GDII's SW20 MR2
- Thread starter GDII
- 777 comments
- 104,873 views
- 1,759
- NZ
More mods/upgrades.
When I bought the car one of the T-Top clips was broken and many years later I managed to break another.
To buy these from Toyota would involve buying a whole t-Top cover. No thanks. The other option would be to buy a pair of T-Top covers but people seem to price them as if they are made of gold.
So I sent one clip down to my brother to replicate but simplify the design using stainless steel.
This was the result.
Factory plastic version next to new stainless steel versions.
I am very happy with them. I love free stuff!
I asked him to leave the oxidation from the TIG welding on there as I like it. He could have polished them but I wanted them like this.
When I bought the car one of the T-Top clips was broken and many years later I managed to break another.
To buy these from Toyota would involve buying a whole t-Top cover. No thanks. The other option would be to buy a pair of T-Top covers but people seem to price them as if they are made of gold.
So I sent one clip down to my brother to replicate but simplify the design using stainless steel.
This was the result.
Factory plastic version next to new stainless steel versions.
I am very happy with them. I love free stuff!
I asked him to leave the oxidation from the TIG welding on there as I like it. He could have polished them but I wanted them like this.
- 1,759
- NZ
More progress. Fully repainted stock 15" wheels.
I also washed the car again. Covered in dust from just sitting around waiting for mods and upgrades.
It doesn't really look much different from when I bought it back in 2008. The only thing obvious is the colour of the front lip.
And with the BBS wheels that have been on it for most of the time I've owned the car.
Giving it death in a hillclimb.
I also washed the car again. Covered in dust from just sitting around waiting for mods and upgrades.
It doesn't really look much different from when I bought it back in 2008. The only thing obvious is the colour of the front lip.
And with the BBS wheels that have been on it for most of the time I've owned the car.
Giving it death in a hillclimb.
- 1,759
- NZ
No updates for a while, that's because I have been doing some major surgery on the engine.
Short story, cam belt, water pump, oil pump seals and finally valve seals. Long story, read on.
Started by pulling off the front engine mount and cam belt covers. This involves removing a lot of stuff just to get to the belt. Engine mount has to come off but to get the mount off you need to take the crank pulley off and both cam belt covers.
Hmmm that's one cracked cam belt. No idea how old this is.
Engine mount getting stuck.
Top of the intake manifold. Bagged and tagged all my bolts and parts to ensure nothing went missing.
Removed the water pump and replaced. New oil pump seals and O-ring. The shaft seal was leaking leaving oil drips on the garage floor. It wasn't bad but it was making a mess of the lower half of the engine.
Dirty lower engine from leaking oil pump.
Inside oil pump
Next was to remove the valve cover to replace the valve seals. This involves removing the wiring loom from the front of the engine and unplugging the injectors. While I had everything off I decided to clean things up and paint some parts.
Dirty valve cover
Painted top runners
Painted valve cover
Painted cam cover plate
After the valve cover was off I could remove the cam shafts.
Then next I had to remove the old valve seals and replace them with new ones without lifting the head. This was a difficult job with the engine in the car.
Tools I used were:
13/16 spark plug socket with a magnet in it.
Large pliers to push the valve spring retainer down.
Some grease to hold the valve collets in while reinstalling the springs.
Bent nose pliers with masking tape so not to scratch the bucket guides.
10mm deep socket for reinstalling the new valve seals.
19mm socket, 150mm extension and slide bar to reinstall valve collets and spring retainers.
Last but most important, some standard printer paper folder over about 6 times. This allows the collets to be pushed in when you push the 19mm socket over the spring retainers.
For all this I also needed an air compressor adapter to fill the cylinders with air to hold the valves up while the springs were removed and the collets were being reinstalled.
I got my brother to make we one from a BKR6E spark plug, 150mm long stainless steel tube and an ARO air compressor fitting. When I got the adapter I realised the air compressor I borrowed had NITTO fittings. So I had to get the adapter modified to the correct fitting. An MR2OC club member offered to modify this for me. Once that was done I could start on the valve seal replacement.
