I got the friggin' control arm out and off!!! Got home and ground the snot out of the threaded end of the bolt in the "rear leg" of the control arm, and was finally able to hinge the control arm down to the side and out of the crossmember.

Knocked the bushings out, destroyed the shells. Took step-by-step pictures of this, AND shot two quick videos detailing how the power drill walked the bushings out.

Pressed out the ball joint; it came right out again. The screw got a little tough, then "pop" it was out. The balljoints are totally shot; there's a metal washer that popped out. I also took a picture of the wear indicator; I didn't know what it looked like until I saw it.

Hit the control arm with brake cleaner and a rag, then with a wire brush (hand-held wooden type, not on a power drill). Then I hit both of the control arms with "Metal Ready"- the 2nd step of the POR-15 system. I skipped the "Marine Clean"- the 1st step- because (A) I want this project done, (B) nobody should be looking that closely at my control arms anyway, and (C) the brake cleaner took 99% of the grease off. You have to rinse the metal ready (zinc wash) off, so right now, I've got the second control arm propped up in front of a space heater. (Heated the first one up so it was hot to the touch.) The parts have to be 100% dry for the por-15.

While that first LCA heated up, I started disassembling the new energy suspension bushings. I'll come back tonight for another update; I had to upload all the pics/videos out of my digital camera so I can take pics of how to disassemble these ES bushings.

Man, I am so frickin' thrilled it's not even funny!!!

 

Kool, you should post pics wen your done oh wait I'm talking to Tomp!

 

Glad to hear you're enjoying yourself!
You'll enjoy the turns shortly.

 

LOL, F585! I might do a webpage on this since they're all digital shots, no "where the hell did I put those pictures" or "fight the scanner" problems! It'd probably be one of those funny looking pages like my 2.8/2.8 swap page or burnt-cap-rotor page. Actually I took pics of the strut towers so you'll see my 250,000 mile engine!

Karl, thanks! After I threw this message up, I POR-15'd the control arms (final step of por15 system), but just the TOPS. I'll deal with the bottoms some other time, since I can always get to 'em. Those spring pockets were full of rust.. that's some thick steel; all that rust and it barely made a dent in the thickness.

But, get this crap- I got a wrong part for the control arm bushings!!! Energy suspension bagged a wrong one for me! In the bag there were four bushings, two sizes- a longer thinner size (for the front leg), and a shorter fatter size (for the rear leg). They don't come lubed up with the grease; they want you to take them apart, lube them up, and put them back together. Some guys have installed them as-is but I don't want squeaks!!

So the procedure goes like this... open vise jaw to a gap of about 3/4 inch, stand bushing on top of vise, bolt hole facing down. Insert a round center punch into the top of the inner sleeve, and smack repeatedly with a hammer until the sleeve falls out the bottom. Then the sleeve gets stuck to the punch, a few smacks with the hammer and they separate.

Smaller bushing- open vise to a gap wide enough to catch the "flattened" end of the bushing's outer shell. Make sure you get the vise jaw gap exact so the jaws touch the metal of the outer sleeve, and aren't pressing against any polyurethane. Get a short length of pipe the size of the polyurethane bushing. Smack the hell outta the pipe until the bushing pokes halfway out the shell, pointing downward. Take the bushing/shell out of the vise and give a pull on the bushing, it pulls out.

Larger bushing- similar to above, but (a) used a hammer directly on the polyurethane and (b) it popped out much easier. I recommend starting on the larger bushing to get a "feel" for what you've gotta do.

Did both small bushings. Did one large bushing. Went to do the other one, and the punch fell thru the sleeve! Huh? Checked the large bushing I'd already taken apart- the outer dimensions of the sleeves were the same BUT the inner dimension was different!! This bushing's sleeve's inside diameter is too big!! The bolt doesn't fit snugly!! Can we say "screwed up alignment/handling due to bushing rattling around on bolt"?? Even worse; on the poly bushing itself is a part number. The two smaller bushings (front leg) had the same number. The larger bushings had different numbers.

Panic; what do I do; I need a bushing now... can't get it from Summit in time, etc etc. As I got my coffee I realized hey, wait, lets go look at the REAR lower control arm bushing set! Guess what; sleeves are the SAME. So here's the plan: Remove one sleeve from REAR lca set. Remove the oversized sleeve from the wrong part# bushing. Install the good sleeve into the "wrong" bushing. Install the wrong sleeve into the good REAR lca bushing. Send the rear lca set back to Summit.

I'm working 'til 12 noon and I'm outta here.. can't wait can't wait can't wait

 

Hey Tom.. I tried PM'ing ya but yer mailbox is full... I was wondering if you had those pics you were talking about in this post...

Maybe you (or I guess anyone that has changed all of there bushings) had any tips or tricks on how to make this upgrade go smoother.....

I am about to start this mod and any help or pointers would be appreciated!!


PS: Clean out yer PM Mailbox!! LOL

 

Hey! I needed this thread brought back!

TomP, what was the p/n and price of the front strut mounts? How did yours look when you pulled them? I can order them through Autozone, but $84 a pop is kinda steep.

 

Are used ones in your price range?
Today I visited a place right by me called House of Camaros & I saw one front strut mount on a table today.
I picked up a used front carpet from the guy for $30.
Call him on Weds, it'll be raining then! Price will be lower! Just like swap meets!