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LambandAndy Member 
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The attached picture represents about four months of beating, pressing, grinding, cursing, painting, bead blasting, machining, wire brushing, swearing and waiting for the UPS guy to show up, not to mention a sizeable donation to both Delta and the Club Store. Parts replaced/refurbished included front sub-frame (bent), all bushings front and rear, brake calipers and pistons, steering shaft knuckle (made my own bushings out of oil impregnated bronze), ball joints, shocks (KYB), brake lines and hoses, ........... On Greg's scale of 1-4 vino's I'd rate this one at about 16 cases of Old Milwaukee's Best Ice! If anyone else is getting into this maybe I can save you some of the frustrations I went through. I did take a bunch of pictures that might be of use to someone. Andy #15223 Attachment: SANY0381c.jpg (Downloaded 852 times) |
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Art DeKneef Member
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I know exactly what you mean. My front end is about 60% percent done. I'm trying to decide what to do about the rotors, need to get the braided brake lines and I'm using the Koni's that came with the car. I need to clean the rotors and measure to see if they are usable. I've have taken apart the 5-speed rear and am cleaning and blasting pieces for the rebuild. Doing this while I try to find someone to check the body for being within specs and prepping it for primer. I think I have better taste in beer, Sam Adams Light. Art |
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LambandAndy Member
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If I had my "rathers" it'd be Newcastle Brown, but after buying all those parts, I had to economize somewhere :) |
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Brett Gibson JH5 20497 Member
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Ditto, one of the nastiest jobs on the whole dang car, drivers side upper pivot bolt for the suspension was rusted solid, regular beatings / heat / and penetrating oil, for a week and a half before it finally budged. Then of course the "while I'm here" syndrome struck, ended up with, clutch, pressure plate, pilot bearing, exhaust header gasket, engine mounts, poly bushings thru out, brake lines, new coil springs, Koni's, and on and on. Definitely not a job for the faint of heart, but worth every busted knuckle. |
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mnunes22 Member
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Hey Andy, nice pile-O-parts! I'm waiting on one more delivery of bushings before I start my suspension over-haul. Pictures are a great help to me. Could you post the ones you took of your project? My strut-rod and upper a-arm bushings are shot on drivers side and crossmember bushing is shot on passenger side. Car tends to be pretty "squirrely" when driving bumpy roads. I don't know what else I'll find when I take it all apart so any pictures or insights would be much appreciated. As for beer selection, lately I've been rotating between Kona Longboard and Widmer Hefeweizen. Sounds like I need to stock up for project! Thanks, Bill |
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John Kimbrough Member
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Bill, there are a ton of pictures of my front suspension rebuild on my web site. Also step by step instructions. Cheers, John. http://home.comcast.net/~jrkengr2/html/front_supension_rebuild.html |
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LambandAndy Member
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Bill, I wouldn't know where to start to do as good a job as John to post my pictures. Sure wish I had read his article before I tackled mine though. Sill, if there is something in particular you get stuck on, maybe I can help. Just to give you some encouragement, this is what you want to end up with. Good luck, Andy #15223 PS One of those motorcycle/ATV lifts work a treat for getting stuff in and out from under the car. Even better if you can find one that has castors on it. Works for transmissions too. Attachment: SANY0364c.jpg (Downloaded 773 times) |
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John Kimbrough Member
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Andy, your suspension looks fantastic. I did not pull the crossmember and do all the rebuild you did, so your pictures would certainly be additive to mine. Nice job! John. |
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Dan Collier Member 
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Could you send a bunch of pictures to me. I'll post them in the repair area of the http://www.jhppg.com website. Thanks dkcollier@jhppg.com |
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LambandAndy Member
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Sorry guys, Life has been a little hectic lately. Will get to it soon. Andy |
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subwoofer Member
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Does anyone know the Vauxhall part numbers for the suspension parts? I am building a cross reference for parts as I get hold of them, but finding the parts I need would be much easier if I knew the Vauxhall numbers. My front suspension is due for a rebuild, the bushings are not up to scratch, and my left front shock absorber is failing, so I should get started fairly soon. Also, I think I need a new left knuckle and a wheel bearing set, Vauxhall part numbers for those would be great too. -- Joachim |
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subwoofer Member
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Andy: Where did you place the axle stand under the engine when you dropped the front suspension? I need to do the same procedure on my car now, since not only the bushings are worn out but also the engine mounts. I'd rather not drive the axle stand through the sump... Joachim |
