who has rebuilt their front end?

[87GNcospg]

ive ordered PST's polygraphite super front end rebuild kit.
here are some questions for those that have done this themeselves.
should i have a whole weekend ready to get this job done? how long did it take? how many of the bushings will i have to get pressed by someone? i know the control arms will need this.
are there any write ups online for this job?

i figure i should replace wheel bearings at the same time also. there is some movement from the tire that would point to busted wheel bearings. are these difficult to replace?

sorry for all the questions. any help will be appreciated.

 

[Renthorin]

I did this in my 84 Cutlass. I took the A arms to the GM dealership to have the bushing pressed in. Cost me about 250 bucks. They said they would never had done it if they had known what a PITA is was. Not sure why aftermarkets would be more difficult than stock but that is what they told me.

The car road like a Vette when I was all done.

Wheel bearings are easy to do but messy

 

[ITSNOTAGN]

i did mine by myself about a month ago. you definately need the whole weekend for it. i have a hydraulic press and all kinds of tubing to use for spacers and stuff, and it took me a full day per side. pressing in/out the bushings is no joke and takes some skill to get them in right. i got mine out with just a hammer and a chisel/punch pretty easy though. i say if you dont have a press, you need to take everything apart, and take it to a shop that can do it. a good welding/machine shop shouldnt have a problem with it. also, wheelbearings are really easy, just make shure you get enough grease in there and tighten correctly.

 

[87GNcospg]

thanks for all the help

$250 just to press in the A arm bushings?!

 

[Renthorin]

Dealership

I was young and desperate........

 

[87GNcospg]

do i need to rent a spring compressor for this?

 

[ITSNOTAGN]

yes

 

[Red Regal T]

Originally posted by 87GNcospg
do i need to rent a spring compressor for this?

I assume you'll be taking the bottom control arm off for the installation of new bushings. You don't need a spring compressor. Upon re-installation, you bolt up the ball joint stud to the spindle, place the spring in place, and use a floor jack to jack the lower A-arm in place. Then re-insert the A-arm bolts. Due to the untrustwortyness of spring compressors, this way is much safer than the other way which requires the use of a spring compressor.

 

[tim87tr]

Originally posted by 87GNcospg
do i need to rent a spring compressor for this?

Keep searching in suspension forum and they list a method to place a jack under the lower arm when you pop the ball joint, instead of a spring compressor. The compressor was the worst part of the job for me, and they are difficult and dangerous to use. Be sure to strap or chain the spring to the frame when removing so it doesn't get loose.

If you paint the arms, get them sandblasted, clean them with brake cleaner, then paint with something good like POR 15 and then use a good top coat.

Another thing I would do different is to not reuse the stock rotors because they are warped. Just buy new ones or if you want to splurge get the Powerslots. The Morse Ceramic pads from Autozone have good stopping power and hardly any dust.

Do a search on my screen name in suspension forum for some more info. Also try the following links for suspension writeups

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/suspension/suspensionpage.html
http://www.montecarloss.com/technical.html

 

[87GNcospg]

Originally posted by tim87tr
Keep searching in suspension forum and they list a method to place a jack under the lower arm when you pop the ball joint, instead of a spring compressor. The compressor was the worst part of the job for me, and they are difficult and dangerous to use. Be sure to strap or chain the spring to the frame when removing so it doesn't get loose.

If you paint the arms, get them sandblasted, clean them with brake cleaner, then paint with something good like POR 15 and then use a good top coat.

Another thing I would do different is to not reuse the stock rotors because they are warped. Just buy new ones or if you want to splurge get the Powerslots. The Morse Ceramic pads from Autozone have good stopping power and hardly any dust.

Do a search on my screen name in suspension forum for some more info. Also try the following links for suspension writeups

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/suspension/suspensionpage.html
http://www.montecarloss.com/technical.html

most helpful reply i have ever received on this board.
thanks for the info. i was really hoping to avoid using a spring compressor. i never trusted them. i would like to see how far i can get a spring to shoot though, hmmmmm.
i will probably paint most of the parts i remove. a friend picked up a good snadblaster from harbor freight.

 

[tim87tr]

Originally posted by 87GNcospg
most helpful reply i have ever received on this board.
thanks for the info. i was really hoping to avoid using a spring compressor. i never trusted them. i would like to see how far i can get a spring to shoot though, hmmmmm.
i will probably paint most of the parts i remove. a friend picked up a good snadblaster from harbor freight.

Just email if you have a question as I check my email every day. One other thing was that I used foam brushes to paint on the black POR 15 and the paint smooths itself out when drying. The POR 15 is UV sensitive and that's why I recommend one of their top coats, which I didn't do, but would the second time. You can blast the arms, spindles, & backing plates. I did not blast the front sway bar and painted over it with no problem. I took my time over several weekends to complete the project, and that really helps.

I used a small round end punch to remove the races...they have a small flat area to put the end of the punch on. You can put the new ones in with a 2 lb hammer and a bigger correct size socket. You should be able to do most everything except press the new bushings in, unless you have access to a press.

 

[87GNcospg]

well i guess i am not getting the front end kit from power performance motorsports. i got an email saying that they "no longer offer PST products. We are in the middle of a website transition."
now thats some bull****.

