Out of town most of this weekend for a tournament, but I had a few hours today to work on the car. Decided to take a break from plumbing and work on the rear suspension bushings so I can get the half shafts measured.
The upper control arms weren't too bad, they fit fine in the press. I cut the old bushing "lips" then pressed them out, popped in the new ones and reinstalled. The lower arms though. Oh, the lower arms. They have bushings pressed in from each side, that fit snug against the arm. The first one I tried to cut with a bandsaw then clean up with a flap wheel to get clear. That sucked. The other one I decided to use an air hammer to catch the lip and force it away from the arm. Then I took the bandsaw and cut it back. Way easier.
But, the arm didn't fit in my press, I couldn't get the bushings out with a c clamp or a vise, or the air hammer. Or a hammer hammer. Or profanity. I did make a giant mess of myself though.
FINALLY I cut a piece of tube that fit the bushing, made a "back plate" for it, then used a bolt and not to push the bushings into the tube. Took me 2 hours to come up with that idea, but hey, it took 10 minutes once I came up with the idea. New bushings also somewhat sucked to get in place, but I was successful on that effort and the arms fit the car properly.
One more lower arm to do, but that's for another day. At least I have a plan for the fronts now, though they still need cleaned up. Once the other rear arm is done, I'll measure suspension to figure out the travel arc, mark that, and then sort out the half shaft sizing and get those made. That's the last "wait for it to be made item" so it makes sense to get them in production while I finish the wiring/plumbing/fuel system.
Progress. Slow, tedious, progress!
