Halfcent's summer of 2012
03-14-2012, 10:07 PM
#1
I'm old school
Thread Starter
Halfcent's summer of 2012
Hey all. I'll be doing a huge amount of work to my car over this year. I thought I'd blog my progress as I make it for you. I started a thread earlier saying I would be back on the forum. This thread is just about the work progress.
Anyway, I plan to replace my suspension completely with an FE5 setup along with mulitple small repairs all over. I stripped a salvage 2006 SS about a week ago and today got to tear down all the parts. Here is the pic:
I've got a sunroof too but didn't want to lay it down and mess up the glass. Next step is to clean and inspect everything and get certain parts to the machine shop. For instance, I already found the bolt holes in the cradle for the CAB's are a bit elongated, so I'll get that fixed and then probably dunk tank it along with the rear axle to strip them clean. I'll post as I go, probably about once a week with new progress.
Anyway, I plan to replace my suspension completely with an FE5 setup along with mulitple small repairs all over. I stripped a salvage 2006 SS about a week ago and today got to tear down all the parts. Here is the pic:
I've got a sunroof too but didn't want to lay it down and mess up the glass. Next step is to clean and inspect everything and get certain parts to the machine shop. For instance, I already found the bolt holes in the cradle for the CAB's are a bit elongated, so I'll get that fixed and then probably dunk tank it along with the rear axle to strip them clean. I'll post as I go, probably about once a week with new progress.
03-15-2012, 11:38 AM
#7
I'm old school
Thread Starter
Not a new sunroof. The regulator track on one side of mine snapped a rail, and the only way to get that one part salvage was to buy the whole assembly. So now I'll have a lot of spare sunroof parts. Tom tells me my order is in and ready to pick up, so I get all that stuff tomorrow morning. The car has 97K miles on it and its still on its original shocks, struts, and rear drum brakes. I'm actually incredibly impressed those items lasted this long. But they did.
03-15-2012, 02:21 PM
#10
I'm old school
Thread Starter
I actually already have some rebuild parts from OTTP for the control arms and brake lines. No engine swapping. My L61 is already built. I had to discontinue the turbo build after 2008 when the economy went to hell. But things are better now and the suspension really needed attention first.
03-19-2012, 04:24 PM
#13
I'm old school
Thread Starter
Got all my new parts over the weekend. What's the concensus on who is doing the best coating job on new Brembo's? I've seen the Powell pics and they look fantastic. Gotta get the cradle off to the welder, the CAB bolt holes are damaged and need a patch repair. Bringing the rear axle and control arms to the machine shop this week to get the old bushings pressed out and then have the arms modified for the OTTP Delrin pins. That's probably all for this week.
Last edited by Halfcent; 05-26-2012 at 10:35 PM.
03-22-2012, 11:14 AM
#14
I'm old school
Thread Starter
Opened up some boxes. Here is the Brembo on the GMPP racing knuckle.
Here is the mounting hole in the engine cradle where the CAB bolt runs through. You can see it's rounded out a bit. Got that off to the welder yesterday for a repair. Had this problem on both sides. Apparently it's a common problem.
Dropped off my control arms at the machine shop to get all the old stuff removed and have the grease zert drilled for the new Delrin pin. Got the name a good powder coater and anodizer from the shop. Gonna call them now.
Here is the mounting hole in the engine cradle where the CAB bolt runs through. You can see it's rounded out a bit. Got that off to the welder yesterday for a repair. Had this problem on both sides. Apparently it's a common problem.
Dropped off my control arms at the machine shop to get all the old stuff removed and have the grease zert drilled for the new Delrin pin. Got the name a good powder coater and anodizer from the shop. Gonna call them now.
03-27-2012, 06:45 PM
#15
I'm old school
Thread Starter
Got the cradle back. All welded, drilled, and ground back smooth...
Talked to a coating shop today. They can do anodizing, powder coating, steel and aluminum. One stop shopping and local, so that's fantastic.
I have been having a problem with getting the rear axle bushings out. None of the local machine shops had a bushing the right size to press it out and all the GM Goodwrench shops locally don't have the GM tool (J-44570) to do it. So I started making calls. The only GM shop I could find some distance away wanted $90 to take them out and another $90 to put new ones in, so $180 total. I started shoping for the tool and found new ones on-line for $120. Then I got lucky and found one used on EBay for $30 shipped. Bought it right away.
