the rear wheels off we found that the air gun we had leaked. Found another one and that one also was broken. Went to a neighbor's farm and borrowed his gun that we knew was good and broght it back and hooked up the fitting and all and went to remove the lugs and.... the POS didn't have enough torque to remove the lugs... bad start to what would be a long night. We figured we'd give up on the air tools and just break the rusted bolts by hand. So we kept going and finally got one side all out and began on the leaf spring. That went ok i guess except of course, the exhaust goes right below the bushing for the spring so just as an added aggrivation we had to drop the exhaust all down to get it. That went OK eventually and we got the bolts broken on most of all the important places. Well, as my friends and helpers were installing the coilovers on the driver's side, I worked at breaking the bolts on the passenger side. When I got to one the bolt at the bottom of the nuckle that goes through the rear control arm, I being not to forward thinking sometimes used a big wrench w/ a slight bend in it and a long breaker bar and of course broke a bolt off in the nuckle. At this point it wasl already getting pretty late (approx. 10PM). Well, we gave up on this side for now. I then went back to helping on the driver's side. Well, I'm not exactly sure what happened but somehow the caliper on that side closed completely and seized that way. More aggrivation... oh well, brakes are over rated so we'll just put the strut assembly in and wire tied the caliper out of the way. Back to the other side... We tried for a while with a drill and a screw extractor to remove the broken bolt but that wasn't working so after some severe head scratching as to what to do we decided to give up for the night (about 2am) and go home. Only problem is my car is sitting infront of the tractor that the farmer (who's tools we are still using) needs in the morning. So the car had to move at least a little. We decided to just put all the bolts back in tight on the passenger side and that moving it that little bit wouldn't matter much that one of the bolts was broken. Well, that would have been a fine idea had my strut not been completely blown. We put it all back together as best we could and put the wheel on and went to drop that side down but of course the strut doesn't hold the car up high enough to get the jack out from under it. So... back up it goes and back apart it goes. Only way we figure this thing is moving is if we get the knuckle off the blown strut somehow and on the coilover assembly. Well... all of the sudden it dawns on us... hey, I have a 90 GP sitting at home in my back yard that doesn't move. So, back to the house in the middle of the night (about 3 by then). When we left of course we grabbed all the wrechches and sockets we'd need and when we got there we realized we had a 1" socket instead of at 15/16" socket. So back to the farm to get the right one and back home again. (farm is about 15-20 mins each way) so even later we begin to actually dissaseble that side. Finally we get it out and head to another garage to mount the new knuckle on the coilover and then head back to the car. As we try to remove the parking brake cable from the old caliper it of course is rusted so I say screw it and grab a big chain cutter and cut the cable. We really start moving now and are able to get that side back on pretty easily. By now it is starting show serious signs of the sun coming back up and the light in the farmer's house is on so we are feeling the pressure and decide to see if we can't drive it home just take it easy without the brakes all being so great. (New knuckle has been sitting for a few months and is rusted severely, other side still is just tied out of the way. Its moving at least at this point. We get to the stop sign down the road a ways and realize brake fluid is leaking from the caliper that is just tied out of the way. We try to get to it but can't seem to find why its leaking exactly so we say oh well and decide to just keep it in 1st/2nd the whole way home. Well, as we get back into town, brake fluid is nearly completely gone and I'm worried about some of the big intersections and the bridge we have to cross before we get to my house. So... park on the side of the street and head to walmart to pick up a few quarts just in case and return by now its about 7:30am. Finaly get back and fill it up and head the rest of the way home carefully and park it... .home at last.... finally! I'll work on the brakes later. (done now btw, but that's another post for another day)... so... how do they ride?? They are great now that its all working correctly again! I took it to get aligned and found that a ball joint up front is bad and the 2 control arms on the driver's side rear were bent at some point before I bought the car But for the ride quality, they FFP is great, much better than a cracked leaf spring and blown struts! I'd recommend the FFP CO's but don't brake any bolts, use penetrating fluid to break rust, make sure that the calipers don't seize up and you'll be good to go! Sorry for writing a book about it but a procedure which we expected to only take a few hours that afternoon did turn into a 17Hr project after all so there was plenty to share. Quote
J Posted March 17, 2004 Report Posted March 17, 2004 i love mine also! just waiting for the fronts. i need them! not want NEED Quote
91cutty Posted March 19, 2004 Report Posted March 19, 2004 when are the front coilovers supposed to be done? Quote
4spdz34 Posted March 20, 2004 Report Posted March 20, 2004 why did u remove the caliper? if it was me i would have cut/beaten that spring out of there. just break it into a million pieces. seriously i would just remove the old struts and cut that spring, then just install the new struts with the ffp coils on them Quote
tyroelite Posted March 22, 2004 Author Report Posted March 22, 2004 uh... thats a good question... i suppose because i didn't think of it and those springs are pretty tough, don't know as it would have broken to easily. Prolly would have needed to bust out a saws-all. Well... now i have big breaks so i suppose it was worth it. Joey, if you really want the cliff notes, send me a PM or IM and i'll hook you up. Eventually it'll be on my site, but the site is still in design stages. Quote
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