 

[Daledammit]

I just had new upper/ lower control arm bushings, ball joints and shocks put in mine and realigned for about $600 bucks. Probably could have done it cheaper myself after I bought the correct tools(to be never used again) used polyurethane bushings, amazing difference in the handling, car has 90k on it. I was just afraid it might get over my head or patience level. I would recomend the het shield that kirbans sell to shield the downpipe from the upper control arm bushing. That one was in worse shape than any of the others by far.

 

[87GNcospg]

Originally posted by Daledammit
I just had new upper/ lower control arm bushings, ball joints and shocks put in mine and realigned for about $600 bucks. Probably could have done it cheaper myself after I bought the correct tools(to be never used again) used polyurethane bushings, amazing difference in the handling, car has 90k on it. I was just afraid it might get over my head or patience level. I would recomend the het shield that kirbans sell to shield the downpipe from the upper control arm bushing. That one was in worse shape than any of the others by far.

i dont think i can even see the bushings in the a arm next to the DP. haha. at least half of it is gone.

 

[85GNMIKE]

Just go to autozone in rent all the tool you need to do the job.

 

[GNRick]

I did this in my 84 Cutlass. I took the A arms to the GM dealership to have the bushing pressed in. Cost me about 250 bucks. They said they would never had done it if they had known what a PITA is was. Not sure why aftermarkets would be more difficult than stock but that is what they told me.

The car road like a Vette when I was all done.

Wheel bearings are easy to do but messy

Kind of an old thread....why do you need a press to press in the bushings? I am in the process of rebuilding my front end. Seems like upper bushings can either be pounded in with a big (and wide) hammer or can't you just tighten the bolts that hold them until they are pulled in? As for lower bushings, I can push them in with my fingers. What am I missing here?

 

[charlief1]

Kind of an old thread....why do you need a press to press in the bushings? I am in the process of rebuilding my front end. Seems like upper bushings can either be pounded in with a big (and wide) hammer or can't you just tighten the bolts that hold them until they are pulled in? As for lower bushings, I can push them in with my fingers. What am I missing here?

If you can push the bushings in to the point that they bottom out then the control arm is shot. You can use the hammer to start the bushings for the top but the shaft has to be in there some place so make sure to use a socket over it to keep from damaging the shaft. Don't tighten up the nuts until you get the arms on the car and it's sitting on all 4 wheels or you'll stress the bushings and they can tear or eat the metal out. I do this for a living and have special tools so I don't damage the control arms. It's really easy if you don't know what you're doing so take your time. PM me if you run into problems.

 

[turbofish38]

why do you need a press to press in the bushings? Seems like upper bushings can either be pounded in with a big (and wide) hammer

Because that aint the way the factory did it. Use a big hammer and you'll only ruin what you are pounding on.

Do yourself a favor and buy an arbor press from Horrible Freight. I've got a 9 or something ton arbor press that I paid about $75.00 for new. You can make your own adapters from electrical conduit and plumbing pipe from Homeless Depot. Best time saver I ever bought.

The last time I did bushings and ball joints I think I had an Saturday afternoon tied up as far as time goes. And that included the R&R on the car.

One of my pet peeves. Watching dumbazzes(not anybody here,I hope) banging away at rusty parts in the boneyard. Sometimes I just want to ask them if they plan on using that hammer to put the part back on.

 

[GNRick]

If you can push the bushings in to the point that they bottom out then the control arm is shot. You can use the hammer to start the bushings for the top but the shaft has to be in there some place so make sure to use a socket over it to keep from damaging the shaft. Don't tighten up the nuts until you get the arms on the car and it's sitting on all 4 wheels or you'll stress the bushings and they can tear or eat the metal out. I do this for a living and have special tools so I don't damage the control arms. It's really easy if you don't know what you're doing so take your time. PM me if you run into problems.

Yes I intended to use a socket when I beat on the uppers, to keep from damaging the shaft. Or I'll see if tightening the bolts on the shaft can pull the bushings in. I looked at the bottoms again and I was able to push the bushings about 80% in with my fingers. So I guess I would just have to pound a little bit to get them in the rest of the way

Because that aint the way the factory did it. Use a big hammer and you'll only ruin what you are pounding on.

Do yourself a favor and buy an arbor press from Horrible Freight. I've got a 9 or something ton arbor press that I paid about $75.00 for new. You can make your own adapters from electrical conduit and plumbing pipe from Homeless Depot. Best time saver I ever bought.

The last time I did bushings and ball joints I think I had an Saturday afternoon tied up as far as time goes. And that included the R&R on the car.

One of my pet peeves. Watching dumbazzes(not anybody here,I hope) banging away at rusty parts in the boneyard. Sometimes I just want to ask them if they plan on using that hammer to put the part back on.

I'll look into that press. We have an Harbor Freight about 5 miles from my house. Funny you ask about using the hammer to install the part....that is exactly what I might do! FWIW, dealer said to R&R control arm bushings would cost $270 total for labor. I guess at $70/hour it is about a 4 hour job if you know what you are doing. It's taking me 2 weeks working nights. But I work slow and I don't have a press. My mechanic just removed and installed a starter for me on my other TR. Only took him 35 minutes. New 1996 LT4 vette starter works real good!

 

[just plain john]

I can't remember which one it was, but it was either O'reilly, Autozone or Advanced Auto parts. They loaned me a spring compressor for free (after a refundable deposit) that worked flawlessly. I didn't even by the parts there. While it was apart I did the control arms, springs and swaybar in powder and you can't scratch it now. I didn't use poly up front though, I used those Del A Lum bushings. I did use poly in the rear.