So I'm currently waiting for that and the control arms from the machine shop. Then I should be able to drop everything off for coating.
Talked to a coating shop today. They can do anodizing, powder coating, steel and aluminum. One stop shopping and local, so that's fantastic.
I have been having a problem with getting the rear axle bushings out. None of the local machine shops had a bushing the right size to press it out and all the GM Goodwrench shops locally don't have the GM tool (J-44570) to do it. So I started making calls. The only GM shop I could find some distance away wanted $90 to take them out and another $90 to put new ones in, so $180 total. I started shoping for the tool and found new ones on-line for $120. Then I got lucky and found one used on EBay for $30 shipped. Bought it right away.
So I'm currently waiting for that and the control arms from the machine shop. Then I should be able to drop everything off for coating.
04-04-2012, 08:11 PM
#19
I'm old school
Thread Starter
Made a little progress today. I'm flying regularly again so I'm not getting as much time each week to work on it, but it's going.
I got the rear axle bushings out using the GM Kent-Moore J-44570 tool.
Honestly, if you ever have to do this job, this is the only way to go. You could go to a tool and die shop and have them make you a custom bushing turned on a lathe that might fit, but it will be more expensive then just getting the tool.
The bushings rust into the axle, so you have to bust them loose. After that, they pop out pretty easy. Use some PB Nutbuster and let it soak a bit, that helps. A good whack with a heavy deadblow hammer and it taps right out.
I also got the rear brake calipers torn down so I can get them to the powder coater. Getting that parking brake assembly out of the caliper was a bitch due to the snap ring being so deep inside there. I had to go buy a really long nosed snap ring plyer to get it out. But it did come out very easily once I was able to reach the snap ring.
I'm still waiting for my front control arms from the machine shop. They torn up my first pair trying to get the front bushing pin out of the arm, so they went ahead and ordered 2 more salvage units in order to try again. That was nice of them actually despite the delay, didn't charge me a thing.
I got the rear axle bushings out using the GM Kent-Moore J-44570 tool.
Honestly, if you ever have to do this job, this is the only way to go. You could go to a tool and die shop and have them make you a custom bushing turned on a lathe that might fit, but it will be more expensive then just getting the tool.
The bushings rust into the axle, so you have to bust them loose. After that, they pop out pretty easy. Use some PB Nutbuster and let it soak a bit, that helps. A good whack with a heavy deadblow hammer and it taps right out.
I also got the rear brake calipers torn down so I can get them to the powder coater. Getting that parking brake assembly out of the caliper was a bitch due to the snap ring being so deep inside there. I had to go buy a really long nosed snap ring plyer to get it out. But it did come out very easily once I was able to reach the snap ring.
I'm still waiting for my front control arms from the machine shop. They torn up my first pair trying to get the front bushing pin out of the arm, so they went ahead and ordered 2 more salvage units in order to try again. That was nice of them actually despite the delay, didn't charge me a thing.
04-17-2012, 01:00 AM
#21
I'm old school
Thread Starter
Sorry I haven't posted this past week. I'm working my ass off lately and the last time I was home we had to do funerals and weddings back to back. I didn't get any time to do any work.
I have had a problem lately getting salvage FE5 Control Arms. I've called three lots so far that said they had them only to have them call me 2 or 3 days later to say they don't. One place said they couldn't find them, another said they took them off and they were steel, another said they couldn't get them off the car. Ridiculous. Anyway, I'm back in a few days and should have something to report then.
I have had a problem lately getting salvage FE5 Control Arms. I've called three lots so far that said they had them only to have them call me 2 or 3 days later to say they don't. One place said they couldn't find them, another said they took them off and they were steel, another said they couldn't get them off the car. Ridiculous. Anyway, I'm back in a few days and should have something to report then.
Last edited by Halfcent; 05-26-2012 at 10:39 PM.
04-17-2012, 04:17 PM
#24
I'm old school
Thread Starter
Ultimately, yes, but it is at the bottom of the pile of things to do. Suspension first. Since the salvage car I stripped had a good dash, I took it. A few years ago I made a prototype dash gauge pod. There is a thread on here about it. Anyway, I learned in making that one that the best way to do it was to modify the entire dash. The area directly above the front air vents is empty space and a perfect place for a gauge cluster. I'm going to have a custom interior shop cut the center out of the panel and fabricate the housing. Then I'll cover the entire panel in a something nice instead of the plain plastic that it is now. Probably a nice durable automotive leather.
