Calan
DSM Wiseman
- 7,250
- 399
- Jan 16, 2007
-
OKC,
Oklahoma
We're getting closer!
I've finally gotten the suspension back together and the brake work done, but as usual... it ended up being more of a project than originally planned. While getting ready to put everything back together, I inspected the calipers and found quite a bit of corrosion, so I decided to rebuild them. (I wrote a tech article on it that can be found here).
View attachment 1086 View attachment 1087
Since the calipers were drained and rebuilt, I figured it was a good time to upgrade to speed bleeders. The local parts stores didn't stock anything in M10 threads, but said there were some available from Dorman that would fit.
Note: If you didn't know, Dorman makes the majority of those "HELP!" items at O'Reilly's, Autozone, Advanced, etc. They are part of their "Motormite" division.
The bleeders I got were Dorman ("HELP") PN 12706, which are M10-1.0 x 33mm long. The threads fit, but it turns out that they are right on the verge of being too short to allow the needle to fully seat in the caliper. Since they have a thick hex section, I decided to just turn them down a bit so they could be threaded in further. I don't have a lathe, so I chucked them up in the drill press and used a die grinder to carefully remove about 1/8" of the hex next to the threads. After that, they tightened down with about 1/16" of room to spare.
Note: After all of this, I discovered in an online PDF that Dorman makes another speed bleeder (12709) that is M10-1.0 x 35mm long, which would probably be the right one...but the two local part's stores I checked with didn't show it for some reason.
Other companies also offer speed bleeders in various sizes. If you pick some up, just be sure to check the length as well as the thread size.
In the first picture below, the red line shows about how far the stock bleeder threads in, and you can see the Dorman bleeder's threads are very close to that length.
View attachment 1090 View attachment 1091
UPDATE: After getting the brake system all back together and the car ready to run, I decided to NOT use the modified bleeders. Although they did tighten up and it seemed that they would work, the diameter of the lower barrel portion is too large which prevents fluid from flowing properly. The other Dorman part (12709) appears that it would work, but I just went back to the stock bleeders in the interest of time. (And with a vac bleeder it wasn't a big deal anyway).
I also completely rebuilt the brake lines in the wheel wells. The factory ones were badly rusted, and looked like they would start disintegrating at any moment. After disassembling them, I cleaned and blasted the brackets, hard lines, and clips, and replaced the factory lines with coated SS lines. Before assembly, I painted the brackets with Duplicolor semi-gloss black engine paint, and after they were assembled I taped the lines off and clear-coated the hard line, clips, and bracket.
The images below give a good example of where they started and how they ended up.
View attachment 1085 View attachment 1084
View attachment 1083
Before re-installing the struts, I decided to fix a small issue I've known about for some time now but just never got around to dealing with. It's fairly common for these cars to sit about 1/8" to 1/4" lower on the front driver side, and mine is no exception.
When I installed the front camber bolts last year, I leveled the car in my garage on some DIY plates, and did an old-school alignment with a tape measure, jack stands, angle gauge, and laser level. Sure enough, my car measured about 3/16" down in the left front. So when installing the struts this time around, I added a strut spacer plate to the driver's side that I cut from 1/8" thick steel. To do this, I had to replace the rear two studs in the strut, since they were not long enough to go through both the new plate and the bracket for the strut brace that I'm installing.
After searching for "strut studs" for a few days, I was about to give up when I ran across something at O'Reilly's that happened to be just about right (thanks for the tip Kolby
). In fact... it's a wheel stud, and the only M10 shoulder stud they list. Knocking the old ones out of the AGX strut was a piece of cake, and the new ones slipped up into place without a problem. The shoulder splines didn't fit as tight as I would have liked, but good enough to hold the stud in place and torque the nuts to spec. (It would be a simple matter to add a small tack weld for insurance if needed, but I didn't feel it was).
View attachment 1092 View attachment 1149
My rotors are fairly new and in pretty good shape, so I just hit them with a little fine sandpaper to remove a bit of oxidation caused by them sitting for six months, and bolted them up. I plan on upgrading to slotted rotors and maybe a big brake kit in the future when funds allow it. The wheel bearings and seals also seem to be in good shape, so I just cleaned and painted the hubs and called it good. New OEM axle nuts and washers finished everything off.
View attachment 1088 View attachment 1089
I hope to have the new j-pipe in soon, and then I'll be able to install the fans and radiator, and hopefully be close to firing her up. I'm also going to try to find a speed bleeder that will work for the clutch slave. I'll cover that, the MBC installation, and a few other details in the next part.
