bay area suspension rebuild (party)

[juanbenae]

well the parts have been sitting around for weeks, im done with being in wedding partys, done with the bathroom remodel, and my hangover and the glazed donut in my pants are just about gone from my 20 year reunion last weekend, so its "go time".

i will be starting my front suspension rebuild this weekend, new t-bars, ball joints, elephant bushings, and a little wheelwell tiddying. i plan on getting underway saturday at around noon and go all day sunday, so if anyone wants to drop by for morale or any other type of support you are welcome. i live in sunnyvale and will forward directions to any interested parties.

i will have some beer for that afternoon shift, and pizza for any hungry guys that get greasy hands and sodas all day.

disclaimer--- i have no hot (chick) neighbors, no pool, a misbehaving dog, a cat that will piss in your car if you leave the windows open, no wife that will be parading around in a skimpy bathing suit, my sister will not be there, my girlfriend is mad at me so she wont be around and if i drink too much friday night i may not start until VERY late saturday, or at best have a very short fuse. and oh yeah, i anticipate much swearing so leave the kids at home.

but would enjoy seeing some of you guys if interested. I had thoughts of getting a special celebrity guest (chuck moreland) but our conversations regarding such were early spring and this short notice may be difficult to make, but chuck you are wellcome too.

toby

[cantdrv55]

Sunday's better for me so if you can hold out until then, I'll be there. I can be there Saturday too if you can get some hot chicks to come over.

[vash]

what is a ball joint? can i help? haha

still checking my schedule, but sunday is looking pretty good.

[ZOA NOM]

I wanna go, keep me posted.

[juanbenae]

sent you guys PMs.. got a pm from a bay area guy thats been lurking here and he will be coming by too. chime in mr beers and reveal yourself... beers what a great last name eh? post some pics of that car too.

sunday sounds fine, either day is good. i would suspect i will be starting the second side by sunday and hopefully have all the kinks worked out.

toby

[MichiganMat]

I may come by, it depends on what happens with the Historics.

[cbeers]

OK, Toby "ratted" me out.

My name is Chris Beers and I am a Porsche addict. I am a new owner but have been a fan since I was four, always looking for another Hotwheel, toy or poster to add to my collection. Now I have the real thing.

cantdrv55 (Chris I think??) you actually test drove my car and posted your opinion for John in Norcal (PO). I also contacted you about your SC when you were thinking of selling. Basically, I used this forum, along with Rennlist, Road Fly and any other sources I could find to research the 911 lineage and figure out which model would be best for me. As it turns out, I did not want a red targa, but it was a clean, well sorted car and I went for it. It has been almost too much fun and I can't wait to learn as much as possbile about it (one of the reasons I plan on dropping by Toby's this weekend) so that I can dial it in to my standards. I figure the following link is the best way to show you what I got, plus I am still trying to figure out how to actually use this forum rather than just read everyone else's posts.

OK, rambling on too much I'm sure.


FS: 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa $17000



If this link doesn't work, I'll post again and attach pix.


Look forward to meeting as many of you as I can!


-Chris

[Jdub]

Go over your checklist again: do you have fresh wedge bolts and nuts for the strut-to-balljoints? Sway bar bushings are inexpensive and you are almost there for them. Be sure to make up some fresh foam protectors for the tbars in the A arms: you can use battery terminal felts for these: two red on the right, two green on the left side!

John

[cantdrv55]

cbeers, so you're the one who stole John's car. I think you got yourself a heck of a deal on that '88 targa. That car came with a lot of extras so I hope you're enjoying it. Can't wait to see it again and to meet you on Sunday. Welcome to the board!

Chris

[cbeers]

Hey Chris,

Yup, it was me. Although, now that I have had it a little while, I don't feel like I stole it. Don't get me wrong, I absolutley LOVE the car, but it needs a fairly costly repair at some point. The teeth on the starting ring (flywheel) are boken in some spot(s) so I occasionally get that horrible grinding / screeching sound. Oh well, it should not be a really big problem for awhile, at least I hope so.....plus, it will be a good excuse to drop the engine and mess around

Looking forward to meeting you and the others as well!

See you this weekend.

-Chris

[cbeers]

Oh yeah, it is an '87 just for the record


-Chris

[yelcab1]

Address please!

