Blooze Own: An F355 Six Speed N* Build Thread (Page 104/126)
kennn APR 22, 11:34 PM
Thanks, Blooze. I appreciate the step-by-step explanation for things I've not done before.

Ken

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'88 Formula V6
'88 GT TPI V8

ericjon262 APR 22, 11:35 PM

quote
Originally posted by kennn:

Thanks, Blooze. I appreciate the step-by-step explanation for things I've not done before.

Ken




me too.
Diamond Dave APR 23, 01:54 AM
Me 3
Sage APR 23, 10:05 AM
Good stuff, and never "overkill" when you are explaining-giving in depth detail for a process many may wonder about. The last post on building up a CV joint should be entered into the "How To" section.

Getting closer all the time!

HAGO!
cptsnoopy APR 23, 01:15 PM
Thank you Dave,

Might come in handy if I really like the way my car drives. The Isuzu will eventually have to be replaced with something else...

Charlie
BlackThunderGT APR 23, 02:13 PM
Thanks for posting the step by step, it's never overkill for a rookie.
RCR APR 24, 06:53 AM
Me too, and I've done it...

Bob


quote
Originally posted by kennn:

Thanks, Blooze. I appreciate the step-by-step explanation for things I've not done before.

Ken
Bloozberry MAY 03, 09:17 AM
Wow! Thanks for all the feedback everyone. You guys keep me going!

For this post, I'd like to finish up the axle installations. It's been a while since my last post because my axles have been held up at the machine shop. The guy's just too busy with large scale contracts so piddly-little jobs like mine don't make it to the top of the heap very often. I finally got them back a couple days ago though so here's what the finished product looks like... these are the ends he re-splined for the Cobalt SS tripot joints (25 splines around a 26mm dia shaft)



Here are the ends that fit into the stock manual Fiero CV joint spiders (32 splines on a 26 mm shaft). If you've been following along, you'll know that the one in the foreground is from a Fiero, while the one in the back is the Dodge Caravan axle since my second Fiero axle was slightly bent. The Caravan axle made a good replacement even though the splines weren't exactly the same length as the Fiero's since the part beyond the snap ring doesn't engage into anything anyway:



I was more than a little annoyed that the machinist didn't follow my instructions to a "tee". For this photo, I linedup the unseen endsof the axle rods and measured from the ring groove of the unseen ends to the snap ring grooves shown here:



The difference between the two snap ring grooves shown was supposed to 80 mm but if you look closely you'll count 90 mm's... so that meant either one shaft was cut too long or the other too short. I remained hopeful that the difference wouldn't matter... more on that later. So here are all the parts that went into making both axle assemblies (ess the tripot cups which I left sticking out of the transmission)



I greased up the innards of the CV joints and slipped the axles into both until audible clicks were heard signalling the snap rings seated into the grooves:



Then I slid the boot into place and used some special clamps to retain them:



Next came building up the tripot end of the axles. You have to remember to slip the boot on first otherwise you'll be doing things over again! Then then inner snap ring goes on:



Then the tripot spider assembly snugs up against the inner snap ring:



And finally the outer snap ring goes on. Here's what both axles looked like ready to install on the car:



I decided to start installing the axles on the side I believed the machine shop made too short. To get the axle into place, I had to disconnect the shock, trailing link, and both lower lateral links so I could swing the knuckle far enough away from the transmission to insert the axle. Here's the driver's side at ride height with the tripot boot pulled back so I could see where the rollers sat inside the tripot cup:



A close up shows that the extra 10 mms on the axle would have been welcome:



Especially when the rollers come very close to the edge of the cup at full jounce:



Needless to say, I'm a little annoyed. I'm so frustrated with the machine shop though that I'm going to leave it this way and address it if it becomes a problem on the road. I figure that at ride height, there is enough engagement for it not to be a problem, and that the suspension will spend very little time at full jounce. Even when it does, the balls are still clearly in their tracks... but with very little margin. So I greased it up and installed the tripot boot:



Then I cycled the suspension through it's full range of movement to be certain the axle rod wouldn't hit the bottom of the lower frame rail in jounce, nor the top of the cradle rail in rebound. There was plenty of clearance with the suspension drooped all the way down:



... and a couple of millimeters clearance under the lower rail in full compression... though I will trim the weld flange on the lower rail just to make a bit more room. Lastly, here's a pic of the axle and suspension at ride height:



I have a few photos of the passenger side axle I'll post up next, though it went much better with the proper length axle.
fieroguru MAY 03, 11:52 AM
You can have a spacer made to shim the CV housing 10mm from the backside of the bearing to make up the difference. If the machine shop knows they cut one too short, they may make the needed spacer for free.
Reallybig MAY 04, 03:58 AM
I'm not sure if you have ever used that type of CV boot retainer, but it looks just like the crappy one that I used on my Fiero CV. Within no time, I had CV grease all over that side of the engine bay. If you can, I would suggest getting some original factory style retaining rings that tighten with the clamping tool. I may just be the odd duck who had this problem, but your engine bay is so nice, it would be a shame to have it covered in grease the first run around the block!