thomas_w's log

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thomas_w
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Post by thomas_w » Fri May 02, 2014 3:57 pm

ianguilly wrote:Do all the stuff at once, lca are a pita but yours being so late that shouldnt be an issue.
That's why I was thinking to replace the entire LCA assembly so that I do not have to deal with getting the bushings and ball joint swapped. I would still have to get the old LCA out though. I am hoping that with enough PB blaster it will be okay.

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Post by thomas_w » Wed May 21, 2014 10:55 pm

Noticed the other day that there is a trail of rust appearing from underneath my wing. So I took it off to check out the damage. There was quite a bit of rust around one of the holes. Maybe water got in there somehow. I removed the chipped paint and used a dremel to remove all the rust:
Image

I then covered it with primer:
Image

Gave it some touch up with the actual paint and put the wing back on. Fortunately, the wing covers it all so that the paint job does not have to look perfect. I also used some caulk to make sure everything is watertight:
Image

I definitely have to clean the car before the Dayton meet on Saturday.

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Thu May 22, 2014 1:05 am

My car has a leaky wing also so I know how you feel. :banghead:
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Post by thomas_w » Thu May 22, 2014 8:55 am

Midnight_Rider wrote:My car has a leaky wing also so I know how you feel. :banghead:
The water never got into the trunk, though, which is probably why I never noticed it before. But there was a little bit of water inside the wing support and the bolts were slightly rusty also. I am just glad that I noticed it before it spread beyond where the wing mounts. Otherwise, it would have been much more work as it is more visible. I used caulk from the top and the bottom so it should have filled in all the voids. That should keep it from leaking (fingers crossed). There was some glue residue that they used from the factory to keep it from leaking, which is what they wanted to use on yours I assume.

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Post by occasional demons » Thu May 22, 2014 10:51 am

The rear wings/spoilers are notorious for holding water inside of them too. When ever I open my trunk, water runs out of the spoiler onto the rear glass.

On both my Sundance Duster, and Shadow, the water that ran out of the spoiler discolored the paint on the rear fascia. Naturally, there was nothing Chrysler could do about it.

I am more surprised the water doesn't accumulate enough in there to freeze, and crack the spoiler in the winter.
Bill
Olha Koba, a psychologist in Kyiv, said that “anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate.” But it is important to channel it into something useful, she said, such as making incendiary bombs out of empty bottles.
2000 Neon MTX swap with '02 R/T PCM
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester

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Post by thomas_w » Thu May 22, 2014 1:44 pm

occasional demons wrote:I am more surprised the water doesn't accumulate enough in there to freeze, and crack the spoiler in the winter.
Now you are scaring me :shock:

But I would think it is not going to fill up all the way so that the water can expand upward if it freezes.

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Post by thomas_w » Sun Jun 01, 2014 7:21 pm

occasional demons wrote: You may want to set some extra $ aside for upper mounts too.

...

So if you suspect that you may need them, it is wise to call ahead for stock/availability.
Bill, you were right as always. My upper mounts were rusted and I ordered new ones as noone has them locally. They should get here next week.

I was taking apart the front end this weekend. I removed the sway bar and painted it. I also managed to take out the tie rods. They were a little more of a pain but eventually they came out:

Image

The inner tie rods were definitely shot and the outer ones did not look that great either. I noticed the grease in there. Am I supposed to put some new grease in there when I install the new tie rods? Or does this get lubricated through the power steering fluid?

The rear bushings on the control arms failed and are torn. I was hitting a bit of a road block when taking them out though. I am able to remove the rear bolt and can separate the ball joint from the knuckle. However, the horizontal bolt is just stuck. It is soaking in PB blaster right now. Am I just supposed to hammer it out or is there some other trick? I did not want to pound on it too much yet before checking with you guys who know more about this than me.

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Post by ducktapetg » Sun Jun 01, 2014 8:34 pm

thomas_w wrote: However, the horizontal bolt is just stuck. It is soaking in PB blaster right now. Am I just supposed to hammer it out or is there some other trick? I did not want to pound on it too much yet before checking with you guys who know more about this than me.
The horizontal bolt sucked a lot. I ended up heating the control arm where the bushing was. Then, I would hit the nut with a hammer (eventually switched to air hammer which I would highly recommend for the job). Doing it this way may destroy your bolt. Also, try not to hit the k-frame. This will make it hard to get the control arm back in if its bent.

Hope this helps
Jason

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Post by thomas_w » Sat Jun 14, 2014 10:15 pm

ducktapetg wrote: The horizontal bolt sucked a lot. I ended up heating the control arm where the bushing was. Then, I would hit the nut with a hammer (eventually switched to air hammer which I would highly recommend for the job). Doing it this way may destroy your bolt. Also, try not to hit the k-frame. This will make it hard to get the control arm back in if its bent.

