Front suspension rebuild thread

[ksechler]

For those of you that stuck with me through my rear suspension rebuild, I have rolled right into the front end and this will be the thread.

I would like to think that I am getting much better at this, but I'm not sure if that is the truth or not. The front end came apart much easier than the rear end. Tasks accomplished today are: Removal of front struts, removal of front hubs and wheel bearings, removal of all brake components, removal of rack and pinion, and removal of the front anti-sway bar.

The objectives are: To rebuild the rack and pinion - it's stiff. To replace the wheel bearings and ball joints. To replace the anti-sway bar with a thicker one. To replace the front springs with eibach's. To replace the front struts with illumina's. To add 4-piston calipers and slotted rotors (non-suspension - I know). All of the parts will be sandblasted and painted or treated with POR-15 and painted where sandblasting is not feasible.

Here are a few pictures of my progress so far:

[Hardway]

You did a great job on your rear suspension so I am sure the front will be no different. Glad to hear yours came apart without any issues. I just wrapped up the rebuild of my front suspension on my '72. Check out my resto thread in the Open Discussion section. I took lots of pics but I am sure you have already seen the front should not be near as difficult as the rear. Keep us posted with your progress!

[MotoManMike]

I chose to do mine in the reverse order. My fronts are all nice shiny and fresh. I've got to do my rear suspension next. Shouldnt be too bad since i'm replacing the rear arms in the process. Looks good. You'll love how it feels when you are done. Almost like it has power steering .

[ksechler]

Sorry guys. I got a little stuck and needed to order some stuff. I was trying to sandblast the rust off of everything using this crappy high plans play sand I bought at Home Depot. I don't know what that stuff is, but it isn't sand! It actually is a decent abrasive but it turns into dust and clogs the heck out of the nozzle. So I blast for 10-30 seconds and then have to unscrew the nozzle and clean it out. I got one side done but gave into frustration. I ordered some garnet blasting media and also some steel blasting media. We'll see how that turns out.

I also had to order the upper strut bearing and strut insulator. I missed the bearing in my first pass and the old insulator looks awful.

So I focused my efforts on the front rack/pinion steering assembly. I removed the tie rod ends which was a piece of cake on one side and an absolute monster on the other. A Dremel with a cutoff wheel finally did the last bit of convincing. I also replaced the boots and painted the assembly but there really wasn't much else needed. That will be going back on soon. Sorry i didn't take any pictures of that one.

[SteveJ]

How dry is the sand? You might need to bake it before using it to drive out the moisture. That could keep it from clogging.

[ksechler]

Steve:

You make a good point, but I already dried the sand out. It's just crappy stuff.

[ksechler]

An update is in order. I have made some progress but have not been as good about taking pictures.

I got my blasting media the other day and have been happily blasting away. I have a picture of my self named half-assed sand blasting booth. I crawl in there, pull the finding Nemo sheet closed behind me, and secure it with a C-clamp. Then I'm ready to go. Of course, I tape my cuffs closed, wear safetly goggles and a respirator. I'm no dummy! Besides that crap hurts!

I cleaned up the steering gear as I said in my last post. Here's a picture (with some other parts thrown in):

I have sandblasted and painted most of the parts from one side. Here are a few:

Here is a comparison of one strut before clean up and the other (unpainted) after:

I removed the old front bearings and pressed the new races in using a press at work. It took me about 10 minutes. I'm getting good at this!

Next steps will be to burn the old bushings out and replace them. I will also reinstall the rack. Then I will remove the old strut inserts and put in the new. In between these tasks I will be blasting and painting the rest of the parts. Hopefully, I will be ready to start reassembly next weekend.

Oh, almost forgot! My Konigs arrived and I am dropping them off to get some 225/50/R16 Kumho Ecsta tires installed tomorrow.

[LeonV]

Progressing nicely!

[John Coffey]

Why are you blasting the strut with the shock installed? Ideally you would remove the shock, clean out inside the strut tube (where there is likely to be rust) and then blast inside the tube.

[ksechler]

Why are you blasting the strut with the shock installed? Ideally you would remove the shock, clean out inside the strut tube (where there is likely to be rust) and then blast inside the tube.

John:

When I did the back struts the inside of the strut tubes were clean. Because the inside was oily I was concerned about getting sand in there and not being able to get it out. So I wire brushed and POR-15 treated the outside of rear struts and painted them. The front struts were a lot worse and I wanted to sand blast them. I left the old inserts in to keep the sand out. Simply as that. Whoever owned my car previously took care of it. They oiled the previous inserts so there isn't any rust inside the strut tubes.

[John Coffey]

OK. That's great news.

[ksechler]

I didn't have much time to work on the car this weekend, but I did make some progress. I finished cleaning and painting the left strut assembly and installed the strut and springs. Here is a before/after comparison of the two front struts:

I also removed the bushings and am ready to install the new ones. One of the old ones put up a little bit of a fight but not nearly as bad as the rear ones did: