pinoyremix

oh yah...glazed...i like the thread and all the new suspension parts..i can tell you i bought my rb springs off of the forum also (rotaryhaven)..and i can tell you they ride perfect..just don't forget to make sure you align the springs in the back right...i put mine in and they were alinged on the bottom but i never pulled the rubber boot off the bump stop...so i gotta eventually go back in and make sure the top is fitting right..but the blues and rb springs are great..

pinoyremix

pics are in another thread here in the 1st gen section..

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

Well guys, I finally managed to get the daggone' lock nut off of the strut rods. I resorted to borrowing a 1/2" drive impact gun from one of my buddies at work. It zipped them right off of there, so I'm on my way again!

A shot of the stock front springs FINALLY off of the strut tubes. I put the RB springs next to them for a nice comparison.



The pieces after breaking the first strut down. This is just in case any of you that haven't done this before, want to see what is actually inside one of them.



Here are the new grease seals for the wheel bearings. I figured that I would go ahead and replace the seals since I was repacking the bearings.



This is the battle scene of my first attempt to get the gland nut off the top of the strut tube. After some penetrating oil, the pipe wrench came through for me. I was afraid that I was going to break something at first. All's well that ends well.



Here are the guts of the first strut tube after I got it apart. From what I can tell they came from the factory with antifreeze inside them? I plan on using some nice 10w30 or probably some gear oil. That should help keep the new Tokico HPs nice and cool.

Is there anything that I am supposed to save off of these old inserts to re-use? I have seen some mention made of rubber o-rings? I didn't see any when I took these inserts out. My new Tokicos came with a new gland nut and two big washers. Is that all I need for the new inserts?



Here are the strut tubes after I wirebrushed them, and wiped them down. Then I shot them with some Duplicolor engine paint, Ford Blue. It matches the Tokicos VERY well, and incidentally is a near perfect match for the factory 12A air cleaner.

After the paint has had a chance to cure I'm going to put the new inserts in and put the RB springs on.



That's it for now!

Jamie

twinkletoes

iTrader: (17)

looks awesome man, that suspension will be so nice once done... steering too.

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

Thanks! This is my first round of suspension mods to any FB. I'm really looking forward to driving it for the first time. I've done all kinds of other bolt ons before, but I really think that this is going to make the 83 GS feel like a different animal.

purple82

There was no difference in stopping distance between the rear drums and rear disks when they were compared back in the day. 70-80% of braking force comes from the front tires. The benefits to rear disks on these cars were (1) fade resistance (heat dissipation) (2) aftermarket pad availability and (3) weight. If you're driving this car on the road, you'll never notice a difference and I wouldn't bother with just a switch in brakes.

Now the LSD really does make a big difference in the car's handling, so if you're going to swap out the entire rear end, that's worth the effort.

FYI - Swap out the proportioning valve when adding rear disks - drums take a lot more fluid pressure to apply a set amount of force on the axle, so there is too much brake force on the rear end if the brakes are switched but the valve isn't. It leads to the rears locking up too early and is pretty dangerous.

bugman1973

were did you find the whole energy suspensions polyurethane kit

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

I got mine from energysuspensionparts.com

bugman1973

thats not bad at all i even like the price did you order them in black or red?

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

I got mine in black since they are graphite impregnated, unlike the red. It should help with some of the squeaks and creaks. The red ones look cooler, but I don't want my car to be groaning and croaking all the time.

bugman1973

makes since i guess never thought about it like that. i might go red with mine im not sure yet. thats the best altogether kit I've found. black dragon doesnt even have a full kit for out cars

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

Respeed also offers a full kit if you would feel more comfortable purchasing from them. Billy's customer support is unmatched....

http://www.mrcmfg.com/respeed/catalo...503c63d80341fa

bugman1973

after i get back from boot camp and A school im going to be doing a lot of work on my car. suspension and brakes are first im going to change out the hubs so i can do a 5X114.3 bolt pattern. big brakes and great stronger axles diff

bugman1973

that might work too

purple82

You can also get bushings from Mazdatrix

http://mazdatrix.com/h6_79-85.htm

bugman1973

bad thing about mazdatrix is that you have to buy individual kits not one big kit for the entire car

Crit

iTrader: (6)

Hey man, be sure to fill your strut housings with oil once your front struts are in. It's not strictly necessary, but a little bit of oil will cut down on the rattling (basically puts it into hydraulic lock), increase heat transfer from the strut insert, and will make it easier to install your next set. Looks good, though.

glewsRx

iTrader: (1)

I've heard that poly bushings are not the way to go with these cars.
http://www.pbandjracing.com/rear_suspension.html
thats just what carl says though, I mean, its not like anybody respects his opinion.
Seriously though, this is next on the list for me too ham, and its good to see somebody doing it thoroughly so I know what to expect.

rearviewmirror

Thanks for the link! Good stuff on that site.