It took me 1 hour to do the first seal because I couldn't figure out how to use the paper method to reinstall the collets. I did the last 5 in 50mins even though these valves are harder to get at being in the middle of the car.
Cotton wool to stop and collets going into the sump. I didn't need them luckily but I did manage to ahve a couple of collets fly around the garage.
New valve seal installed
Valve spring
Collets all greased up to stay in retainer and valve bucket
Shot down No.2 intake
Keeping the cam cap bolts in order.
Tools I used to do the valve seal replacement,
New cam shaft seals, old ones were leaking.
New idler bearing No.1
New tensioner bearing
Once I had done that I could start putting the engine back together. An MR2OC club member offered to give me a hand to do this. I hadn't done a cam belt on a twin cam engine before so his knowledge was very useful to get the timing set right.
We put everything back on the engine ready to be filled with new coolant, oil and filter and new plugs but as I was starting to fill the engine with coolant there was a major leak. This is why, rusty pipe into the back of the water pump wouldn't seal. I wonder why?..... :roll:
'New' on left, leaky rust thing on right.
New water pump
Luckily I had bought a good condition pipe of Tat and Nick about 3 years ago. So this went on to the engine but not after having to take off a lot of the parts off the back of the engine. Hardest part was getting the oil cooler pipes off. I assume this is no where near as hard as the turbo engines HFH and HFHOE. Once this was in I filled it up with coolant and there were no more leaks.
Oil cooler hoses under exhaust manifold.
Bled the coolant after starting the engine. No leaks from oil or water except for the bleed valve on the radiator. Needed a new o-ring so we bought a new one and that sorted it.
Drove it up the road but it still has a bit of smoke. I'm putting some down to the oil left on the pistons and under the valve seals. I'm not expecting it to fix the oil burning problem completely but I do hope it helps reduce it.
Very happy the engine still runs after I pulled it apart. I have never done this sort of major work before.
Car is out of the garage and on all 4 wheels for the first time in 4 weeks.
Engine back together and clean
While I had the engine parts off I installed my Kirk engine mount inserts the the Wife bought me for my birthday. They definitely firm up the engine and have a bit more vibration at idle and are quite rough on start up but work really well. When you are on and off the clutch the engine no longer jerks around, you just get instant response from the clutch. Much better.
Turbo mount inserts, I bought some turbo mounts from Jason to replace the broken and poorly designed front and rear mounts.
Inserted read to go in.
One insert in
Both inserts in. Very easy to install. Just need a gentle tap from a hammer to make sure the are placed properly
so the centre through bolt can be installed easier.
Installed into car. Easy with no intake manifold on.
MR2 boot makes a good work bench.
Random photo of parts
Dirty intake manifold.
Cleaner intake manifold
Cleaned up cam belt covers
Short story, cam belt, water pump, oil pump seals and finally valve seals. Long story, read on.
Started by pulling off the front engine mount and cam belt covers. This involves removing a lot of stuff just to get to the belt. Engine mount has to come off but to get the mount off you need to take the crank pulley off and both cam belt covers.
Hmmm that's one cracked cam belt. No idea how old this is.
Engine mount getting stuck.
Top of the intake manifold. Bagged and tagged all my bolts and parts to ensure nothing went missing.
Removed the water pump and replaced. New oil pump seals and O-ring. The shaft seal was leaking leaving oil drips on the garage floor. It wasn't bad but it was making a mess of the lower half of the engine.
Dirty lower engine from leaking oil pump.
Inside oil pump
Next was to remove the valve cover to replace the valve seals. This involves removing the wiring loom from the front of the engine and unplugging the injectors. While I had everything off I decided to clean things up and paint some parts.
Dirty valve cover
Painted top runners
Painted valve cover
Painted cam cover plate
After the valve cover was off I could remove the cam shafts.
Then next I had to remove the old valve seals and replace them with new ones without lifting the head. This was a difficult job with the engine in the car.
Tools I used were:
13/16 spark plug socket with a magnet in it.
Large pliers to push the valve spring retainer down.
Some grease to hold the valve collets in while reinstalling the springs.