Hope this helps
Thanks, definitely helped. I do agree, it did suck a lot. I tried all sorts of things. I do not have an air hammer but a pretty beefy electrical one. The only thing it did though was destroy the bolt and nut. I tried heat but despite the heat shield I put in to keep the heat contained I managed to set the CV boot on fire :shock: So I will have to replace that one as well... I had some extra help over the weekend so between the added PB bluster (it felt like the entire can went on there by now) and the 4lb hammer it finally started to move. It definitely needed the extra hands. But both control arms are finally out now. Despite the beating the sub frame still looks pretty good. I will find out for sure when I put the new ones in but I do not think it is bent. First I will paint it though to keep it from rusting.

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Sat Jun 14, 2014 11:13 pm

Burning CV joint boots are not a good thing. :shock:
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Post by thomas_w » Sun Jun 15, 2014 10:52 am

Midnight_Rider wrote:Burning CV joint boots are not a good thing. :shock:
Yeah, I was not happy about that either. I thought I had it insulated well enough. But I did get a heavy duty torch to heat up the sleeve on the bushing so it somehow made its way through I guess. It was just a few small flames at the bottom of the boot and I was able to just blow it out quickly. Live and learn I guess. In the end I was just happy that we got the control arms out. Replacing the CV boot seems relatively easy compared to that, especially since I have everything taken apart there already anyway. It is still the original boot and the grease in there that came out so far has the consistency of dirty water. I will know more once I take it off completely.

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Sun Jun 15, 2014 2:38 pm

Your car will be happy having new boots. :D I would like to replace mine someday, more because of age than wear.
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Post by thomas_w » Sun Jun 15, 2014 5:44 pm

Midnight_Rider wrote:Your car will be happy having new boots. :D I would like to replace mine someday, more because of age than wear.
Yes, that is why I was not too upset about it either. I know these are the original boots so they might have failed soon anyway. I still have the tie rods and the control arms out and I will remove the strut since that will be replaced as well. That should give me plenty of room to get to the boot.

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Sun Jun 15, 2014 10:18 pm

Now just get the work done in time to drive to Carlisle next month (very broad hint :lol: ).
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Post by thomas_w » Sun Jun 22, 2014 8:03 pm

Midnight_Rider wrote:Now just get the work done in time to drive to Carlisle next month (very broad hint :lol: ).
I am trying to be done by then. But I wanted to be done a week ago already. It is going pretty slowly. Every time I work on it for a couple of hours I notice that I need another tool or part.

This weekend I was able to take the axle apart and replaced the CV boot. This is how it looked initially:

Image

It came apart pretty well after I got the proper tool for taking that ring off for the CV joint:

Image

I left the receiving end in the car:

Image

I have the new boot on and the axle put together for the most part. I did not like the clamp that came with the doorman boot. It did not seem very tight. So I will get the one that was originally on there tomorrow. So my screw-up should be all fixed then.

I also got new bolts for the control arms from the dealer:

Image

These were definitely the most expensive bolts I ever got. With the matching nuts they ran over $40. But at least those are the appropriate ones so that should not give me any grief I hope.

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Post by occasional demons » Sun Jun 22, 2014 10:19 pm

The inner tie rods were definitely shot and the outer ones did not look that great either. I noticed the grease in there. Am I supposed to put some new grease in there when I install the new tie rods? Or does this get lubricated through the power steering fluid?
The new inners should be "permanently lubricated". The outers may have grease zerks, or they may be "permanently lubricated" depending on what brand you get/got.

I like to grease them just a little if they come with zerks, just incase they didn't get enough during assy..

Antiseize those new bolts before installing
Bill
Olha Koba, a psychologist in Kyiv, said that “anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate.” But it is important to channel it into something useful, she said, such as making incendiary bombs out of empty bottles.
2000 Neon MTX swap with '02 R/T PCM
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester

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Post by thomas_w » Sun Jun 22, 2014 10:47 pm

occasional demons wrote:The new inners should be "permanently lubricated". The outers may have grease zerks, or they may be "permanently lubricated" depending on what brand you get/got.

I like to grease them just a little if they come with zerks, just incase they didn't get enough during assy..

Antiseize those new bolts before installing
Thanks Bill. That makes sense. I got the Moog problem solvers for pretty much everything. I think the outer tie rods are permanently lubricated. But I will double check. There is a grease zerk on the ball joint. So I will shoot up some grease there to make sure.

Yes, I am going to use antiseize on those bolts in hopes they do not get that stuck again next time. Definitely a good idea.

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Mon Jun 23, 2014 12:01 am

thomas_w wrote:
Midnight_Rider wrote:Now just get the work done in time to drive to Carlisle next month (very broad hint :lol: ).
I am trying to be done by then.
=D>
thomas_w wrote:These were definitely the most expensive bolts I ever got. With the matching nuts they ran over $40. But at least those are the appropriate ones so that should not give me any grief I hope.
Things always cost more with the little blue "M" on them.:lol:

Off-topic but I remember putting zerks on my Omni's back in the 80's.
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Post by thomas_w » Thu Jun 26, 2014 6:43 pm

Some more progress. I put in the new clamp for the CV joint which make me feel more comfortable as that type of clamp is what was in there initially. I also installed the new control arms. They went in pretty easily. I was actually surprised how smoothly all the bolts went in. I was pretty liberal with antiseize in hopes that makes this easier if I have to do that again at some point. This is how it looks now:

Image

Now I need to move on to the shocks and put the new tie rods in. I already painted the stabilizer bar and have the new bushings on there so that should bolt right on.

