Front suspension rebuild thread

[EuroDat]

Looking at the front struts. Is the new insulator higher than the original? Looks like the spring cap is a little different as well? Are you trying to increase road hight? Its hard to tell, but it looks like it will add about an inch to to hight.

Chas

[ksechler]

Looking at the front struts. Is the new insulator higher than the original? Looks like the spring cap is a little different as well? Are you trying to increase road hight? Its hard to tell, but it looks like it will add about an inch to to hight.

Chas

The old shock is frozen. The new springs are actually 1" lower than stock. The new cap is the MSA camber adjusting one which also lowers the car a little.

[ksechler]

I got up early today. Didn't have a darn thing to do other than work on the car!

I have been gradually sandblasting and painting the parts over the past 2-3 weeks. I knocked down the half-a sandblasting booth yesterday and cleaned up all the sand.

Here's what I started with this morning:

First things first, I had to put the steering rack back on. So I did! It got new bushings of course.

Then I put new bushings in the traverse link. I took some time here to make sure I made a right and a left. It may sound obvious, but stupid mistakes tripped me up and caused a lot of extra work when I did the rear suspension.

I've never done this before so I took my time and started fitting things together so I was sure I had them in there right. Here are a few shots of the progression:

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The floor jack was a vital piece of equipment when it came time to get the nut on the compression rod.

It think I have exceeded the max size for posting b/c I can't upload any more pictures. So...more the follow:

[ksechler]

Alright, next I put in the wheel bearings which was surprisingly easy.

Then I installed the 4-piston front caliper. Things went pretty well on the left side but I made a mistake on the right side that was kind of funny. I attached the hub to the rotor. When I got to the fourth bolt I couldn't find the split washer. I searched in vain for a few minutes then gave up and got another one. I torqued everything down and proceeded to install the new bearings, washer and spindle nut. I torqued the spindle nut and turned the hub a few times and re-torqued the spindle nut. I noticed that the rotor was rubbing. I looked at it end on and it appeared really warped. Then I realized that the missing split washer was stuck to the hub and was actually between the rotor and hub. So I took everything back apart and removed the offending split washer. Once I reassembled everything the rotor ran nice and true.

At long last I put my wheel on. I got these a week and a half ago and had the tires mounted last weekend. I love these things!

At last, I took the car off the jackstands. I still need to torque the nuts on the traverse link and compression rod. I didn't have the energy to carry the weights up from the basement to load the car down so that can wait until next weekend. I also have not installed the anti-sway bar. That is also for next weekend.

There was only one other thing to do after that. Forgive the terrible picture quality:

Together again. Now they can talk about me. My poor NISMO has been out in the cold for three weeks to make room for grandpa to have his surgery.

[Mikes Z car]

Thank you for taking the time to take pictures and post this. On the transverse link were the old bushings difficult to get out?

[ksechler]

Thank you for taking the time to take pictures and post this. On the transverse link were the old bushings difficult to get out?

Yes and no. The bushings have a metal inner sleeve and a metal outer sleeve with rubber in between. I started by burning out the rubber with a propane torch. That took away the inner sleeve but left the outer sleeve. I cut a slit in the outer sleeve and tapped it out. It went pretty easily. Cutting the slit in the outer sleeve is a challenge. Once that's done it is a piece of cake. If you try to do it without cutting the slit it is a freaking nightmare. I know, I tried once.