Installing Body Bushings

87gninpa

Active Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2003
just wondering, has anyone done this themsleves to their car? if so, waht is needed and how hard is it? if its not something i could do at home, how much should i expect to be charged by a shop to get it done?
 
If you want to do it yourself, the first thing to do is check to see if all the bolts will come out without breaking. If you can loosen all the body bolts by yourself without breaking them, you are already way ahead of the game. If one feels like it is stuck - stop right there. Soak it with some rust penetrant (gotta get it from the top-you may have to drill a small hole right over it in the trunk floor, or the rocker panel, or wherever it is) and let it soak for a day or two. You may get lucky and get it out.

After that, the bumpers have to come off. Both of them. Then it's just a matter of lifting the body up one side at a time with a good jack and some 2x4's.

The aftermarket polyurethane body mounts are great.

A body shop will charge by the hour to do this job. If it is a pain in the arse due to rusty bolts, it could get expensive.
 
How exactly do you lift the body from the frame? Where do you put the jack? On the floorborads?
 
i just did theese about a month ago, i used a breaker bar on the bolts, and a floorjack with a 2x4. i jacked on the rocker panel seam just before the frame. I installed poly bushing kit from summit. cost like 120 or so. the bumpers are a must unless you want to replace the filler panels. there are 8 nuts on each to remove them, and there fairly heavy . if you have any questions feel free to email me. GNX423@hotmail.com

good luck,
Mike
 
Do not put the jack directly against the body or the floor boards, it will bend and dent everything it touches. Use a long peice of 2x4 wood between the jack and the body and lift it only on the seams / lips on the bottoms of the rocker panels. The lip will dig into the wood a little bit a distribute the load.
 
I need to do my bushings too. Not looking foward to that project. Might have a shop do it for me. Just wondering how many hours it will take them:( This is going to hurt the pocket..
 
I did mine. Followed the instructions available on this site by Steve Ochs and Cal Hartline. And "busing replacement procedure" by Joe Midolo. Search for "replacing body mounts," and "bushing replacemet procedure." Had no problems. My 14 year old son was a help. Took a day, but we didn't push ourselves... Saved money buying the parts from my local GM dealer. Be sure you get the "missing" GNX bushings too! Be sure you read the post from Turbo Dave on May 24th 2002!


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86 T Type, Dark Metalic Blue, Radio Delete, All options except cruise control
Basic mods 39,000 miles Second Owner -
Love my "Last Muscle Car of the century"
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