"Underneath", installment #10
The front suspension is about done, and should be ready to put
back under the car momentarily. It's heavy now, even without hubs,
rotors or calipers; hopefully I can get someone to help me drag it
upstairs to the garage. The upper control arms, balljoints, springs and
shocks all popped in without incident. My concerns about not getting the
rubber spring "isolators" to seat in the spring mounts on the
crossmember were unfounded, as I taped the isolators to the springs,
lubed them with soap, and let the pressure of reassembly of the
suspension do the rest. Again, I used the threaded rod I bought at the
hardware store (grade Zero, if there's such a thing) to draw it all up.
At the top, on the shock tower, I used a few thick washers, and at the
bottom (lower control arm) I again used that plate that normally goes
under the _rear_ leaf springs to bridge the large opening the shock
mount bolts into. I placed myself well outside the line-of-fire in case
that threaded rod gave way, but I had no problems.
I split the front calipers to install the spacers between the
halves that Dale sent with the (wider) ventilated front rotors; the
longer bolts needed showed up in a follow-up package late last week.
This was a no-problem installation, although I wish I had done this
before I had painted the calipers with the special brake paint. Now I
have gloss black calipers with a silver "racing stripe" where the
spacers show, but I don't think I'll be starting any trend towards
custom paint schemes on brake parts.
The Saturday before the Independence Day holiday my friend
helping with the rear end set up the clearances on the gears. It took
ten hours before the mesh on the gears were right. The kit came with
some white, gooey marking "dye" that was hard to read, so he switched
over to something called "Prussian Blue", which I understand it now hard
to get because it contains cyanide. We were supposed to finish up the
rear end altogether this past weekend, but both he and I were laid up
with severe summer colds, so nothing got done. Furthermore, I still need
to have some extra end-float shims handy in case the settings change
with installing new bearings, etc.
I picked up a toy of sorts yesterday. I didn't need it, no one
will see it, but I ordered a finned aluminum differential cover. It's a
Trans-Dapt #4014, and it fits fine. Depth of the stock unit is about 3"
if you don't count the hanger for the hand-brake cable, and about 4" if
you do; the T-D #4014 is about 3.5", so I should be OK. With the rear
disc set-up, there's no rigid rod in the hand-brake arrangement, but I
might need a little bracket hanging off one of the mounting bolts to
hold up the cable. The 4x4 shop where I ordered the cover wouldn't
discount the price, but now that I know the stock #, you might find
someplace that sells them cheaper. BTW, it doesn't come with a gasket.
Also, I got new bolts a few weeks back, and, because the new cover is so
much thicker, there now aren't really enough threads gripping the
housing for my tastes. So, back to the store for more bolts.
I have about exhausted my sources for grade 8 bolts, but have
about everything I need. The one that I don't have is the ones for both
ends of the rear springs, it's really an oddball. I thought I'd get the
next longer size, and let them stick out, but the threaded part isn't
enough; i.e., the smooth shank on the longer bolt is the same as the
overall length of the stock bolt, so I couldn't tighten it up. So I may
have to re-use them, which I don't like as they've been in there a
while!
BTW, I just got the Australian "100 years of Sunbeam" t-shirt
transfers, and they look great. My thanks to the gentleman on the Alpine
List that handled the transaction so that we could get these. Now I have
to go get some shirts, to have them applied to. Gee, they came with more
instructions than the rear-disk brake conversion! :^)
Lawrence R. Wright
Purchasing Analyst
Andrews Office Products Div. of USOP
larry.wright@usop.com (new)
Ph. 301.386.7923 Fx. 301.386.5333
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