Bent nose pliers with masking tape so not to scratch the bucket guides.
10mm deep socket for reinstalling the new valve seals.
19mm socket, 150mm extension and slide bar to reinstall valve collets and spring retainers.
Last but most important, some standard printer paper folder over about 6 times. This allows the collets to be pushed in when you push the 19mm socket over the spring retainers.
For all this I also needed an air compressor adapter to fill the cylinders with air to hold the valves up while the springs were removed and the collets were being reinstalled.
I got my brother to make we one from a BKR6E spark plug, 150mm long stainless steel tube and an ARO air compressor fitting. When I got the adapter I realised the air compressor I borrowed had NITTO fittings. So I had to get the adapter modified to the correct fitting. An MR2OC club member offered to modify this for me. Once that was done I could start on the valve seal replacement.
It took me 1 hour to do the first seal because I couldn't figure out how to use the paper method to reinstall the collets. I did the last 5 in 50mins even though these valves are harder to get at being in the middle of the car.
Cotton wool to stop and collets going into the sump. I didn't need them luckily but I did manage to ahve a couple of collets fly around the garage.
New valve seal installed
Valve spring
Collets all greased up to stay in retainer and valve bucket
Shot down No.2 intake
Keeping the cam cap bolts in order.
Tools I used to do the valve seal replacement,
New cam shaft seals, old ones were leaking.
New idler bearing No.1
New tensioner bearing
Once I had done that I could start putting the engine back together. An MR2OC club member offered to give me a hand to do this. I hadn't done a cam belt on a twin cam engine before so his knowledge was very useful to get the timing set right.
We put everything back on the engine ready to be filled with new coolant, oil and filter and new plugs but as I was starting to fill the engine with coolant there was a major leak. This is why, rusty pipe into the back of the water pump wouldn't seal. I wonder why?..... :roll:
'New' on left, leaky rust thing on right.
New water pump
Luckily I had bought a good condition pipe of Tat and Nick about 3 years ago. So this went on to the engine but not after having to take off a lot of the parts off the back of the engine. Hardest part was getting the oil cooler pipes off. I assume this is no where near as hard as the turbo engines HFH and HFHOE. Once this was in I filled it up with coolant and there were no more leaks.
Oil cooler hoses under exhaust manifold.
Bled the coolant after starting the engine. No leaks from oil or water except for the bleed valve on the radiator. Needed a new o-ring so we bought a new one and that sorted it.
Drove it up the road but it still has a bit of smoke. I'm putting some down to the oil left on the pistons and under the valve seals. I'm not expecting it to fix the oil burning problem completely but I do hope it helps reduce it.
Very happy the engine still runs after I pulled it apart. I have never done this sort of major work before.
Car is out of the garage and on all 4 wheels for the first time in 4 weeks.
Engine back together and clean
While I had the engine parts off I installed my Kirk engine mount inserts the the Wife bought me for my birthday. They definitely firm up the engine and have a bit more vibration at idle and are quite rough on start up but work really well. When you are on and off the clutch the engine no longer jerks around, you just get instant response from the clutch. Much better.
Turbo mount inserts, I bought some turbo mounts from Jason to replace the broken and poorly designed front and rear mounts.
Inserted read to go in.
One insert in
Both inserts in. Very easy to install. Just need a gentle tap from a hammer to make sure the are placed properly
so the centre through bolt can be installed easier.
Installed into car. Easy with no intake manifold on.
MR2 boot makes a good work bench.
Random photo of parts
Dirty intake manifold.
Cleaner intake manifold
Cleaned up cam belt covers
Last edited:
- 1,759
- NZ
Took it for a WOF this morning. Passed with no issues. You'd hope so after only travelling 620km since the last one in December. Still smokes like it used too so it must be rings. A catch can might help but that's sort of unrelated. Will just keep driving it. Until I can get another engine I'll focus on suspension mods first.
- 1,759
- NZ
After the failed attempt to slow the oil burning I have decided to get another engine as a temporary replacement. I helped a mate yesterday drop the GEN2 NA out of his car so he could replace it with something a bit more powerful. An ST215 Caldina GEN4 turbo engine. The NA engine is in better condition internally than mine so I'll just drop it straight in and get my car back on the road and usable. This will allow me to use my suspension mods while I save for a turbo setup. Things are looking up for this car again.