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LambandAndy Member
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Joachim, I did place the axle stand under the sump but with a 2x6 inbetween to spread the load. It's a little tight, but possible, to lift with a jack then transfer to the axle stand to get the jack out of the way. Good luck, Andy |
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mnunes22 Member
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Joachin, I just completed my front suspension rebuild and sub-frame replacement. I used two axle stands and a 4X4 piece of wood about 18" / 46mm long cut to match the slope of the oil pan (sump) relative to the placement of the 4X4 on top of the axle stands. I had no problems with this set-up. It also helped with jack placement when I installed the sub-frame. I used advice from club archives and from John Kimbroughs torque settings sheet which saved a lot of time and worry. Good luck on your project! Bill Nunes #14592 |
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subwoofer Member
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Thanks for the info, Bill. My rebuild is finally underway, pulled the right rear corner apart yesterday, no real problems. The old bushings are completely done, so I reckon I'll get a real improvement in handling once I'm done! Now for todays question: Any tricks for getting the old bushing out of the upper rear mount point (the one on the bell housing)? I was not planning on detaching the drive shaft for this job, but the old bushings seem rather stuck. I saw that John made himself a makeshift press tool, what dimensions did you use for that, John? -- Joachim |
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John Kimbrough Member
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As you said Joachim, it was a makeshift press rig. Although I cannot remember the dimensions, I used materials on hand. The receiving end was a threaded pipe connector, and the press end was a large socket of the right diameter. A few large washers, and in my case a large hole saw, to make up the ends, and then a bolt to run all the way through. Even at that it was a bear pressing it out. Good luck. John. |
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Art DeKneef Member
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On one of my rebuilds I was able to get some of the bushings out by using the press method. Like others took a while. But there were some that were rather stubborn and didn't want to budge. So what I did was use a drill bit and drill through the rubber bushing several times going all the way around. After I did this it wasn't too difficult to get the metal bushing out and then get most of the remaining bushinr out. Followed by a wire wheel to clean the inside. I felt it took about the same amount of time using either method. Art |
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subwoofer Member
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Art: I tried making a makeshift press rig, using two (slightly modified) sockets and a piece of threaded rod, but the first one simply will not budge. When it finally started budging, the socket I used for a driver started widening the outer shell, exactly what I did not want. I'm going for option 2 now, I have drilled out the rubber, som the inner tube is out. The rubber is rotten, but apparently it still sticks quite well to the outer housing. Did you weaken the outer housing in any way to get it out, or did you just use a hammer and bang on it till it came out? Getting the other bushes out was no problem, used a hydraulic press, but as I said earlier, I wasn't planning on stripping down the axle itself for this job, leaving that for some other time. -- Joachim, starting to wonder what he has gotten himself into... |
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Art DeKneef Member
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From what I remember for those that would not press out I used a 1/4 quarter inch drill bit and drilled several holes all the way around. While drilling the holes I wiggled the bit back and forth to remove even more rubber. Eventually enough rubber was removed that the bushing in the middle fell out. After getting out as much rubber as I could I used a small wire wheel to clean the inside. After everything was clean I primered everything, painted and then installed the bushings using the grease I got with my bushings. On the bushing replacement on the rear end after getting the rubber out there was a thin metal tube that was between the rubber and the arm. I used an electric sawz-all with a fine blade and a light touch to cut through the metal tube. I checked the progress several times so I didn't cut into the arm. After making the cut tapping between the tube and the arm with an old thin screwdriver the tube popped out. I don't have any close up pictures of this that I could quickly find so I'm not sure if I even have any. If you need more info just ask. Art |
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mdutch Member 
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Wonder if you could use a hole saw with the right dia to fit the rubber? |
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subwoofer Member
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I guess I could, but most of the rubber is already out. I'll have a go at the outer housing with a Dremel sometime during the weekend, I think grinding a track almost through should make it come out after giving it a few whacks with a drift (sideways). -- Joachim |
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subwoofer Member
