Front suspension rebuild!!! - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

Teds89IROC · 03-20-2008, 01:04 AM

I have spring break this week, so I started rebuilding my suspension. I thought taking out the front springs was going to be much, much worse, but it was easy. I strapped the springs to the k-member, loosened the nut for the ball joint, put a jack under the a-arm, removed the top nut holding the strut to the tower, slowly lowered the jack which allowed the a-arm to swing down all the way which relieved most of the tension on the spring and gave the strut/spindle a little shake to free the inner edge of the spring and viola! After I got the spring out I reconnected the strut to the tower and broke the ball joint. I picked up all new moog components (inner/outer tie rods, center link, idler arm and ball joints), energy suspension poly a-arm bushings, as well as a spohn sway bar set, spohn steering brace, and the eibach pro kit. I'll be adding pictures as I go along, but so far I've painted the new moog stuff as well as the a-arms. I'm going to paint the chassis and then I can put the new stuff back in. Enjoy!

ar0ck · 03-20-2008, 01:08 AM

Its so naked

IROCdan330 · 03-20-2008, 05:59 AM

Out of curiosity, why did you buy a steering brace (wonder bar?) if your car had one from the factory? Just wanted something a tad bit stronger?

JSPERFORMANCE · 03-20-2008, 07:09 AM

That car needs a K member and tubular a arms...

Mike · 03-20-2008, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSPERFORMANCE

That car needs a K member and tubular a arms...

WildBillyT · 03-20-2008, 09:59 AM

Ted- don't forget to grease up those control arm bushings! And when you inevitebly get that "whale snot" on your hands and such WD-40 takes it off pretty well.

chrisfrom nj · 03-20-2008, 10:04 AM

looks great ted good luck if you need a wonder bar i have one for sale

Teds89IROC · 03-20-2008, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IROCdan330

Out of curiosity, why did you buy a steering brace (wonder bar?) if your car had one from the factory? Just wanted something a tad bit stronger?

yup, I'll show a size comparison later today, it's at least twize the size. My old steering box got twisted off the frame years ago, so now that I run 275's up front I figured the added strength would be necessary.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSPERFORMANCE

That car needs a K member and tubular a arms...

When I swap engines (years from now) I'm hoping to do those as well

Quote:

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

Ted- don't forget to grease up those control arm bushings! And when you inevitebly get that "whale snot" on your hands and such WD-40 takes it off pretty well.

Thanks for the heads up!

deadtrend1 · 03-20-2008, 04:32 PM

the big spohn one wont clear dual fans unless you grind down the plastic a bit. Just FYI...

I had that problem when I ordered the UMI one, so I returned it and got the TDS one instead.

//<86TA>\\ · 03-20-2008, 08:24 PM

looking good

hows the ground clearance on the exhaust?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSPERFORMANCE

That car needs a K member and tubular a arms...

mine too, im waiting for UMI to Finish there 3rd gen one...
________
LovelyWendie

its Jeanne-Marie · 03-20-2008, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadtrend1

the big spohn one wont clear dual fans unless you grind down the plastic a bit. Just FYI...

I had that problem when I ordered the UMI one, so I returned it and got the TDS one instead.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll have pics when I get to that point lol.

Today I put the march pulley set on (really easy to get to the crank pulley without the sway bar and wonder bar on) I also changed my motor mounts, I had them in the garage and with the control arms out getting at the bolts wasn't too difficult. The old ones were pretty bad, the new ones raised the engine about 1/2 inch:

I started to go over the wheel wells to prep them for paint and I came across some rot on the inner fender. Leaves and crap have been caught between the inner fender and firewall which held water and moisture which rotted out the area. I cut out all the rot and I'll weld in a patch tomorrow:

-Ted

68camaroguy · 03-20-2008, 10:14 PM

i wish i could fit 275s up front... **** mine are only 205s for now.. but i did get 325s for the back

The Fixer · 03-20-2008, 10:18 PM

Lookin' good Ted!

edpontiac91 · 03-20-2008, 10:31 PM

Just a note on the condition of the lower "A" arms, they might look a lot better if you can get them glass beaded and then shoot them in SEMI FLAT black(instead of the gloss)because it will not show up the rough surface or the rust areas as much. Right now the GLOSS shows up all the imperfections. Use rubberized undercoat on the fender wells because it will dry rather quickly and again, it will hide some of the rough surface better(plus have a factory look). Just my

Teds89IROC · 03-21-2008, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by //<86TA>\\

looking good

hows the ground clearance on the exhaust?
..

I have about 3.5" ground clearance at the lowest point which is the collector, but that was with old stock springs. I gained about 1/4-1/2 of ground clearance though from the motor mounts, they raised the engine and in turn raised my headers a bit too. I'll get measurments after the pro kit is in and post them up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by edpontiac91

Just a note on the condition of the lower "A" arms, they might look a lot better if you can get them glass beaded and then shoot them in SEMI FLAT black(instead of the gloss)because it will not show up the rough surface or the rust areas as much. Right now the GLOSS shows up all the imperfections. Use rubberized undercoat on the fender wells because it will dry rather quickly and again, it will hide some of the rough surface better(plus have a factory look). Just my

Thanks for the input. I was going to sand blast the control arms but at the time the sand I had was too wet to use so I just went over them with a wire wheel. I got this paint from the auto body supply place I use that is specifically meant for the chassis. It says it also stops existing/prevents new rust

It dries rather quickly and can be sprayed on or brushed and it seems to have a rubberized texture to it when it dries. It's also satin black; I took those picture right after I sprayed the last coat on so they are more dull right now that they have dried. I'll eventually be swapping in tubular control arms so this is good enough for now.

Thanks for all the other compliments/opinions!

chrisfrom nj · 03-21-2008, 10:51 AM

por 15 is the best

68camaroguy · 03-21-2008, 11:16 AM

hey ted whats the car in the background of the first pic??

Teds89IROC · 03-21-2008, 12:40 PM

that's my brothers 69 nova, he just did leaf springs in it. He's registered here under
69novaguy, though he doesn't come on too often. Funny you guys have similar UN's lol

unstable bob gable · 03-21-2008, 04:22 PM

Isn't it nice when you can take the time to do a nice job, and you are working on a nice car? I miss my days of working on nice cars.

68camaroguy · 03-21-2008, 09:45 PM

awesome. i like novas, i almost bought a 66 before i found my camaro

Teds89IROC · 03-22-2008, 01:17 AM

welder crapped out so I had to rivet in a panel:

qwikz28 · 03-22-2008, 12:14 PM

did you upgrade to poly motor mounts?

Teds89IROC · 03-22-2008, 09:47 PM

Nope, the mounts I had were rubber.

qwikz28 · 03-22-2008, 10:35 PM

why didn't you throw some polys in there?

Teds89IROC · 03-23-2008, 12:21 PM

I already had the rubber ones that I bought when I put the headers in, just didn't install them. They should last me till the time I'm ready financially for an engine swap, by that time I'd like to have a tubular k-member as well, so they'll get poly's then