After a somewhat lengthy delay, I FINALLY got to tear my Iroc apart! These are just a few pics that I've taken so far, I'm waiting on a few parts to get in so I can finish up. Anyhoo, here's the play by play.

I didn't take a pic of every step, I figure you guys know how to take the damn rotor and caliper off. Use a Chiltons or Haynes manual if you don't. You will need at a minimum, a decent socket set, needle nose pliers or dykes, big friggin' hammer, jack, jackstands or cinder blocks. You get the drift. Unusual things that some people may not have but will need are a 24 mm socket or wrench, big Crescent, big breaker bar @ 1/2 inch, inside style coil spring compressor from Autozone or Pep Boys, and a 5 or 6 inch pipe nipple from a hardware store. I expained the use of that in the pics. I also rented a ball joint press to remove/install the new balljoints in, again, fairly easy. No pics of that yet though.

I will be posting more pics as I get back to working on the car. I'm busy at work so it will take me a couple weeks to do. Total time start to finish of ripping it apart was about 3 hours, counting beer breaks. For any inexperienced guys out there, this is EASY to do yourself. The only thing I had to have a shop do so far was remove and reinstall the A-arm bushings. That ran me $100 from Ken's Performance Auto in Fort Mill, SC...(for the local guys). They did a great job and didn't screw up the bushings putting them in.

Any problem with the link, please let me know. A 1LE upgrade will be done along with the suspension rebuild. Here's a short list of what's going on the car during the rebuild:

All ES bushings, Moog ball joints, tie rods, and center link, 36 mm front swaybar, Eibach Pro-Kit springs, KYB struts and shocks, Spohn/BMR subframes, LCAs, Panhard rod, and Relocation brackets, 1LE braking system, Earl's SS braided brake lines, new tires...that's about it.

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/taramille...tos.yahoo.com/



More to come

 

please keep this website up, im planning on doing the same thing to my car in the summer. THANKS

 

Cender blocks can crack at the worst times. Are you sure you don't want jackstands up front?

 

I've gotten a TON of fallout over that. I used them shortly while I had the time to tear it apart, take photos, and get the parts out. My other stands were under another axle in the basement. They've been replaced with my other stands.

Thanks to all for the input, though. I know I'm in South Carolina but give me some credit.

 

It is hard to tell people how long it takes to do these projects. I spent many hours doing mine. I made a mistake by putting the drivers side together and not changing the motor mount. I changed it on the passengers side before assembly alot easier.

 

Holy crap that's a clean front end. Is that POR-15'd or just spray painted/undercoated? That REALLY looks nice.

 

It was all sand blasted and painted with gloss black enamel. I changed everything but the control arm and spindle. I hope never to see rain again. This is my toy not everyday car. I will drive it when ever I can.

 

hey ebmiller88 thanks for posting that. I think that it will be very helpful when i do mine soon. Thanks again. Richard

89blackbird that is nice but i would be more afraid of rocks chipping that nice *** paint more than the rain. Just my thought still sweet.

 

Your right it will get some chips in it. I will touch it up from time to time. It's a street car not show car. I see rain as rust. I have the whole bottom of the car painted. I will post more photos someday after the engine is in. Love my GTA

 

After just completeing this same undertaking, do yourself a favor and replace your engine mounts while you have the A-arms out.

And your right, it really isn't toooo terribly difficult. You'll be so much happier with the car when your done, too.

 

Hmmmm....engine mounts. I never thought about those damn things.

89droptop: Thank you very much.

I just got my Moog tie rods and Hotchkis tie rod sleeves in today, now all I need to start putting it back together is my KYBs and throw a coat of POR 15 on everything. Hopefully get to it next week...refueling reactors takes a lot of my free time.

 

Ok guys, I just put some new pics up on the site. Not all of them have complete descriptions but I think you'll get the idea. I'm still waiting on the ES coil spring isolators and now, thanks to Chris at Nashville Speed (www.nashvillepseed.com), I'm waiting on new BMR tubular LCAs and a panhard rod. It's all looking good and I can't wait to get it all together, hopefully in time for the Camaro Nationals in Mooresville, NC August 1-4.

Check it out!!


http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/taramille...tos.yahoo.com/

Ed

 

How bad is it to leave your car up on blocks like that for a few weeks? Im thinking of doing that so I can re do all my suspention also. I will have jack stands too, but i was wondering if it was bad on the frame or anything.

 

using cinder blocks is bad for your health. Why take a risk with you or your car. Better off playing it safe and getting another set of stands

 

From a previous post from me:

"I've gotten a TON of fallout over that. I used them shortly while I had the time to tear it apart, take photos, and get the parts out. My other stands were under another axle in the basement. They've been replaced with my other stands.

Thanks to all for the input, though. I know I'm in South Carolina but give me some credit. "

I had to use them at the moment, they have been replaced with jackstands. I got a set of really nice high-lift ones fron Northern Tool in Rock Hill, SC. They ran me less than $20.

So I've gotten about 6 comments on the blocks, practically none on the rebuild...

 

I am soooo glad you put this together. Betwen my Haynes manual and the magazine articles I'd read about this, I figured I was going to have to go in basically blind when it comes time to do this job. In fact, I like what you've done so much, that I copied it all into a word document so I can easily access it at any time You've given me some confidence that this isn't really that hard a job to do.

 

Can someone that has done it with the front suspension rebuild add a few words of instruction for the motor mount replacement. I know I will look in the engine section or try a search, but since you were there with the front end rebuild, I thought it could go well here without much more work. Great job on the suspension rebuild. I am adding the same parts and work...already followed your work and completed the back end...but I am not painting may parts. Thanks again and great job!!!!!

 

while you have the a-arms out, there are three bolts that are removed from underneath within the K member for each engine mount. The metal shell attached to the block stays, you remove the one bolt holding them together, the three holding the mount to the K member, raise the engine enough to slide out the old mount, slide in the new and bolt it down. (note: when raising the engine, make sure you don't hit anything. You may need to loosen the exhaust connection at the Y pipe)

it's well worth doing now, instead of trying it with a-arms in.

 

Sorry 'bout that. I didn't get any pics of that. PF pretty much had it, although the 2 halves of my mounts weren't bolted together. Mine had 2 rivets, one on top and one on the bottom, holding the parts together.

I lifted the engine just a hair with a wooden 4x4 right under the crank pulley enough to get the long center bolt out, removed the 3 mount to K member bolts, then lifted the engine SLOWLY until I could pull the mount out. Drill out the rivets with a 3/8" bit, clean up the mount, grease up the inside parts of both halves, insert new bushing, and put it back together. The ES mounts I used came with good, clear instructions for the job. They give you 2 big zip ties to hold the 2 halves together while you get the mounts back in and the nuts and bolts started. I did not use them. Get the motor mount to K member bolts tight, lower the engine back down and get the long center bolt back in, tightened up, and repeat for the other side. Took me about 20 minutes out and in , each side.

Oh yeah, gotta get the mounts in right. Pay close attention to how they sit in the shells, they MUST go back in correctly, only 1 way.

HTH..


Oh yeah, back to topic, I got the rearend installed yesterday. Took me about 4-5 hours, taking pics and all. I'll update the site tonight hopefully. Looks great and went very smooth.


Ed

 

Thanks EBMiller88 and PF Flyer. I am more confident now to go ahead and change the motor mounts. EBMiller88 did you need to disconnect anything before you raised the engine?

 

No I didn't. As I said, I went SLOWLY and listened for anything that didn't sound right, and checked the engine compartment frequently. I had no problems, a block under the crank and one side at a time.

Ed