[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-27-2007).]

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-27-2007).]

I have been doing some work on my car as of late however, not on the body. I was thinking of starting a new thread but what the heck I will just continue to post in this one.

Lately i have been working on the suspension and I am finally at the point where I can start putting things back together for a change rather than just tearing stuff apart. Progress is being made!!!

You know, The only thing that was "wrong" with my car was that the clutch blew out. Here's the thread about it:
http://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...041015-2-049172.html
All I had to do was replace the clutch and I would have been good to go. But, NOOOO, maybe I'll do and engine swap once the cradle is out. But then I need to add some side scoops. Or change the deck lid, or the hood. Of course the suspension needs to be done, bigger brakes....

*Sigh* Anyways, here is the condition of the front suspension when I started.
The right side:


And the left side:

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-27-2007).]

So let the demolition begin:



As you can see, lots of general clean up is required but over all the rust is minimal. In order to neutralize the rust I am using a product called Rust Mort (the green liquid). This product reacts with the rust rendering it inert and the color change from "rust" to "black" indicates that the process is complete. I clean the part off first and wire brush it to get rid of the really crusty chunks. After the Rust Mort is applied I usually let it sit overnight before I wash it off.


This stuff is an acid so make sure you wear eye protection and rubber gloves when using it.

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-27-2007).]

After the pieces are cleaned they are then given a prime coat.

And while all that was going on the wheel well itself was cleaned and painted.

And we of course had to have the ubiquitous "burning of the bushings" ritual/festival with great fire light and chanting in a circle as we burn the bejeebers out of the control arms. All this is necessarily done in secret to avoid angering the Eco-terrorists by producing great clouds of black acrid smoke which rise high into the sky as a blight upon the skyline of our fair city.

The control arms were then primed and painted with little ceremony:

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-27-2007).]

I did have one hitch though. When I was removing the sway bar one of the bolts on the left side chassis bearing broke off almost flush with the underside of the space frame. There was a little bit sticking out but not enough that any of my tools could grab onto it. I did try welding a nut onto it by placing a nut over the bolt shaft and welding the nut to the bolt shaft through the hole in the nut. After about a dozen or so attempts ( ) at that point I gave up on that method. Welding upside down is not nearly so easy as "normal" welding. I could get it welded but not strong enough, it would just spin off.

OK, so then I tried to drill it out and use an easy out. No luck there. These bolts are hard little suckers and even though I did manage to get a strait pilot hole that was more or less centered but when I went to a larger bit I totally messed it up. *sigh*

The third method was to cut open the side of the frame where the bolt and interior nut are. Using a thin cutting disk in the angle grinder I cut out three sides of a square leaving the bottom attached and bent it out to expose the culprit. The remaining bolt shaft was protruding through the nut and I was able to weld a nut on it and extract it though the top of the nut. Sorry no pictures, I was too busy looking for thing to throw around the shop, I didn't want the camera to be one of them.

Once the bolt was out I hammered the opening flap back into place and welded it shut, primed and painted. Voila:


Thats it for tonight.
Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-27-2007).]