- 1,759
- NZ
I built an engine trolley today in prep for my 'new' engine. This will make moving it around the garage a lot easier.
I built it from an old wooden pallet that isn't too big with 4 castor wheels rated at 55kg each. should take the engine weight plus some more. It's quite low too so it makes getting the engine out and in under the raised car easier.
I built it from an old wooden pallet that isn't too big with 4 castor wheels rated at 55kg each. should take the engine weight plus some more. It's quite low too so it makes getting the engine out and in under the raised car easier.
- 1,759
- NZ
Yes I did actually do something.
I started prepping the 'new' engine last weekend ready for swapping over into the car. But I couldn't get very far without getting the crank pulley bolt off. With the engine out of the car it makes it a lot harder to try and undo with manual tools and being on your own. In the end I asked my neighbor if he could help and he even had a 6 point 19mm socket so I wouldn't damage the bolt. He held the engine on the pallet and I cracked the bolt with my 1/2" breaker bar. The bolt had loctite on it so that was why I was having so much trouble. To stop the crank from spinning I put a chain on the back of the crank where the flywheel bolts to and locked it on a gearbox mount. Thanks Pierre for the tip. After getting the bolt off I was no closer to getting the cam belt and other parts off because the pulley itself was locked onto the crank. It seemed there was some sticky grease holding it on. I decided the best way to get it off was to buy the correct tool. A harmonic balancer puller.
The plan was to remove almost everything external to the engine and replace it with the good bits from the current engine.
This included:
Wiring loom
Valve cover
Intake manifold and throttle body
Engine mounts
Cam cover and plates
Cam belt and idlers (I bought new ones which has only 100km on them)
Water pump
Water bypass hoses
Coolant tree and neck
Flywheel
Crank pulley
Alternator and bracket
A/C compressor
Oil cooler as it was blocked and not flowing water
This is the inside of the new engine. Not sludged up but rather black. Wipes off easy but not worth cleaning up the head. Not bad for an engine that has potentially done 379,000km. But it has definitely had a rebuild at some point. It might not be the original engine from Dontcopy's car.
I'm using my valve cover so this dirty one is going onto the worn engine.
Oil cooler swapped out for my one which does not have such a blocked up water passage.
Bare block and head.
Empty engine bay. I didn't get a chance to clean it up. I'll take the opportunity when I finally get around to doing a turbo swap.
Engine out and sitting on the pallet I made.
I love new Toyota parts. New clutch kit included pressure plate, clutch friction plate and bearing. I figured now would be a good time to replace it as i was getting a shudder when I had my foot on the clutch and coming to a stop. Turns out the pressure plate was warped and there were two hot spots on it from where the friction plate was catching.
It's hard to see the hot spots but the are on the very far left and right of the pressure plate in this photo. The dust spots are from the friction plate dropping worn material onto the plate after being moved around the garage.
A few shots of the completed package after we reassembled everything.
While I had the cross member out I decided to clean it up a bit.
Half clean, half dirty. There was an amazing amount of dust caked onto it. I suspect it was from my days of driving on all the gravel roads and racing off road in Dunedin about 6 years ago. :roll:
And the final major step of getting the engine back under the car.
A big thanks to everyone who helped out letting me borrow tools and for helping swap stuff between the engines.
I'd also like to thank the wife for providing food for us while we worked in the garage.
And yes it does run. Started first pop, after we put the coil lead back on. Seems like cars won't start without this vital wire....
ops: 
:roll:
We bled the coolant and tested the new clutch. It is very soft/light but works perfectly. Then we took it for a spin around the block (not literately) to check it was all back to normal. Drives great and for some unknown reason the new Kirk engine mounts have settled down and no longer transmit lots of vibration into the chassis. They definitely were when I reversed the car into the garage last Sunday in prep for this swap. Owell. I was told by Kirk himself they would settle down a bit over time but I was not expecting them to do this overnight like a light switch.
