Halfcent

Rebuilt all my brakes today. I took pics of the finished Brembo's but they don't seem to be on my phone now that I'm home. That sucks. I'll take some more tomorrow (I have all week to work on the car, yay!) Here are the rears.



All my pretty powder coated parts.



It's kindda like a puzzle. Put it all together into something useful!

Now when I started this, I knew I was gonna powder coat, so I stripped down the caliper completely, including the parking brake assembly. Here is my advice to the reader. Don't take apart the parking brake assembly. Even the freakin' service manual says don't take that apart. Of course I didn't read that until after the fact. I thought powder would require it to be out of there, but it can stay assembled and not get in the way of powder at all. Take a look at this pic here...



What you can't see there is the assembly down inside the caliper cylinder. It is all compressed with about a 30 lbs spring held in with a snap ring that you can't reach. It's not that I don't have a long enough pair of snap plyers, it's that you can't get them down inside that cylinder, there is no clearance. I came up with this socket and C-clamp idea after about 45 minutes of ******* with it and cursing a lot.

Anyway, success:

LS6Rally

iTrader: (14)

wow that looks great. nice to see someone taking the time to be this thorough.

Halfcent

Okay, good day today. I have had one set back. A couple of the steel parts I had coated started blemishing, which is odd for powder coat, so I had to take them back. Should get those again in a week or so. Here is the completed Brembo I didn't get yesterday:



Here is something I'm trying myself. This is the rear bump stop. You can't buy just a replacement insulator, which is the ring that is worn out. You have to buy the whole bump stop assembly, which I don't need. So I just got some sheet rubber stock and cut my own replacements. Should work fine.



Then I got my first set of control arms assembled.



This is the OTTP set using both their front and rear bushings. I will also make a set using Powell rear bushings and stock FE5 front ones and will use that set first. I used a Moog ball joint. The front OTTP bushing uses a grease zert where the Powell does not.



The rear bushing from OTTP and Powell are identical parts. The installed one is OTTP, the one next to it is Powell. Same exact thing.



I've almost finished cleaning up all the salvage parts at this point. I still have a little work to do to the steering rack and that second set of control arms. After that I have to wait for the powder coated parts to come back so I have something to attach all this **** to. I'll probably work on trim stuff in the mean time like polishing the headlights.

mkulrey13

iTrader: (39)

bump for updates :P

Halfcent

Update granted.

Sorry, you know I'm pilot and on the road for a week at a time.

Anyway, here ya go. The parts pile got a lot smaller yesterday because I got the axle and cradle back from the coater (again) and started bolting stuff on.

Here is my completely rebuilt rear axle, ready to go!







In that picture above is the Powell rear axle bushing for now. John is sending me a different one soon so that will change soon.

Then, for the front, I built a simple creeper with high-load casters. Should make R&R of the whole front end a lot easier.



Then I bolted stuff on to it too:



Here is the complete OTTP control arm in place for now. I'm gonna actually start with a Powell arm. I just wanted to see how it looked. And it looks GOOD!



Those are Moog tie rod ends and ball joints. I did a lot of Moog for replacement of the wear items (sway links, strut boots and bearings, yadda yadda).

IonNinja

what are your plans for running the Brembos up front? i was under the impression that it was not a direct swap but looks like you've got all OEM parts from the pics

Halfcent

Part of this project is a hub swap to five lug. I am using the GM racing front knuckles and the Brembo kit from CED. I also have the ABS module from an LSJ car which has the proper portioning valve for the rears. And I have a brake booster and cylinder from an LNF car for the larger volume. Everything should be right. I just have to space the hub appropriately which I will do very soon actually.

jonathan923

iTrader: (2)

awesome work man, i got tired from just seen all the amount of work done haha

Halfcent

I get tired doing it. But that is why I do it. I enjoy spending my time working on a fun job like this one until I'm up way too late and fall exhausted into bed. I'm probably about a month away from pulling the car apart and installing all this stuff. Lots of planning to do before then.

Powell Race Parts

iTrader: (3)

Half cent we finalized the rear bushing re work today. We are going back to the original race set up, but not using steel as the plug for the inserts,and using 6061 for the spacer, and a means of keeping it lubricated and rust out of it. U will be happy. Should get them done next week, machinist is really busy making gears for other people...