The suspension work looks good, I can't wait to see what the finished the product is. I really need to tackle this project next. I'm thinking of removing the entire rear axle when I do the the suspension and bushings to re-paint that rear end, seems like too much of a bear to do it while it is attached to the car.

Edit... I forgot to comment on the axle swap. I think the most benefit of swapping the rear axle is the addition of the LSD, moreso than the rear disc brakes. I guess that's just a positive benefit.

justint5387

iTrader: (1)

The poly bushing is not recommended on the rear watt link.

Re-Speed.com

iTrader: (3)

This is how we recommend the use of the bushings.

Use the half the rear control arm kit by replacing both ends of the lower arms only. Leave the stock upper arms.
Use half the Watts kit by replacing the bushings at the ends that meet the chassis and leave stock bushings in ends that meet the rear end bracket.

This allows the lower arms to locate the axle and the upper arms to "give" when the suspension binds against the watts bracket.


-billy

warwickben

iTrader: (1)

thats good info Billy, and thanks for taking the time to answer my question's (warwickben@mac.com) i hope the coil over kit/ springs i ordered from you on the 14 will show up this week i got the whole week off my b day today 1-21.
does any one have any hting to say about the kyb gr-2 shocks and struts for a sa. i got all 4 for 130$

iam buying a street port motor in a week or 2, then after that iam gonna buy the rear coil over kit and cross member, bushing kit, sway bars strut bars. iam gonna wind up buying every thing i can from respeed.




didnt mean to high jack you thread but i did sorry. can any one post a pic of the best way to jack the car up so i can remove the cross member ect.

Kentetsu

To remove the old bushings from the rear control arms, I tossed them into a bon fire. 2 or 3 minutes later they just popped out. This was after attempting to burn them out with a torch for over an hour. Man in Black helped me out by suggesting the bon fire, otherwise I'd probably still be working on it.

I installed poly bushings in all of the rear control arms, against common advice, but had no issues at all with it.

Installing a LSD rear end is well worth the effort. When I did my swap (GSL rear end into my GS), I did not swap the proportioning valve or master cylinder. I don't believe that this is necessary. On my car, all four wheels lock up at the same time, which is something they never did when I had drums on the back end. Brakes are outstanding now.

Good luck with your build Hammy!

glewsRx

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for setting me straight

Kentetsu

As far as using all of the bushings in the rear control arms goes, I have to give credit to ManinBlack. I was fully prepared to use only half the kit, simply because that's what everyone says you should do. But MIB made me rethink the situation and decide if I wanted to follow along with what the infamous "they" said I should do, or try it out for myself. He didn't quite "talk me into it", but he did make a splendid argument for me to consider. I have had no reason to regret my choice of using the poly bushings in all of the control arms. The handling of the car has been stable and very predictable, and I've had no issues with snap oversteer like I had prior to the rear end/bushings swap...

Another thing to consider though, is what else had been done to the car by this point. The claim that you should only use half of the kit on the LCAs may be entirely valid for a stock or semi-stock car. But it is my belief that the addition of lowering springs (which are stiffer than stock) and aftermarket shocks (Illuminas in my case) play a large part in all of this. I think that by stiffening the rear of the car, you are reducing the amount of travel in the rear suspension. And since the rear end only binds once you have reached a certain point of compression in the rear suspension, you have reduced the chances that you will ever reach the point of binding. But this is just my opinion and my observations. I am not intending to go directly against the long standing opinion that only half the kit should be used, but rather suggesting that each application might have to be looked at on an individual basis.

I will note though, the bushings in the Watt's linkage remained untouched. Not sure what kind of issue that could cause if they had been replaced as well. This was not an issue for me, as I am upgrading to a 3rd link/panhard bar setup...