Calan
DSM Wiseman
- 7,250
- 399
- Jan 16, 2007
-
OKC,
Oklahoma
Ok...where was I?
When I started working on the rear of the car, it was pretty apparent that the fasteners were in even worse shape than the ones on the front of the car. After some close inspection, it turned out that most of it was just surface rust and years of road grime. So rather than spend lots of $$ on new suspension bolts, I decided to media blast them all and started thinking about ways to protect them.
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After thinking on it a few days, I decided to give Caswell''s black oxide kit a try. It is an easy process that uses no heat or dangerous chemicals, meets mil-spec, and is cheap. (And I couldn't find anyone local that does plating on a bucket of bolts).
Note: I've never been fond of blackened bolts from hardware stores that seem to rust the minute they leave the store, but Caswell has some good stuff and I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it.
The blackening process was about as easy as it gets; mix up the solution in a bowl, and dip the parts for 3 minutes or so. The hardest part was bending a crapload of paper clips and coat hangers, and figuring out where to hang them to dry after they were dipped in the sealer.
What I ended up doing was hanging the bolts and some of the nuts/washers in a cardboard box, and using a coat hanger clamped in a vice for the rest.
View attachment 2070 View attachment 2073
Note: Caswell ships the basic kit with an oil-based sealer that works very well, but it takes about 2 days to dry. And even then, the bolts remain a bit oily to the touch. It worked fine for suspension bolts, but for other types of fasteners it would probably be best to spend the extra money on their faster-drying acrylic sealer.
For the rear diff cover bolts, brake line clamp bolts, and a few others... I clear-coated them after blasting rather than blackening them. I used Duplicolor clear engine paint, and drilled shallow holes in a scrap piece of wood to hold them while spraying and drying. Overall, I think the blackened and clear-coated fasteners will work out great, but time will tell as to whether or not the Caswell stuff is as good as they say.
View attachment 2071 View attachment 2072
Next up was re-installing the gas tank, filler tube, and new rubber hose where appropriate. Piece of cake.
Next, I reinstalled the sub-frame and started on the suspension. It was a bit tight getting the sub-frame up into place by myself with only jack-stand clearance under the car, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. I balanced it on a floor jack under the diff, and worked it into place on the studs with my feet and one hand.
Once the suspension started going back together, I realized that the sway bar end links weren't going to line up properly with the lower control arms (LCA's).
View attachment 2062
Since I've never liked the stock links anyway, I decided to build my own and modify the LCA's. I wrote a tech article on it that can be found here.
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After the links were installed, I finished assembling the rest of the suspension, and hung the rebuilt brake calipers and new rotors.
View attachment 2066 View attachment 2067
View attachment 2074
A final adjustment to the end links, lots of brake bleeding, and about 5 hours worth of shade-tree alignment finished things up, and it was back on the road and waiting for the next project...
When I started working on the rear of the car, it was pretty apparent that the fasteners were in even worse shape than the ones on the front of the car. After some close inspection, it turned out that most of it was just surface rust and years of road grime. So rather than spend lots of $$ on new suspension bolts, I decided to media blast them all and started thinking about ways to protect them.
View attachment 2068 View attachment 2069
After thinking on it a few days, I decided to give Caswell''s black oxide kit a try. It is an easy process that uses no heat or dangerous chemicals, meets mil-spec, and is cheap. (And I couldn't find anyone local that does plating on a bucket of bolts).
Note: I've never been fond of blackened bolts from hardware stores that seem to rust the minute they leave the store, but Caswell has some good stuff and I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it.
The blackening process was about as easy as it gets; mix up the solution in a bowl, and dip the parts for 3 minutes or so. The hardest part was bending a crapload of paper clips and coat hangers, and figuring out where to hang them to dry after they were dipped in the sealer.
What I ended up doing was hanging the bolts and some of the nuts/washers in a cardboard box, and using a coat hanger clamped in a vice for the rest.
View attachment 2070 View attachment 2073
Note: Caswell ships the basic kit with an oil-based sealer that works very well, but it takes about 2 days to dry. And even then, the bolts remain a bit oily to the touch. It worked fine for suspension bolts, but for other types of fasteners it would probably be best to spend the extra money on their faster-drying acrylic sealer.
For the rear diff cover bolts, brake line clamp bolts, and a few others... I clear-coated them after blasting rather than blackening them. I used Duplicolor clear engine paint, and drilled shallow holes in a scrap piece of wood to hold them while spraying and drying. Overall, I think the blackened and clear-coated fasteners will work out great, but time will tell as to whether or not the Caswell stuff is as good as they say.
View attachment 2071 View attachment 2072
Next up was re-installing the gas tank, filler tube, and new rubber hose where appropriate. Piece of cake.
Next, I reinstalled the sub-frame and started on the suspension. It was a bit tight getting the sub-frame up into place by myself with only jack-stand clearance under the car, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. I balanced it on a floor jack under the diff, and worked it into place on the studs with my feet and one hand.
Once the suspension started going back together, I realized that the sway bar end links weren't going to line up properly with the lower control arms (LCA's).
View attachment 2062
Since I've never liked the stock links anyway, I decided to build my own and modify the LCA's. I wrote a tech article on it that can be found here.
View attachment 2064 View attachment 2065
After the links were installed, I finished assembling the rest of the suspension, and hung the rebuilt brake calipers and new rotors.
View attachment 2066 View attachment 2067
View attachment 2074
A final adjustment to the end links, lots of brake bleeding, and about 5 hours worth of shade-tree alignment finished things up, and it was back on the road and waiting for the next project...
I noticed that you painted a lot of your parts, there is another member on here that did a fuse box relocate to his glovebox that might be more anal than you, but he did a real cheap setup for doing your own powder coating. Crazy cheap to do, and the only seperate tool you need is an appliance that can be found all over for cheap (regular stovetop oven). I really enjoyed your build, the attention to detail is really good. Your catch can ideas where spot on, and I really like the overflow can. How soon before the interior?