Halfcent

Thank you sir, I look forward to it. I was planning on writing you later about a new topic. Talk to me about engine mounts. I will be replacing mine simply due to wear. Remember this is a street car with an automatic trans. Talk to me about your steering rack spacers too. I am on Eibach Prokit springs.

Powell Race Parts

iTrader: (3)

automatics dont need rotated mounts but if you want rack spacers you cant install them thick enough to make a difference without crashing into the rack. So I gotta do some "lift"mounts for the auto guys, they have asked often enough. I just dont know when it takes so much time to devise this stuff. we can talk. email is best

tonio5555

Awesome to see that you're still active man. I remember you from the good old days.

06Pursuit

iTrader: (1)

sub'd for old times sake!

Halfcent

Well, summer is over and I haven't posted in a while so I feel I owe you all something. I have no pictures to offer but as of last week every part for installation during this project is ready to go. The one thing I don't actually have yet are the wheels and tires, which is easy enough to get but expensive. Since I'm getting married in a little over a month, I want to hold off on big dollar purchases until that is handled. Good news is that should be quick. Bad news is I really cant do a damn thing until then. Kindda have to have wheels. Anyway, here is the list of what will happen in approximate order:

Evac refridgerant
drain everything
drop engine cradle (straight out of the LSJ build book)
Pull powertrain off of cradle
Salvage out old cradle parts
Separate engine and trans
Replace engine oil pan (LSJ 6 quart)
Replace head (new P&P head, swap over Ferrea valve train)
Use ARP studs and Cometic gasket (yes, I have those already)
Fix a leak in the trans (it's either in the converter or the coolant lines, I got one of each)
Swap out the brake system (I have an SS booster and ABS module)
Put it all back together
Do lots of little detail ****
Drop the rear axle and swap it out
Fill and charge everything back up
Head to Firestone for the alignment
Drive it like I stole it

Halfcent

I checked today on the wheel and tire purchase. Turns out if I want Enkei PF01's I better order them now because they don't think they can get them until after October. So I pulled the trigger and made the order. I walked in to Discount Tire with a printed estimate from TireRack.com and they beat the hell out of it. Timing will work out well as it is because the wedding will be done and I'll be ready to dive back in. Plus since I can't really work on the car without them, I can focus on the more important matter at hand.

Halfcent

Okay, all married and moving on...

Started the swap this week. Will be busy all month with this stuff, lots of free time. One last look before taking it all apart...



I start with the rear since that would probably be pretty easy and I could all that stuff out of the way of the shop for doing the front later. Here I've got it jacked and ready to remove.



Taking off the hardware...



Pulled. My engine cradle cart doubled nicely as an axle dolly here...



And finally swapping in the new one...



Everything went very smoothly, no surprises. Now I did finish it off with the Enkei PF01 wheels so I could roll the car out and turn it around, but I'm not showing that picture until its done! I still need to swap out the parking brake cable, but that's later when I get inside the car.

I then moved on to the front. Here I've got everything stripped off...



Now I've got my dolly under the cradle and am ready to lift off the car...



Jackin' it up...



And it's out.



Biggest pain the ass was the exhaust down pipe removal. Everything else just took time to remove, drain, separate, etc...

I'm on my way back out now to start stripping down the powertrain. More to come...

rivaladore

iTrader: (7)

Sub'd great work!

royce777

iTrader: (29)

awesome man cant wait to see it all together!

BoostedBeaner

What wheels are you planning on using?

royce777

iTrader: (29)

PF01s

mkulrey13

iTrader: (39)

Awesome thread halfcent. This car will last you awhile

theamericanautos

iTrader: (1)

great work!

Halfcent

All of the tear down is complete. I'm dropping parts off at shops today for work. Here I'm removing the head:



I have a PnP'd head at the shop waiting for the Ferrea valve train that's in that one. So that should go quickly.

I'm dropping the trans off at a shop just to get cleaned and flushed. There is a stripped fastner on the case I'll have them repair as well. You can see it sitting on the ground in the background up there.

Another small fix I have to do it this:



This is the dual cooling fan I got from the salvage car. One of the mounting pins in the corners was broken off. I can fix that no problem. Gonna use a simple bolt as a stud.

I told myself I was just gonna swap the head and oil pan, but once I had them off, the block looked like ****. There was nothing wrong with it, just dirty. So I convinced myself to tear it down and have the block cleaned up too. That way I can paint it all when it's back together.

mkulrey13

iTrader: (39)

How many miles on this beast?