Next thing to do it to put more rego on it as I put it on hold because I wasn't sure how long it would take to get it back on the road. Then to test it before the club run in two weeks.
I started prepping the 'new' engine last weekend ready for swapping over into the car. But I couldn't get very far without getting the crank pulley bolt off. With the engine out of the car it makes it a lot harder to try and undo with manual tools and being on your own. In the end I asked my neighbor if he could help and he even had a 6 point 19mm socket so I wouldn't damage the bolt. He held the engine on the pallet and I cracked the bolt with my 1/2" breaker bar. The bolt had loctite on it so that was why I was having so much trouble. To stop the crank from spinning I put a chain on the back of the crank where the flywheel bolts to and locked it on a gearbox mount. Thanks Pierre for the tip. After getting the bolt off I was no closer to getting the cam belt and other parts off because the pulley itself was locked onto the crank. It seemed there was some sticky grease holding it on. I decided the best way to get it off was to buy the correct tool. A harmonic balancer puller.
The plan was to remove almost everything external to the engine and replace it with the good bits from the current engine.
This included:
Wiring loom
Valve cover
Intake manifold and throttle body
Engine mounts
Cam cover and plates
Cam belt and idlers (I bought new ones which has only 100km on them)
Water pump
Water bypass hoses
Coolant tree and neck
Flywheel
Crank pulley
Alternator and bracket
A/C compressor
Oil cooler as it was blocked and not flowing water
This is the inside of the new engine. Not sludged up but rather black. Wipes off easy but not worth cleaning up the head. Not bad for an engine that has potentially done 379,000km. But it has definitely had a rebuild at some point. It might not be the original engine from Dontcopy's car.
I'm using my valve cover so this dirty one is going onto the worn engine.
Oil cooler swapped out for my one which does not have such a blocked up water passage.
Bare block and head.
Empty engine bay. I didn't get a chance to clean it up. I'll take the opportunity when I finally get around to doing a turbo swap.
Engine out and sitting on the pallet I made.
I love new Toyota parts. New clutch kit included pressure plate, clutch friction plate and bearing. I figured now would be a good time to replace it as i was getting a shudder when I had my foot on the clutch and coming to a stop. Turns out the pressure plate was warped and there were two hot spots on it from where the friction plate was catching.
It's hard to see the hot spots but the are on the very far left and right of the pressure plate in this photo. The dust spots are from the friction plate dropping worn material onto the plate after being moved around the garage.
A few shots of the completed package after we reassembled everything.
While I had the cross member out I decided to clean it up a bit.
Half clean, half dirty. There was an amazing amount of dust caked onto it. I suspect it was from my days of driving on all the gravel roads and racing off road in Dunedin about 6 years ago. :roll:
And the final major step of getting the engine back under the car.
A big thanks to everyone who helped out letting me borrow tools and for helping swap stuff between the engines.
I'd also like to thank the wife for providing food for us while we worked in the garage.
And yes it does run. Started first pop, after we put the coil lead back on. Seems like cars won't start without this vital wire....
ops: :roll:We bled the coolant and tested the new clutch. It is very soft/light but works perfectly. Then we took it for a spin around the block (not literately) to check it was all back to normal. Drives great and for some unknown reason the new Kirk engine mounts have settled down and no longer transmit lots of vibration into the chassis. They definitely were when I reversed the car into the garage last Sunday in prep for this swap. Owell. I was told by Kirk himself they would settle down a bit over time but I was not expecting them to do this overnight like a light switch.
Next thing to do it to put more rego on it as I put it on hold because I wasn't sure how long it would take to get it back on the road. Then to test it before the club run in two weeks.
- 1,601
- Vienna
- bmw123_
Beautiful car and great work, but why did you rebuild the old engine and then do a swap?
Edit: Because of Oil burning. Should have read more carefully
Edit: Because of Oil burning. Should have read more carefully
- 4,763
- Houston, TX
Nice work. Very clean. 
- 1,759
- NZ
Beautiful car and great work, but why did you rebuild the old engine and then do a swap?
