Anyone Modify 87-88 V6 Dog Bone For Poly Bushings? (Page 2/3)
reinhart MAY 11, 08:16 PM

quote
Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua:

Start with an 85-86 V6 dogbone, cut out the rubber bushing, clean and paint it, insert the Prothane bushings (that are a direct fit) -done.




Haven't seen anyone selling used 85-86 bones for less than the cost of getting a short piece of pipe. Do you have one for <$10 shipped?
Patrick MAY 11, 08:33 PM

quote
Originally posted by reinhart:

Did you read the thread you linked?



I looked it over quickly (didn't study it) as I'm not the one modifying a dogbone. I supplied the link for your possible benefit. What was it that caught your attention?

[EDIT] Okay, I read the whole thread more thoroughly... and discovered in the 16th and final post of the thread what you're possibly referring to. Reinhart, you probably could've simply mentioned what Electrathon had posted instead of quizzing me.


quote
Originally posted by Electrathon;

The issue with using the internal rib bones is that the main hole through the bone is not the same size as the bushings, it is slightly larger. You can see that one of your bushings is tipped in one of the pics. The bushings fit loose in the bone except for the center area that was bored out, allowing for more movement. They will work, but the fit is of poor quality.


[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 05-11-2021).]

Dennis LaGrua MAY 11, 09:24 PM

quote
Originally posted by reinhart:


Haven't seen anyone selling used 85-86 bones for less than the cost of getting a short piece of pipe. Do you have one for <$10 shipped?



Dog bones with bad loose bushing rubber should not cost much. If I had one I would sell it for $5 or probably give it away. Without rebuilding its a useless part or core. The parts dealers like Wayne Renninger and Tom Derr should have that part . If you are a welder, want to make one from scrap tubing and don't care about looks or originality, go for it.

------------------
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"THE COLUSSUS"
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reinhart MAY 12, 06:21 PM
Fair enough Dennis. Even so, the shipping on the $5 dog bone would probably get you over $10 total. And I really haven't seen anyone selling cheap or giving one away. But in fairness, I didn't ask around.

Considering how easy the mod is, at least for me, it is a no brainer to at least give it a shot. Total labor invested was about 5 minutes with 30 minutes browsing the web looking for a suitable pipe. To cut the pipe twice and smooth out the edges is probably about another 10 min of work. If it doesn't work, I can always put in a request to get a used bone.

Anyway, I can get the pipe for $2.55 shipped as I found the same part on rockauto and am already putting an order in so the shipping is minimal. It's also available from oreilly for $4.29. I'll report back once I get the pipe and install it.
reinhart MAY 28, 06:34 AM
Well, I received the pipe and the verdict is. Meh.

It will work in theory. The ID was nearly perfect for the bushings but the OD was just slightly too large compared to the dogbone ID. If I had the proper equipment to grind the dogbone ID down more or the patience to do it by hand it would work. However I don't and I didn't. I tried to force the pipe in and the pipe split the dogbone. If you have a bench grinder it would be rather easy to do this correctly in a couple minutes.

This saga originally started because I got a poly 4 cyl Fiero Store Ultimate dogbone at the junkyard. I elected to make the poly work in my V6 and save the metal dogbone to either sell or save for a future project.

So Plan B:

Well once I broke my V6 dogbone today, I decided to just remake that 4 cyl Fiero Store Ultimnate dog bone to work on a V6.





The dogbone fits perfectly.

By the way Dennis, a few months ago you recommended a battery conditioner. I picked one up on amazon after I read that and it worked amazingly. It made 4 batteries that I thought I'd have to trade in or junk work like new again. Only one battery failed to fix. It was a jump start battery and it won't go over 11.5 volts even after a couple weeks on the conditioner. Thanks for the great idea.

[This message has been edited by reinhart (edited 05-28-2021).]

Spadesluck JUN 02, 10:30 PM
I took my stock dog bone and ground out the rib on the inside. Then used a urethane bushing all the way through. Not difficult, got the idea from this forum.
reinhart JUN 06, 04:20 AM

quote
Originally posted by Spadesluck:

I took my stock dog bone and ground out the rib on the inside. Then used a urethane bushing all the way through. Not difficult, got the idea from this forum.



If you don't mind it flopping around good for you.
Spadesluck JUN 06, 08:58 PM

quote
Originally posted by reinhart:


If you don't mind it flopping around good for you.



Its nice you assume mine is flopping around... Come on man, why would I build something like that or why would anyone do that? I can assure you it works as intended with nothing loose.
Spadesluck JUN 06, 09:05 PM
and BTW here is the thread....

Modify 87 Dog Bone
Patrick JUN 07, 03:46 PM

quote
Originally posted by Spadesluck:

and BTW Here is the thread....



I linked to that in the 4th post of this thread.