edinlexusV8 Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 (edited) Hello Folks, I have been very busy working on a few bits on my soarer. The car has been on the ramp for the last 7 days and following are the details of all the work I have been doing. 1) Replace front lower control arm bushes 2) Replace front upper control arm bushes 3) Replace steering rack bushes 4) Scrub off all the rust on the control arms and apply black hammerite to make the parts last long 5) Replace diff centre with an LSD from a 1997 supra TT RZ 6) Replace the corroded steel brake pipes with copper nickel pipes Car looks pretty good from outside! Let us check and see whether it is the same underneath! To make you understand the amount of effort that has gone into this week I am posting the pics of the various parts before the start of work last week. Almost all the screw and bolts undeneath the car are ceased. Looking at the state of these control arms I could not go ahead ignore the state of these and just replace the bushes. I had to use a hammer, chisel and a grinding tool to remove all the rust on the surface of these arms. After a few hours of grafting and scrubbing, the arms looks like this, not bad ... but once i put the smooth black hammarite then these should look good as new :dance: Will post more pics of these arms as the work goes on. Next thing is to change the bushes. Got all the following bushes from Neil @ Rush imports AUS. These bushes are very good and would improve the handling of the car. What do you guys think? Am I doing things in the right way? More pics coming your way in the next couple of days! Edited November 14, 2009 by JustGav (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nettielikescars Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Nice looking Soarer, I do miss mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edge Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 Dont miss small things like antiroll bar bushes if they have never been changed as they will make a difference and i imagine they should be cheap and easy to change. Good work though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbloodyturbo Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 I wish I had access to the same facilities as you, my suspension bushes need done and I really would like to tackle them myself instead of giving it to a garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinlexusV8 Posted November 15, 2009 Author Share Posted November 15, 2009 I would say doing bushes is not a job that could be done on a drive way. It needs special tools and is better left to the professionals. Why dont you try my garage 'Car Craft Scotland'? The owner Neil used to be a rally racer himself and know exactly what he is talking about and you will not be disappointed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbloodyturbo Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 I would say doing bushes is not a job that could be done on a drive way. It needs special tools and is better left to the professionals. Why dont you try my garage 'Car Craft Scotland'? The owner Neil used to be a rally racer himself and know exactly what he is talking about and you will not be disappointed! I know they need some special kit, presses and the like. I'm planning on doing them before next summer comes round but I'm unsure as to change the bushes or buy new arms with stock bushes. Where is car craft btw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinlexusV8 Posted November 15, 2009 Author Share Posted November 15, 2009 Buying new arms is very expensive! I thought about all the possible options but the best cost effective way is to change the bushes. Car craft is in loanhead just off the edinburgh bypass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinlexusV8 Posted November 15, 2009 Author Share Posted November 15, 2009 But to be honest any decent garage can change the bushes over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 Lol, some of those before pics reminded me of the Titanic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinlexusV8 Posted November 15, 2009 Author Share Posted November 15, 2009 But it ain't gona sink mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 But it ain't gona sink mate I'm saying it the surface rust makes it look like it's been sitting at the bottom of the ocean for 50 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbloodyturbo Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 Buying new arms is very expensive! I thought about all the possible options but the best cost effective way is to change the bushes. Car craft is in loanhead just off the edinburgh bypass. I had planned on getting the r2 bush kit from mvp but then after searching on here it appears there's no way to replace or refurbish the balljoints unless replacing the entire arm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinlexusV8 Posted November 16, 2009 Author Share Posted November 16, 2009 You only need to change the ball joints if they are worn out or if they have any unusual movement. My mechanic checked my ball joints and said that they are pretty good and no need to change the control arms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miko_supra Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Did you have any bolts seized into the actual bushes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinlexusV8 Posted November 17, 2009 Author Share Posted November 17, 2009 nope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinlexusV8 Posted November 17, 2009 Author Share Posted November 17, 2009 Some final pics of the front control arms restoration folks! The arms and the hub are back in place now. I have also done the steering rack bushes at the same time. Anti roll bar bushes are next and I suppose that is it for the fonrt! Will be working on the rears in a couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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