Edit: Because of Oil burning. Should have read more carefully
Haha. I know what you mean though. I should have just done the swap in the first place. But I did learn a few things about how to do things on the old engine. I did transfer a lot of the new parts over to my new engine. I suspect the rings and bores of the old engine were toast so replacing the valve seals did nothing.
I will see how it runs but I suspect it will go well until I save for the turbo swap.
- 1,759
- NZ
Tonight I spent a few hours boxing up spare engine parts and putting all my tools back where they belong. Then put all the underbody covers back on. Filled with more coolant. Oh and also bought more rego. Now I can take it for a test drive tomorrow. I was going to tonight but not so clever doing it in the dark if anything happens to go wrong.
- 1,759
- NZ
Took it for a test drive a week ago to check everything was working fine. Temperature gauge was steady so no overheating issues. But when I pulled up to the garage and opened the engine lid with the engine still running it was bubbling out the connection of the brass heater pipe and rubber hose for the heater. It sort of made sense as that pipe had somehow started to look like something that resembled a triangle rather than a circle. I tried to tighten the hose clamp but that didn't work.
On Saturday I took the hose off and stuck an 8mm socket in the pipe and squeezed it back into shape with some pliers. That formed a nice round pipe and that sealed very well. I didn't get any photos of it.
Then I brought it out and gave it a wash. It was covered in dust a dirty hand prints from the engine swap.
Compared to the lowering springs
Then I joined the MR2 club on the run around the Wairarapa for a good long drive. It was great fun to drive it again longer than a short trip to town.
Picture at the lower dam and Gladstone Pub.
Very dirty now.
On Saturday I took the hose off and stuck an 8mm socket in the pipe and squeezed it back into shape with some pliers. That formed a nice round pipe and that sealed very well. I didn't get any photos of it.
Then I brought it out and gave it a wash. It was covered in dust a dirty hand prints from the engine swap.
Compared to the lowering springs
Then I joined the MR2 club on the run around the Wairarapa for a good long drive. It was great fun to drive it again longer than a short trip to town.
Picture at the lower dam and Gladstone Pub.
Very dirty now.
- 1,759
- NZ
TNZ have kindly supplied me with new parts, although I did have to give them something in return ($). Thanks to Mark from Manawatu Toyota once again.
New steering rack bushes. New steering tie rods, inner and outer. New ball joints all round.
New Prothane bushes from TwosRus. I'm hoping these improve handling response over the 25 year old rubber bushes that are currently in the car.
Front set. The bushes on the far right are for the 92+ front castor arms. I won't be using these.
Rear set
BNT imported me a nice new pair of swaybars and bushes for a great price. BTK003 includes BTF24Z and BTR28Z. Australian company but product is made in USA. Their bushes are all now black instead of yellow which I was a tad disappointed about but then it's a good thing as I want to keep the colours on my car down to a minimum of Red, Black and Silver.
You can sort of see the grease grooves in the bush. It's meant to hold the grease in the bush so it doesn't dry out.
Next thing to do I guess is to install them. :roll:
New steering rack bushes. New steering tie rods, inner and outer. New ball joints all round.
New Prothane bushes from TwosRus. I'm hoping these improve handling response over the 25 year old rubber bushes that are currently in the car.
Front set. The bushes on the far right are for the 92+ front castor arms. I won't be using these.
Rear set
BNT imported me a nice new pair of swaybars and bushes for a great price. BTK003 includes BTF24Z and BTR28Z. Australian company but product is made in USA. Their bushes are all now black instead of yellow which I was a tad disappointed about but then it's a good thing as I want to keep the colours on my car down to a minimum of Red, Black and Silver.
You can sort of see the grease grooves in the bush. It's meant to hold the grease in the bush so it doesn't dry out.
Next thing to do I guess is to install them. :roll:
- 1,759
- NZ
Bringing this thing back to freaking life!! It's getting a pretty generous 25th birthday. So far it's got a new engine and new suspension. New brakes are coming too. What more could it want. Oh I know, a 3SGTE! That will come later like I keep saying but now that goal is within reach.
I'm very happy with this car right now.