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Thu Jun 26, 2014 10:45 pm

Car is gettin' some love. :thumbup:
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Post by thomas_w » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:50 pm

Midnight_Rider wrote:Car is gettin' some love. :thumbup:
Sure is :D

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Post by neongirl87 » Fri Jun 27, 2014 12:11 am

Feels good to fix her up and give her tlc =)

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Post by thomas_w » Fri Jun 27, 2014 9:42 am

neongirl87 wrote:Feels good to fix her up and give her tlc =)
Thanks, it does. I just wished I had more time to make faster progress on this. I kind of miss driving the neon.

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Post by neongirl87 » Fri Jun 27, 2014 10:27 am

thomas_w wrote:
neongirl87 wrote:Feels good to fix her up and give her tlc =)
Thanks, it does. I just wished I had more time to make faster progress on this. I kind of miss driving the neon.
I know what you mean, I bought my neon and like 2-3 weeks later I crashed it =\ little by little I'm getting it up and running

That's what we all need! Time and $$$

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Post by thomas_w » Sat Jul 05, 2014 11:12 pm

Got to work on the car a little more. Got all the new parts in for the most part. Front end is all fixed up and I think the alignment is okay enough to drive to the shop to get it aligned properly. The rear shocks are in as well, but I managed to snap the bolts on the passenger side. Pretty stupid, so now I need to check with the dealer to see if I can get replacement bolts. But the shock is in so all it takes is putting in the new bolts and put the wheel back on. Or could I maybe reuse the old pinch bolts from the knuckle where the ball joint goes in? They at least look like it is a similar size.

While I was under the car I did notice that my exhaust is pretty loose. It seems as if it is starting to crack right at the end of the catalytic converter right between the downstream O2 sensor and the clamp down there. When I get the alignment I will ask them to take a look at it. I hope there is a quick fix for that.

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Post by thomas_w » Sun Jul 06, 2014 5:13 pm

I was not able to find any of those bolts at the parts store. So I will check the dealer tomorrow morning. I hope they have them in stock. The reason I had to delay the shocks a few days was because I noticed that the other half of the strut mount was rusty too. So I figured I should replace it all while I am in there. But of course that took a few days for the parts to get here.

Since I cannot work on the car until I get the bolts I took some pictures today. This is the newly painted swaybar, I will see how long the paint lasts:
Image

And a close-up of the control arms and the new bushings connecting it to the swaybar:
Image

Finally, the new shocks. This one is the one in the rear that I still have to put the bolts on:
Image

The rear ones were actually relatively easy. It would be nice though if they standardized the sizes for the retaining nut at the top. The front struts had a 22mm nut and the part to keep it in place needed a 9mm socket. The ones in the rear had a 21mm nut. The Koni's all came with 22mm nuts and it took a 10mm socket to keep it from rotating. I used a 13/16 spark plug socket I had lying around for the 21mm nut and I bought a 7/8 O2 sensor socket for the 22m nut which both worked reasonably well.

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Post by occasional demons » Sun Jul 06, 2014 11:16 pm

You might want to consider new rear brake hoses while you are there. I guess the nice looking Koni strut kind of makes that rusty tube stick out more than it normally would. :/

But so far, it all looks clean and nice! :thumbup:
Bill
Olha Koba, a psychologist in Kyiv, said that “anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate.” But it is important to channel it into something useful, she said, such as making incendiary bombs out of empty bottles.
2000 Neon MTX swap with '02 R/T PCM
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester

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Post by thomas_w » Mon Jul 07, 2014 3:19 pm

occasional demons wrote:You might want to consider new rear brake hoses while you are there. I guess the nice looking Koni strut kind of makes that rusty tube stick out more than it normally would. :/

But so far, it all looks clean and nice! :thumbup:
Thanks Bill! Yes, I kind of felt bad when I put those rusty brackets on the new Koni's. But if I want to preserve my slim chance of going to Carlisle I will wait with putting on new break hoses. I still have not found the bolts yet. None of the parts stores I have tried had any and the dealer told me that they are discontinued :(

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Mon Jul 07, 2014 4:27 pm

PM sent.
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Post by occasional demons » Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:48 pm

Damn, so you snapped the strut clevis bolts? They are the same part for both 1gn's and 2gn's, so if Gramps doesn't have a solution, you could get used ones from either generation.

Have you tried a regular fastener place like Fastenal for M12 x 1.75 bolts in a good enough grade? Granted they won't be splined on the head end, but when parts are discontinued, it isn't like the choices are optimal.
Bill
Olha Koba, a psychologist in Kyiv, said that “anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate.” But it is important to channel it into something useful, she said, such as making incendiary bombs out of empty bottles.
2000 Neon MTX swap with '02 R/T PCM
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester

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