ok well the way i got my springs off was just to get the car off the ground but dont support it buy the rear axle removed the bottom shock bolt and i pretty much fell out if yours dont do that then use a spring compressor.
what i circled is were i removed mine from and is also were the rivit is.
Thanks, I will try again at taking the springs out as when I dropped the axle, the springs were still attached at either side... Now its time to use some pulling force! And I do have a spring compressor, but I can't fit it inside either of the control arms, which makes it a useless tool.
And I tried to drill out that rivet just for fun (not really needed as I will be getting a new rack anyway) and I couldn't even drill it out! I am kind of stuck and don't know what to do about the rack... I am going to get my mechanic friend over here tonight to give me a hand. Hopefully he can help!
Okay, so I got an idea when I went back and read through all of the posts. To get the rear springs out, I will make a cut in one of the middle coils and put the safety chain around the other side on that same coil. It'll work! Right? Oh well, if it doesn't, then I'll be missing an eye when I post next! lol
Are you happy to hear that I didn't die by cutting the springs out? lol, Now I just can't get the rack out. It seems like it is stuck on those bolt support thingies (the little tube the bolt goes through). No matter how much I pull on my crow bar, it doesn't even budge.:head scratch: Am I missing a bolt somewhere? I thought there was only 2; one on either side.
Well anyway, I also got the new ball joints pressed on and it was a piece of cake! Tomorrow the rest of my parts come in and I can start putting this thing back together! I am getting excited to see how it handles with all of these new suspension "upgrades"!!!
QUESTION: How can I easily drain the power steering fluid and flush the system?
take the P/S return line off yhe pump put a cap on the nipple
and the return line in a bucket and have some one start the car as you pour new fluid in the pump till it comes out clean and do this with old rack on the ty rods don't need to be hooked up
Jim
I will do this with the old rack as I can not get it off at the moment. It is unbolted but the darn thing doesn't want to slide off the bolt supports (the tubes the bolts slide through). I will give it a go tomorrow as my new rack should be in tomorrow.
And I have decided to go with EIBACH springs on all 4 corners... It wasn't cheap ($280 Canadian without the Isolators), but they are going to lower it an inch and make Alice handle like a champ.
Cool I'm still wundering what springs to put on lil cobra
when I got it the rear springs sagged badly and I have put 94 gt springs on the rear plus the sway bar and it sits up to high
Sorry I have been really lazy and I was going to post back on all of my threads... I was going to wait until after I got the safety, but here it goes:
It went very, very well, thank-you for asking. I finished it about a week and a half ago. Everything looks very clean and she does handle very well.
I went ahead and got a new 2.5 turn rack and pinion because I couldn't figure out how to get the old tie rod inners off. I had the most difficulty with just getting the old rack off! I had to drill through the old rubber bushings to get the rack off. I guess they were stuck on the rusted bolt pins. I had a tough time getting one of the pins out but eventually did get it out. Then I made some new bolt pins from some old pipe I had laying around. I flushed the system (easy peasy lemon squeezy). It works really well but the steering pump is pretty loud. Still works though.
The lower ball-joints were a piece of cake with the press. The new moog ones went in very easily.
The springs were fairly easy to put on with a couple of outside-the-coil spring compressors that I picked up for $80. I didn't use the insulators or the seats that the springs sit on. Therefore I got more than a 2-inch drop. That put the front wheels at level with the fender lip and the rear wheels had an 1"-1.5" between the fender lip. The driver's side sits slightly lower than the passenger's side. The ride height is as follows:
Front left: 10.3inches Front Right: 11.1inches Rear left: 10.3inches Rear Right: 10.7inches
What could cause this radical difference? Should I recheck how the springs seat? Should I use the rubber seats to level the height?
The new KYB shocks were a piece of cake. The KYB struts were slightly more difficult as I had to spend 15 minutes trying to figure out exactly how the mounting kit went on. No more squeaks from the struts now.
I cleaned up the steering knuckles and rotor by putting them in an electic bath with some baking soda. They looked brand new after I painted them! I got my mechanic friend to show me exactly how the bearings go in. They weren't that tough. The hardest part was getting the old rings out as there was almost no edge left to hammer them out. We ended up putting a whole bunch of welds on the ring to get something we could use to hammer on.
I got everything sorta straight and then took it down to Canadian Tire and got an alignment. I told them that everything was done by myself and if they could check over everything. They said everything looks great! They had no issues doing the alignment. They had to max out the camber to get the wheels to be more perpindicular with the ground. Front Alignment Specs:
Camber: 0.1*
Caster: 0.1*
Total Toe: -.25* Rear Alignment Specs: Camber: -0.5*
Total Toe: -.59* Thrust Angle: 0.07*
I'll post up some more pictures. If anybody could answer that question up there in bold, that woulds be great!
Cool I'm still wundering what springs to put on lil cobra
when I got it the rear springs sagged badly and I have put 94 gt springs on the rear plus the sway bar and it sits up to high
You'll get it down .5"-1" if you take out the rubber seats.
I do have one major problem other than the ride height issue:
The car understeers pretty badly. I don't know what understeering means, but that's what I have been calling it. What happens when I turn the wheel sharply, the back end feels like it travels in the opposite direction.
Could the ride height issue cause this? I am going to get myself a rear sway bar, so could this potentially help this issue?
I do have one major problem other than the ride height issue:
The car understeers pretty badly. I don't know what understeering means, but that's what I have been calling it. What happens when I turn the wheel sharply, the back end feels like it travels in the opposite direction.
Could the ride height issue cause this? I am going to get myself a rear sway bar, so could this potentially help this issue?
Thanks, Steve
I would def. try it, the rear sway bar makes a BIG difference. I got the 5.0 rear sway bar and it handles like a dream.
I was really wondering if the steering retracts back when you let go of the wheel in a turn?
As for your springs, someone once told me that all the ends of the springs should face the same way. And I think with all the rust your car gets, you should put the rubber seats back in. It's there to keep the springs from gouging the metal plate below it. Just my thought though.
you have to let the car settle give it about a month then recheck the height. As for the understeer sway bars front and rear I replaced mine with ones from a TC and much better they are the same in the 5.0's
I would def. try it, the rear sway bar makes a BIG difference. I got the 5.0 rear sway bar and it handles like a dream.
I was really wondering if the steering retracts back when you let go of the wheel in a turn?
As for your springs, someone once told me that all the ends of the springs should face the same way. And I think with all the rust your car gets, you should put the rubber seats back in. It's there to keep the springs from gouging the metal plate below it. Just my thought though.
Yes, Definately gonna try the sway bar. The steering does retract back after I turn a corner. It didn't before the alignment obviously. And I cleaned up the control arms before putting the new springs in. I talked with TOM about the seats and he said that all they do is basically add to the ride height of the vehicle and he told me to try it without them at first. But that is a very plausible idea that they stop the springs from getting scratches... But if you think about it, as long as they are seated properly in the control arms, they shouldn't move. I think I am gonna put the top seats back in in the front though as the front does sit a little bit too low.
No Problem! 