Stay tuned!
I've finally gotten the suspension back together and the brake work done, but as usual... it ended up being more of a project than originally planned. While getting ready to put everything back together, I inspected the calipers and found quite a bit of corrosion, so I decided to rebuild them. (I wrote a tech article on it that can be found here).
View attachment 1086 View attachment 1087
Since the calipers were drained and rebuilt, I figured it was a good time to upgrade to speed bleeders. The local parts stores didn't stock anything in M10 threads, but said there were some available from Dorman that would fit.
Note: If you didn't know, Dorman makes the majority of those "HELP!" items at O'Reilly's, Autozone, Advanced, etc. They are part of their "Motormite" division.
The bleeders I got were Dorman ("HELP") PN 12706, which are M10-1.0 x 33mm long. The threads fit, but it turns out that they are right on the verge of being too short to allow the needle to fully seat in the caliper. Since they have a thick hex section, I decided to just turn them down a bit so they could be threaded in further. I don't have a lathe, so I chucked them up in the drill press and used a die grinder to carefully remove about 1/8" of the hex next to the threads. After that, they tightened down with about 1/16" of room to spare.
Note: After all of this, I discovered in an online PDF that Dorman makes another speed bleeder (12709) that is M10-1.0 x 35mm long, which would probably be the right one...but the two local part's stores I checked with didn't show it for some reason.
Other companies also offer speed bleeders in various sizes. If you pick some up, just be sure to check the length as well as the thread size.
In the first picture below, the red line shows about how far the stock bleeder threads in, and you can see the Dorman bleeder's threads are very close to that length.
View attachment 1090 View attachment 1091
UPDATE: After getting the brake system all back together and the car ready to run, I decided to NOT use the modified bleeders. Although they did tighten up and it seemed that they would work, the diameter of the lower barrel portion is too large which prevents fluid from flowing properly. The other Dorman part (12709) appears that it would work, but I just went back to the stock bleeders in the interest of time. (And with a vac bleeder it wasn't a big deal anyway).
I also completely rebuilt the brake lines in the wheel wells. The factory ones were badly rusted, and looked like they would start disintegrating at any moment. After disassembling them, I cleaned and blasted the brackets, hard lines, and clips, and replaced the factory lines with coated SS lines. Before assembly, I painted the brackets with Duplicolor semi-gloss black engine paint, and after they were assembled I taped the lines off and clear-coated the hard line, clips, and bracket.
The images below give a good example of where they started and how they ended up.
View attachment 1085 View attachment 1084
View attachment 1083
Before re-installing the struts, I decided to fix a small issue I've known about for some time now but just never got around to dealing with. It's fairly common for these cars to sit about 1/8" to 1/4" lower on the front driver side, and mine is no exception.
When I installed the front camber bolts last year, I leveled the car in my garage on some DIY plates, and did an old-school alignment with a tape measure, jack stands, angle gauge, and laser level. Sure enough, my car measured about 3/16" down in the left front. So when installing the struts this time around, I added a strut spacer plate to the driver's side that I cut from 1/8" thick steel. To do this, I had to replace the rear two studs in the strut, since they were not long enough to go through both the new plate and the bracket for the strut brace that I'm installing.
After searching for "strut studs" for a few days, I was about to give up when I ran across something at O'Reilly's that happened to be just about right (thanks for the tip Kolby
). In fact... it's a wheel stud, and the only M10 shoulder stud they list. Knocking the old ones out of the AGX strut was a piece of cake, and the new ones slipped up into place without a problem. The shoulder splines didn't fit as tight as I would have liked, but good enough to hold the stud in place and torque the nuts to spec. (It would be a simple matter to add a small tack weld for insurance if needed, but I didn't feel it was).View attachment 1092 View attachment 1149
My rotors are fairly new and in pretty good shape, so I just hit them with a little fine sandpaper to remove a bit of oxidation caused by them sitting for six months, and bolted them up. I plan on upgrading to slotted rotors and maybe a big brake kit in the future when funds allow it. The wheel bearings and seals also seem to be in good shape, so I just cleaned and painted the hubs and called it good. New OEM axle nuts and washers finished everything off.
View attachment 1088 View attachment 1089
I hope to have the new j-pipe in soon, and then I'll be able to install the fans and radiator, and hopefully be close to firing her up. I'm also going to try to find a speed bleeder that will work for the clutch slave. I'll cover that, the MBC installation, and a few other details in the next part.
Stay tuned!
Thanks... I think. 
