From left to right, OEM rubber bushings, new pillow-ball bushings, and hacked up Nylon bushings.

 

Here's the progress to date. The rear upper and lower control arms and trailing arms are "bare", ready to be sent for polishing. I redid the front upper control arms myself, but the front lower arms got a little abuse during test fitting for the new engine cradle, so I'm going to have them touched up and repolished with the rest of the pieces while I'm at it.

After they return, I'll install all the remaining pillow-ball bushings, and that'll be one more thing off my list.

 

One quick note... I wasn't able to attach most of the pictures in this thread because of forum lag, even though I waited to try late at night when load should have been at its lowest. I can't guarantee that the server hosting the pictures which were not attached will be up indefinitely, so be sure to copy any pictures that are of benefit to you to your local drive. That way, you'll have them regardless.

The reason I mention this is because I've had two servers shot out from under me in the past (both beyond my control), so the first few pages of my conversion thread in the 3rd gen. section has a lot of red Xs instead of cool pictures. You've been warned.

 

As I mentioned in my thread in the 3rd gen. forum, I got same-day turnaround on polishing my suspension components and sill plates, and paid only $300 for everything. If anyone is interested, the work was done by Eric Hayes, who I highly recommend. He's a really nice guy and a rotary enthusiast who doesn't mind a well-executed V8 conversion in an RX-7.

Here's Eric's contact information:

Eric J. Hayes
Fine Metal Polishing
Kirkland, WA
(425) 827-4898

And here's the end result...



So tonight at about 7:00 PM, my rear suspension looked like this...



and by about 11:30, it looked like this...



BTW, Max Cooper stated in his write-up on installing pillow bushings in the rear suspension that the new OEM bushings are pre-lubed (true) and that adding additional grease is optional. However, my shop manual specifically lists adding more grease, so I used high quality marine-grade lithium grease to "top off" both sides of each pillow bushing before installing the dust caps.

 

BTW, here's a note on installing new pillow bushing dust caps.

The dust caps are pretty much air-tight when new, so although they will easily snap into place (assuming the retention ring is clean), the center opening will stay near the top of the bolt opening unless you "burp" them. A scratch awl or pick is perfect for this. Very gently slide it between the center post of the bushing and the dust cap and then use it to hold the center opening of the dust cap away from the center post of the bushing. While doing this, push the rest of the cap down and the trapped air will escape through the opening. A small amount of grease may come up out of the opening during the process, but as soon as you slide the pick back out, just wipe it off and you're done.

After installing both dust caps on each bushing, I then slid a long Phillips screwdriver (for leverage) that was roughly the diameter of the bolt hole through the bushing and pushed the bushing around through its full range of motion several times to make sure that the dust caps were working properly and to work the grease around a little.

 

Clear writing, good pictures, detailed information, highly educational. A stunning, inspirational read. I have not touched my 3rd Gen yet, but plan on reading every Jimlab thread before I do. Thanks.

Nat

 

agreed....why isn't this a sticky or in a "permanent" archive section?

 

oops....sorry, wasn't looking in the right place

 

WOW, dont waste the money on the aftermarket toe links and trailing arms then, correct.
kris

 

Aftermarket toe links are going to be more rigid than the stock links, and since pillow bushings for the stock links aren't readily available, aftermarket links may be the next best option. Just be sure you get dust seals to help increase the life expectancy of the rod ends.

Aftermarket trailing arms, on the other hand, are only necessary if you need increased clearance for wider (over 9.5-10.0") wheels and tires. The stock trailing arms with stiffer bushings are all that's required otherwise.

 

No disrespect to you since you make the bushings, or made whatever the case is but would compaines like prothane or energy suspension have bushings of similar sizes?
kris

 

No, which is precisely why I make bushings.

 

Thought so, thanks jim.
kris

 

Jim, will this press http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44811 do the job?

 

No. Too small in size to allow you to properly jig everything up even though the ram is probably powerful enough. I use the $100 12 ton press from Harbor Freight and have had no problems with doing trailing arms, front upper a-arms and diff bushings.

I had bought a used diff mount so I could mount my new bushings and then swap the mounts at my leisure. The used one was slightly corroded and the old bushings put up a big fight in being removed. They both let go with a very loud "bang!" and then still took some force to actually push out. The new ones slipped in with no problem. I haven't pressed anything with mine that took near the force as the removal of my old diff bushings did. I in fact bent the top bolts that the head presses against and so replaced them with grade 8 hardware. Nothing else I have done has required even half the force those did. I think mine were seriously corroded and stuck. If the 12 ton I have did those I'm sure it will handle anything else on the car.

PS- Don't know if this is true for everyone or not but I had to push my diff bushings from the inside to the outside to remove them. Wouldn't budge from the other direction even though the bore appears straight and there is no lip on the bushings.

 

This is the press jimlab used; the 20 ton from Harbor Freight:


My 12 ton press looks exactly like it except the bottle jack is only rated for 12 tons and the support the arbor plates rest on is not quite as beefy. It's also about half the cost of the 20 ton. There is an extra tab welded onto the 20 ton midway down the uprights to keep them from spreading; mine doesn't have that. Best I can tell the "business end" which does all the work is the same on both except the frame of the 20 ton is slightly larger so you could fit larger parts in. I don't think any of the bits I use mine for will pose a problem though.

I bought the 12 ton because I figured I could always add a bigger jack or a heavier arbor support if I needed to.

 

Both of the hydraulic presses are still available from Harbor Freight, although you won't find them by searching unless you have the part numbers.

The 12-ton press is part #1667 - now only $99 and free shipping
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=1667

The 20-ton press is part #37999 - $199 and free shipping
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=37999

 

Ok now the million dollar question is:

DO THEY SQUEEK??? AND NEED FREQUENT LUBRICATION (ONCE A MONTH OR TWO)???

 

Zerk fittings should be installed for lubricating the bushings once they're on the car, and if they're lubricated every time you change your oil, they should be noise free.

 

jimlab, I must give you credit: even though I am not an FD owner, this writeup is one of-if not the-best I have ever read. Pictures and writing are perfectly detailed and clearly descriptive. Way to go, just sorry it cost you so much to be able to do it

 

Compared to the cost of having a machine shop do all of the work this is the cheap way! The press will more than pay for itself just doing one entire set of bushings.

 

If you consider producing these at some point in the future, some of us are willing to pay 3x the cost of the Nylon replacements.

BTW, I've discovered some interesting info re: my previous Unobtanium bushing "observations".

Regards,

Gene

 

Aren't these made by Knightsports and RE Amemiya as well?

 

And then you can crush watermelons, and canned hams, and...

 

BicuspiD seems to have tracked down the actual manufacturer, although I was dealing directly with FEED. It's possible that they provide them to multiple vendors. At any rate, if you're interested, contact BicuspiD.