- 1,604
- Indianapolis,IN
- JrDarknes
Really can't wait to see this thing with a 3sgte. A dark green deuce passed me up the other day with one and it sounded beautiful.
My friend sent me a photo of this a while back. He tried looking for these fog lights but couldn't find them anywhere. So I told him since we can 3d print stuff for free at school, I'm going to see if I can design a set-up for him to see if it works or not.
If it does happen to work I don't mind sending you one if you want. I start taking measurements this week.
My friend sent me a photo of this a while back. He tried looking for these fog lights but couldn't find them anywhere. So I told him since we can 3d print stuff for free at school, I'm going to see if I can design a set-up for him to see if it works or not.
If it does happen to work I don't mind sending you one if you want. I start taking measurements this week.
- 1,759
- NZ
More progress made.
Swaybar install time!
I finally managed to get a chance to install the bars. Relatively straight forward once you figure out what bushes to use for the front.
Removing old bars.
Front bushes were toast. You can see bits of rubber coming off the inside.
They did keep the bar shiny. The rest is rusty.
Old vs New
Grease for bushes
Freshly painted brackets. They were in good condition but I wanted to make them look a bit better.
Front bar installed.
Rear bar installed.
Shiny rear end.
No wheels. Makes it far easier to do everything like this.
After having a read through this writeup on replacing bushes I decided to wait as I need a few extra tools to do the install. Namely FIRE and a vice. I'll do the ball joints and steering components while I do the bushes. I think I need a whole day for this. http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=146258
Going from 17.5mm bars to 20mm bars doesn't make much difference at normal road speed but they are set to soft right now. Will beef that up a bit when I get a chance to safely test things and when I get my new links. My fronts are bent and worn/knocking so i'll be upping the size from 8mm rod to 12mm rod. Watch this space for something different.
Swaybar install time!
I finally managed to get a chance to install the bars. Relatively straight forward once you figure out what bushes to use for the front.
Removing old bars.
Front bushes were toast. You can see bits of rubber coming off the inside.
They did keep the bar shiny. The rest is rusty.
Old vs New
Grease for bushes
Freshly painted brackets. They were in good condition but I wanted to make them look a bit better.
Front bar installed.
Rear bar installed.
Shiny rear end.
No wheels. Makes it far easier to do everything like this.
After having a read through this writeup on replacing bushes I decided to wait as I need a few extra tools to do the install. Namely FIRE and a vice. I'll do the ball joints and steering components while I do the bushes. I think I need a whole day for this. http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=146258
Going from 17.5mm bars to 20mm bars doesn't make much difference at normal road speed but they are set to soft right now. Will beef that up a bit when I get a chance to safely test things and when I get my new links. My fronts are bent and worn/knocking so i'll be upping the size from 8mm rod to 12mm rod. Watch this space for something different.
- 1,759
- NZ
I started on Thursday night pulling the suspension out. And just completed putting it all back together Monday night.
EVERYTHING came out except the swaybars.
Empty wheel wells. No this is not a wrecked car
Hubs came out to be cleaned up and painted.
Front strut bar mounts were removed too.
To get the old bushes out I got help from Colin. Wire wheel to knock back the rubber shoulder and give the press something to grip on without interfering with the rubber center.
Pressed out with ease.
Old bushes and ball joints. The rubber bushes were in great condition for being 25 years old. The front lower arm bushes were a bit soft but not damaged. Until Colin attacked them with a grinder.
The ball joints in the front were still good with no unusual movement. But I read the BGB testing method and they may not have passed as they were very east to spin.
I had previously replaced the right rear ball joint about 5 years ago as it was very worn out. I suspect the rears had been replaced before as the left side did not match the new TGP joint I bought. The fronts were the same though.
New steering tie rods. Inner and outer.
The right hand side has been replaced before as it is different to the new TGP and the left hand side one. Plus it was stiffer so less wear.
New bushes half installed. I did this so I could wrap them in masking tape so I could paint the arms. However I don't think it would have been necessary as most of the bushes went in very easy after that.
Once everything was finished I seated the bushes with a G clamp. Some where easy while the rear lower arms were being difficult.
