Carrera Suspension Update - Page 2

NoLift911 · 11-06-2010, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Brown

LOL

After all you have been through, defeated by a brake rotor. I find that funny.

Seriously, great job on concorsing your car. We should all strive to achieve this level of Restoration. Those screws only hold all the parts together when the wheel is off, not a critical part. Also, why did you go with the 28 row cooler vice the Carrera cooler? It does look great.

Thanks -

Well the 28 row is original to the car (84 Carrera) - it cools just fine, even at the track for DE's in 100+ temps so why mess with what works?

Refurbed it for $65 plus shipping, polished up the lines and the thermostat.

I am going to install my bushings on my front a-arms so they can rest for a day before being installed.

Yeah I thought it odd on the brake rotor that it did not index up at some position...drilling a hole is easy since I bought new set screws for the rear anyway might as well use them.

James Brown · James Brown's Garage

Sure, looks great. Do you have the angle of the arms set? what will you be using as a starting point.

NoLift911 · 04:23 AM

I just installed and indexed the front mounts - so this looks easy - in theory. I think I bought the wrong clamp. I got the HD special with the twist handle with no crank type handle so I got monster blisters. The deal with these cheapo clamps is that they only work so far... then you need to reset the clamp(the screw) is not long enough. Chuck's tools, instructions are spot on, I didn't have an extra set of hands (well actually I had 3 sets they are just attached to a 4 year old, 3 year old and 8 month) and had that cheapy clamp which made it harder than need be. Anyway, got those done and they are "resting" for the evening. 21 in the front and 15 on the rear. I hope I did them right.

As for the angle on the rear plates - good question. I have no idea how much my car weighs...stock Carrera with nothing in it - the sky jacker photos above will show how high it was sitting at the stock suspension height and no weight in it. It has a Patrick Racing roll bar...35-40lbs? So any guess as to the weight I should start with?

I have a few parts being powder coated and I am waiting on new spring plate bolts from our host. I got lots to keep me busy in the mean time - here is a pic of the A-arms - they look right eh?

Does this clamp look right?

This clamp is def not right - (don't get this one)

parting shot

KNS · 11-06-2010, 08:24 PM

The clamp is right, the rubber cushion is just too thick for that application.

rtorres · rtorres's Garage

I am pretty sure the problem is that the white spacers belong right under the bolt head (providing the proper spacing for the rocker panels---bolt head, rocker panel, spacer, in that order).

NoLift911 · 11-07-2010, 02:32 AM

Yeah the rubber spacers/bushings seem pretty fat - got them from our host. They are a bit thicker than what I took off.

Wil Ferch · 11-07-2010, 09:30 AM

84 Carrera should weigh 2760 lbs with a bit of fluids.....a rear section roll bar is about 40-50 lbs. Some advice....."garbage-in/garbage out" as to setting the rear suspension angles. I worked up the angle calculator and people here who've tried it says it works fairly well.....but ya gotta get the weight right, it can be pretty sensitive to this.

NoLift911 · 11-07-2010, 10:10 AM

Right - I am guessing I have taken out anywhere between 400-450 lbs. The list exhaustive and extensive - it all adds up.

I do have the ASP's in the rear that makes things easier so I just need to be in the ballpark and can adjust from there.

Wil Ferch · 11-07-2010, 02:40 PM

Get the car on a set of scales if a lot ( and a lot of "uncertain amount") of weight was removed. The ASP's will only take you so far.

NoLift911 · 11-08-2010, 04:20 AM

I hear ya Wil - but the car has no suspension on it as of now...so it's like the chicken before the egg or.....? I will have to guestimate.

NoLift911 · 11-08-2010, 06:50 AM

Lopped off the ears on the other side and drilled and tapped for the set screws on both sides...I hope the fronts go on with no "mods"

Parts now only on one side of the garage with lots more to go...

na2ub · 11-08-2010, 07:06 AM

Hate to say it, but it appears the front bushing on your left a-arm is indexed the wrong direction. I bought the same bar clamp and could not get the bushings to set. The bar would start bending. I went back and bought the long pipe clamp fittings and a 3/4 inch pipe (for only a few more bucks) and it worked like a charm.

Doug

NoLift911 · 11-09-2010, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by na2ub

Hate to say it, but it appears the front bushing on your left a-arm is indexed the wrong direction. I bought the same bar clamp and could not get the bushings to set. The bar would start bending. I went back and bought the long pipe clamp fittings and a 3/4 inch pipe (for only a few more bucks) and it worked like a charm.

Doug

Thanks for the heads up - you are correct. I fixed this last night as the soap still had some movement in order to tweek it into the right position in the other direction. That would have ruined my day when I went to bolt it up.

na2ub · 11-09-2010, 07:06 AM

Glad you caught it in time. I just did mine too, although I skipped all the powder coating and cleaning, so my car still looks like crap. Nice work so far. Definitely jealous.

500_19B · 11-09-2010, 08:28 AM

Great thread and I really like your car!

I am following a similar path, but am further from done. I just picked up a batch of parts from powder coating and have a second batch in for zinc plating. I cleaned and painted all the fenderwells and floor pan like you did too.

NoLift911 · 11-09-2010, 08:59 AM

Looks great, what color blue is that? I just figured while the entire suspension is out it's a great time to do stuff like this. Where are you getting your stuff powdercoated and plated? I would like to find a plater close to me to send stuff.

Looking good!! Last night I cleaned up all of the brake lines and getting ready to put the front suspension back in.

500_19B · 11-09-2010, 09:12 AM

Hey, thank you for the kind words, I just thought it was so cool to see someone doing almost exactly what I'm going through (and yeah, I polished up my oil lines too!)

I am in Toronto, Canada (far way from you) so my sources are not practical in your case, but for those in the area, I highly recommend M&M Plating for any kind of plating and Spectrum Powder Coating (no web site, but phone is (416) 622-4595)

Throughout my 944 project I have spent a small fortune on plating and powder coating and have tried a number of outfits. These two have both proven to be good price and quality. I was able to get both sway bars, both control arms, the belly pan, oil cooler shroud, both front struts and a bunch of smaller parts coated in satin black for $200. I did the glass bead blasting myself though.

Like you I am keeping the car pretty much stock. I should be ready to install my ER rubber control arm bushings the week after next, so your tips are very handy indeed.

Oh yeah, the color is Prussian blue.

NoLift911 · 11-21-2010, 10:45 AM

Got around to painting my rotor hats, I hate it when they rust and look bad -

Cleaned up the strut mounts inside/outside:

Got the club sport valence "wurthed" on the inside - so it is ready for install:

Front rotors and suspension up next for install

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

rotors painted gray???

also, you need to reseal the strut mount that you cleaned up

NoLift911 · 11-21-2010, 12:53 PM

Yes - rotor hats painted grey. The overspray will wear off the surface of the rotor with the first application of the pads. The focus was the hats.

I doubt I will reseal the strut tops - doubtful if the car will see rain - why else seal them? I can see if you drive in wet/slop but otherwise no need.