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The Dremel approach wasn't too successful, so I resorted to brute force... I think the problems really started right at the beginning, because I didn't grind down the socket I used as a receiver (it didn't quite fit). Once things where crooked, they only got worse. Anyway, I got the d**n thing out last night, the second one should be easier (getting the tools right from the get-go should help). Tools and resulting wreck of a part follows:  - Joachim |
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Jensenman Member
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When I did my front end, the lower bushings were rusted to the arms, not terribly unusual. This meant I had to remove the rubber (I used a torch to burn it out, nasty stinky!) then used a hacksaw to split the outer sleeve. When I started pressing the bushings in, they immediately began to go in cockeyed, not good. In fact, I had to get another control arm and bushing. So when I started on round 2, I used a wire brush to thoroughy clean the inside of the bushing hole in the arm. Lubrication was necessary, since regular oil/grease will attack rubber I didn't want to use that. Instead, I lubed the sleeve and the arm hole with silicone dielectric grease which won't attack rubber. Instead of a press (way too easy to apply too much pressure and hard to properly align) I used a short piece of schedule 40 steel pipe as a receiver, I used a threaded cap on that end and drilled a 1/2" hole in the center. I then used a piece of 7/16" 'all thread' (it's the only thing that will fit through the stock lower bushing sleeve) and a couple of really big flat washers to draw the bushing into the arm. This setup is self aligning as long as the pipe is cut dead square. It took some effort but worked well. |
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Dakota123 Member
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subwoofer wrote:
I'm sure you solved this by now, but to get these out (with the rear end left in the vehicle, properly supported) I used the technique described by Art: Used a sawzall to cut off the shell and rubber protruding to the rear, nearly flush with the mounting tab attached to the differential housing. I then drilled out the rubber and cut the shell in a couple of places 90^ apart or so. Crushed the shell and popped the mess out. At least in my case, they came out easily. I used this technique with the trailing arm bushings and lateral link large bushings as well. Gave me a bit of a headache from all of the banging away to crush the shells, but really not that bad of a job. (I love it when my wife says things like "Are you sure that's the way you're supposed to do that?") Mike |
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Eric Member
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I have the upper control arm bushings at the differential removed, using the hacksaw technique. The rear end is still in the car, so access is a bit tight. Can someone elaborate on the details of the homemade press to get the new bushings installed? Thanks.. Eric |
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Screenplay Member
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Hi Eric, I don't have any pics so I'll try to describe it. Also, I'm assuming the new bushing has a metal sleeve around it as the old one did - I used Superpro which has the sleeve but I don't know if they all do. My homemade press involves a piece of threaded metal rod, a large socket, washers and nuts (to thread over the rod). Place the new bushing in front of the hole in the diff, insert the rod through the new bushing, place a washer against the bushing and thread a nut against it. On the diff side place the socket over the rod (larger than the diameter of the bushing) a washer and thread the other nut against it. As you tighten the nuts, one side pushes against the diff housing while on the other side the bushing is pushed through the hole. To make it all easier (assuming again there is a metal sleeve on the new bushing) put the new part in the freezer for 2-3 hours before installing. The cold will shrink the metal and it should go right in. I changed mine with the rear end out of the car and was able to tap in the freezing cold bushings with a rawhide mallet. There may not be room to do that under the car, but if you do, just be certain to support the differential side with a large socket as you pound. Best of luck with the project. Clinton |
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Screenplay Member
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After reading that last post I realized I should address what I said about freezing the bushing. At most, the metal will contract slightly but that should facilitate getting it into the hole. "Should go right in" sounds overly optimistic. |
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Eric Member
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Clinton, Thanks for the description. I'm using the Superpro bushings as well. I was going to use a long bolt, but threaded rod sounds easier. Somebody suggested a socket on the pushing side as well, but this seems like the uneven pressure might possibly distort the bushing. Thanks for the freezer tip..I'll let them cool off while I have a few beers! Eric |
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Screenplay Member
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Eric, In this case the long bolt with a washer would probably work as well. I would just make certain that the pressure is distributed over the new bushing evenly. The two socket press is something I keep lying around and comes in handy. Enjoy the beers. Clinton |
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sbalian1 Member
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Andy: Did you replace the ball joints? Pictures? |
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