[juanbenae]

well heres the deal--

i got home from work a bit early yesterday and decided to move the car around in the garage, spread some carpet, and get it up on jacks. then i figured well i should go ahead and pull the tires off and get some more liquid wrench shot on things with out the tire obstructing. well after that i saw the strut wedge pin nut and it actually was talking to me. it was saying " you can't get me off, you're a *******, and my partner the wedge pin thinks so too"..

so i was going to show that thing and fired up the compressor and put the impact wrench to it. off it came. then i could hear the wedge bolt more cleary speaking to me, it was "saying that nut is a *******, and so are you". so i got a big ace hammer and one of my favorite carpenter punches from my carpentry days and gave it a lick. did not budge, at that point i remembered that these were a bear. i gave it a good whack and the thing flew out and accross the garage.

well at this point i was like i should go ahead and drop the control arm. did so, extracted the stock t-bar, and proceeded to torch the oem bushings off. they too spoke to me but i can not repeat what they said here in this family forum.... anyway i gave them the what for and had a clean surface at either end. i shimmed the races of the elephant bushings, put a little two part epoxy as recommend in the directions and that where it sits. letting the epoxy cure for the reinstall on saturday. during that process i also removed the ball joint and cleaned that area up for the install of the newbys.

i know you guy are thinking "why dint he paint the control arms?" well they were in great shape (74k garage queen) and after a degreasing and scurbbing they looked brand new. i did spray wd-40 in the t-bar tube after the rinsing as to prevent any rust from water that may have entered.

so far so good! i may get done saturday if the reinstall goes as smooth (typing with fingers crossed) as the first couple hours. so you guys should call if you cant make it saturday to see if i will be going sunday. if the front goes back together by days end saturday i very well may start the rear, so only the title of the party will change from front to rear rebuild.

john, thanks for the heads up. i have got new sway bushings too and they have been installed on the side im working on now. got new pins, but will get a new nut from a hardware store and save like 5 bucks. also got new hardware for the new ball joint install. but thanks you for the heads up. i have used your rebuild thread for guidance alot thus far. im sure i will refer to it as i start the rear.

well sorry to jump the gun on you guys but that pile of parts that have lived in the corner of my living room for the past few months was a driving force in my progress last night. i will not be working on it tonite because i will be having a few livations at a local watering hole.

will post how things go back together soon,,, i hope.....

toby

[juanbenae]

and oh yeah, glad i was able to out you chris.....

[cbeers]

Hey Toby,

Sounds like you are on for Saturday for sure and maybe Sunday??? I'll give you a call about 5:30 tomorrow morning OK? JK, maybe around 10-12ish, I plan on having some "diet soda" tonight as well

-Chris

[juanbenae]

where do you hang at? i will be at murphy's law in downtown s'vale. ill be the short stocky guy all drunk with a drink in each hand...

[cantdrv55]

This is an update on Toby's suspension rebuild. I spoke to him tonight (Saturday evening) and he asked me to post this since he doesn't have internet access at home. Found out he's completed the front end already. A couple of Pelicans; Michigan Mat, CBeers and maybe Brad (?) came by to give him a hand and he's now at the point that he'll need parts to continue the rear end work. Bottom line is, no work will be done on his P-car tomorrow so I hope you fellas planning on stopping by his place will read this before heading out.

[cbeers]

Yeah, Toby was a man on a mission ! He had the whole front done by the time I showed up on Saturday afternnon. Then went straight for the rear and had the driver's side pulled etc. by 4:30.
It was great to have met you Toby and Matt and thanks for letting me hang around like Cal Trans and watch you work

Now we just need to get aout and go for a drive !

-Chris

[vash]

hey!!!!!! i work for caltrans!!!!! and for the record, i just climbed a bunch of column casings in the middle of a concrete pour to check for specs. it was hell, i felt like i did 150 chin ups. once on top, i did pretty much watch them work (they shoulda gone to college)

toby, you are the man! cbeers, toby is the master at organizing drives. anyone else organizes one, no one shows

[cantdrv55]

Originally posted by vash
hey!!!!!! i work for caltrans!!!!! and for the record, i just climbed a bunch of column casings in the middle of a concrete pour to check for specs. it was hell, i felt like i did 150 chin ups. once on top, i did pretty much watch them work (they shoulda gone to college)

toby, you are the man! cbeers, toby is the master at organizing drives. anyone else organizes one, no one shows

Hey, I've organized a drive! I showed.