New steering rack bushes went in along with freshly painted brackets.
Cleaned up the hubs and backing plates.
Painted up.
I decided to paint the springs as they were a bit chipped like everything else. I also wiped down the Bilsteins as they were dirty from the Lake Wiararapa trip through the mud.
Painted up the arms.
Boost (the cat) getting in on the action.
All the suspension parts laid out with bushes fully installed.
Reinstalled hubs.
Painted the centre of the hub as they are visible when the wheels are on.
Front strut bar bushings bolted up. A deep 23mm socket would be nice. Time consuming with a ring spanner. 24mm on the rear too.
Front suspension reinstalled.
Rear suspension reinstalled.
I have put the car back on the ground and torqued up the bolts while on the ground. This is not easy in the garage. Last thing I still need to do is reinstall the caps and cotter pins on the rear axles then I can drive it again. But before I think about driving too far I need a major wheel alignment. From the bits I can measure like castor it is out by 6-10mm side to side.
EVERYTHING came out except the swaybars.
Empty wheel wells. No this is not a wrecked car
Hubs came out to be cleaned up and painted.
Front strut bar mounts were removed too.
To get the old bushes out I got help from Colin. Wire wheel to knock back the rubber shoulder and give the press something to grip on without interfering with the rubber center.
Pressed out with ease.
Old bushes and ball joints. The rubber bushes were in great condition for being 25 years old. The front lower arm bushes were a bit soft but not damaged. Until Colin attacked them with a grinder.
The ball joints in the front were still good with no unusual movement. But I read the BGB testing method and they may not have passed as they were very east to spin.
I had previously replaced the right rear ball joint about 5 years ago as it was very worn out. I suspect the rears had been replaced before as the left side did not match the new TGP joint I bought. The fronts were the same though.
New steering tie rods. Inner and outer.
The right hand side has been replaced before as it is different to the new TGP and the left hand side one. Plus it was stiffer so less wear.
New bushes half installed. I did this so I could wrap them in masking tape so I could paint the arms. However I don't think it would have been necessary as most of the bushes went in very easy after that.
Once everything was finished I seated the bushes with a G clamp. Some where easy while the rear lower arms were being difficult.
New steering rack bushes went in along with freshly painted brackets.
Cleaned up the hubs and backing plates.
Painted up.
I decided to paint the springs as they were a bit chipped like everything else. I also wiped down the Bilsteins as they were dirty from the Lake Wiararapa trip through the mud.
Painted up the arms.
Boost (the cat) getting in on the action.
All the suspension parts laid out with bushes fully installed.
Reinstalled hubs.
Painted the centre of the hub as they are visible when the wheels are on.
Front strut bar bushings bolted up. A deep 23mm socket would be nice. Time consuming with a ring spanner. 24mm on the rear too.
Front suspension reinstalled.
Rear suspension reinstalled.
I have put the car back on the ground and torqued up the bolts while on the ground. This is not easy in the garage. Last thing I still need to do is reinstall the caps and cotter pins on the rear axles then I can drive it again. But before I think about driving too far I need a major wheel alignment. From the bits I can measure like castor it is out by 6-10mm side to side.
- 4,763
- Houston, TX
Thats a big job, great work! However, all the new poly bushings look dry. Did you grease them before instal? The center sleeve pivots inside the bushing and can make noise if not properly greased.
- 1,759
- NZ
Thanks. Was a big job but nothing I can't handle. Quite a few of the photos show the bushes dry, good observation, but when I installed them I greased them up. The grease is clear so hard to see.
- 1,759
- NZ
Took it for a short drive. The steering is way to the left even though I put the new rack ends on at the same position. Dropping the steering rack wouldn't help though. The ride doesn't appear any harsher than before but I always found the ride harsh anyway. Setting both swaybars to medium makes the inside rear lift up more making it spin up. Might put the rear bar back to soft for now.
The car responds faster to direction changes and sits flatter which is nice. Will see how it gets on with a wheel alignment.
The car responds faster to direction changes and sits flatter which is nice. Will see how it gets on with a wheel alignment.
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