Fellow listers,
Much done today so I thought a progress report in order. On the front end:
ran the car about 10 miles today and heard no chirp. Maybe it's just a
brake pad rubbing until it's set in as someone suggested or maybe I just
didn't catch it over the road noise today. It is a rather quiet chirp. :)
Rear suspension:
I'm really pleased how this is going so far. Following advice from the
list given way back when when I first thought I'd be able to work on this
(pre-front end work) I have now gotten both rear half-elliptical springs
off the car and have gotten all the old bushings out except the driver's
side front bushing. Just didn't have time before I had to stop work for
the day. Things went pretty smoothly except for one stubborn bolt, but
that finally came clean too. I had dosed with Liquid Wrench liberally for
days back when I thought I'd be doing the rear end. Seems to have helped.
One problem thanks to some previous owner. One of the front brackets for
the rear springs seems to have a bodge. I guess the nut that the pin
screws into must have broken off at some point so there is a messy weld
there. It looks structurally sound so I wouldn't mind so much, but it
looks like the pin might have gotten welded into the nut at the same time.
Ack! Couldn't see how I could get it off without just cutting the nut off
with an angle grinder. I'll look again tomorrow to see if I can save the
situation, but....
...does anyone have a spare front bracket for the rear springs I could
purchase? It's likely I won't be able to salvage this one. I really want
to get down to Tom's River, NJ for the Positive Earth Club's show this
Saturday so if no one has one available, I'll have to order one from a
parts place soon.
Thanks for all the support I've had on my suspension work. I wouldn't have
ever gotten through the front end without the list and the rear end
wouldn't have gone so smoothly.
Thanks,
Philip
Burgundy 1974 Midget
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