Sunday, September 4, 2016

"Driving Ms. Swan....The Adventure Continues....."

Well, here's another update on things.

The right side strut has been completely refurbished with a new top mount, a new coil spring, and a new KYB shock insert.

The hub has new wheel bearings and a new seal, and the mate to my left side StopTech "Sport Rotor" is mounted.

Then I put the hub/disc assembly on the spindle, adjusted the wheel bearings, and put in a new cotter pin, and tapped on the dust cover, followed by installing the caliper with the new "PosiQuiet" ceramic brake pads, new Russell "speed bleeder" screw, and braided stainless steel line.

The lower control arm has been refurbished with a new Energy Suspension polyurethane bushing, and new polyurethane cushions for the strut rod, or "Lateral Locating Link" if you speak American cars!

I'm beat, as I've done all this work in the last couple of days, compared to taking two weeks to do it the first time.

It's nice having all the tools, AND the knowledge gained doing it the first time.

Final assembly of the right side will start Monday. I should be able to get the lower control arm and strut reinstalled in just a few hours this time, compared to a couple of days for the left side.

Then I'll flush the brake system and bleed  the front brakes, put the wheels and tires back on her, drop her to the ground and bounce her a few times, and then do the final torquing of the lower control arm bolts and strut rod nuts.

Then on to the the rear.....

6 comments:

  1. New shocks, springs, and sway bar bushings.

    I also have new rotors and pads, but I'll see how hard it is to pull the rear rotors, as the parking brake stuff is inside a small drum brake assembly that might be very hard to get off.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lotta work man but it will be worth every minute of it.
    As for ceramic brake pads, I have had a couple of not so good experiences with them, hopefully the new rotors will help you avoid them. I put some on a Dodge 1/2 ton pickup at work one time and within 2 weeks the thing literally wouldn't stop no matter how hard you stood on the pedal. They had polished the rotors to a mirror finish and wouldn't grab! Same thing happened on a Ford pickup later. Like I said though, hopefully your rotors will break in right.
    I'm just waiting for a good shakedown run AAR now.

    ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Supposedly these "PosiQuiet" pads have been heat-treated ( ! ) to help reduce any of the break-in blues you sometimes get. And they were recommended by StopTech, the company that made the new drilled rotors.

    The "Mark II" Supras were known for having a brake system that wasn't quite up to what the rest of the car was capable of. Car and Driver magazine went through TWO sets of OEM front rotors during their 40,0000 mile long term test.

    And there are numerous upgrades to the front brakes posted on the celicasupra forum using a mixture for brake hubs, discs, and rotors.

    Raptor Racing also sells a Big Brake Kit with Wilwood calipers, specially machined hubs, and all the other bits and pieces, but since the engine in mine is stock, and I'm not going racing with it, I couldn't justify spending $1200 for the front kit, and another $1300 for the rear kit!

    Geez....I only paid $3000 for the car!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You're going to have a busy week!

    ReplyDelete
  5. And hopefully a productive one, too!

    Just finishing up some household chores, and my coffee, and just about ready to head out to the garage.

    Should be a fairly simple job to reinstall the lower control arm, and then the strut.

    ReplyDelete

Keep it civil, please....

Meet Luna!

 Great name for our new pup, eh? She's camera shy, and "Red Eye Removal" doesn't work for dogs! She's two years old, p...