TR2/3/3A TR3 Front End Rebuild -- Tips, Advice?

Rebuilding the front suspension on my 59 TR3 is next on the agenda, and I'm looking for any advice, tips, "wish I wouldas", etc.

Here's my plan: starting on one side, remove each suspension piece; bead blast and paint with Eastwood Chassis Black; replace any parts necessary (I'm using the TRF "Magic Kit," which I have in hand); replace shocks using the standard shock from TRF (I also have a spring compressor from TRF). I'm also replacing the wheel bearings, turning or replacing the rotors, rebuilding the calipers and installing new brake lines. The engine is out, as is the steering box (which was rebuilt by Mark Macy).

Anything I'm missing? Any other suggestions for improvements/upgrades while I'm in there?

This isn't a concourse restoration; just trying to bring a "driver" back up to spec.

Thanks in advance.

I suggest polyurethane bushings instead of replacing them with rubber. Other than that, it sounds like you go your head on straight :thumbsup:

Eastwood Chassis black takes a week to cure hard. Their exteme Chassis black cures faster and harder - it's my preference having used both. If you don't let it cure, it will come off more easily as you assembly the parts.

2nd on the poly bushings.

I put on Koni's and an Addco front bar (which I highly recommend) as well.

I wish Joe Alexander had the delrin silentblocs when I re-did my front suspension - also highly recommended while everything is apart.

This car is used for pleasant Sunday drives -- sporting, perhaps, but certainly not pushing too hard, nor is any track time in the future. Are the poly bushings and the Derlin silentblocs still recommended?

Hatman said:

This car is used for pleasant Sunday drives -- sporting, perhaps, but certainly not pushing too hard, nor is any track time in the future. Are the poly bushings and the Derlin silentblocs still recommended?

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Yes. They make the car feel better on the road, track or not. Plus, they don't wear out.

absolutely.

I'll weigh in on the other side; since you already have the stock components, might as well install them. There was really nothing wrong with the originals, just that some aftermarket replacements have been poor quality and so didn't last very long. Supposedly the problems with wrong rubber formulation have been worked out, and so the components you have should do better.

And if they don't, they aren't too hard to replace without fully disassembling the suspension. I just got tired of having to do it every few years (due to those poor quality parts).

I have replaced both my cars suspension rubber with poly. The only one I have driven is the Wedge and my inkling is to slowly put it back to rubber as the harshness is a little rough on this old guy

Hatman -
I am in the middle of my rebuild with TRF magic kit, poly bushings. Things I've learned thus far:

Grease? I used red grease for one side. Then, was counseled that I should use the sticky white waterproof grease on the poly bushings and lower nylon, which I did on the other side. We'll see which side holds up better. Bought white poly bushing grease at Summit Racing (see web).

The TRF kit comes with lower outer wishbone arm bushings. My machine shop charged me $60 to install them and ream them to correct size.

Probably best to install springs last, after everything is installed and you have no binding in suspension.

If you use poly bushings, for upper wishbone arms to upper fulcrum pin, don't torque them per workshop manual specs. Just snug them up. The poly bushings don't have to deform the same way the rubber bushings do.

Threaded fittings. Where not provided by TRF, I purchased cotter pins and new castelated nuts from my local hardware store. Also purchased grade 5 or grade 8 bolts, where I needed new. Chased all threads to ensure they were clean. For rotor to hub, I bought longer grade 8 bolts so that they had adequate shoulder on them and cut them to proper length with die grinder.

Cleaning - used kerosene in a plastic tub and soaked and scrubbed. Wear gloves and it works very well for 50 years of grease and grime removal.

Wheel bearings - install without felt seal, torque to 10 ft lbs, back off one flat plus amount to open up cotter pin hole, and mark castelated nut on stub axle. The felt seals are so thick that I could not figure out how much to tighten wheel bearing without this. I paid too much to have new bearing races installed at Big O tires. Should have just bought a couple $6 sockets at Kragen and pressed in the races myself. Oh well...

Upper and Lower Fulcrum Pins - I cleaned them up with fine sandpaper starting with 180 grit and finishing with 600. Polished up nicely.

Lower inner fulcrum pins. Per Viv, crank down the outer nuts on these real tight to affix the lower polished bushing in place so that rotation occurs between polished bushing and nylon insert (and not between polished bushing and lower fulcrum pin.

Lower Inner Wishbones - Pressed in the nylon inserts using a benchtop vice. They were too tight on the polished nylon bushings so I had to use some fine sandpaper to make them fit.


Take your time. This has been fun. I blasted and home powdercoated all parts so can't comment on your painting strategy. I have lots and lots of pics, if you are interested.

Good luck.

Pat

Thanks Pat! The step-by-step will prove very helpful, I'm sure. I'd love to see the photos as well.

To all: would a good compromise be to use the rubber in the TRF kit and then use the Derlin silentblocs? Decrease the steering effort would be a good thing, and I would think that the silentblocs wouldn't affect the ride quality in any way.

Again, thanks to all for the input.

I bought the rubber magic kit for the 4A and will be doing the work later this month. I agonized over the rubber v. poly issue. I decided I wanted to see what the car felt like from new and go from there if I needed to. Also, as Randall said, the rubber is supposedly better quality now.

If I notice dramatic detoriation, I'll wring my hands and go with the black poly bushings from BPNW. They developed them and they are described as being close to the original rubber ride quality with the long term poly benefits. Supposedly, all the vendors buy the black poly bushes from them.

Do one side at a time in case you haven't already gotten that advice.

Mark,

If you decide to go with the Delrin Silentblocs, let me know and I will give you a deal on the ones I purchased for mine from TRF. They are still in the bag and never istalled as I changed my mind and purchased the steering rack conversion instead.

Cheers,
David

Thanks -- sent you a PM

Regarding rubber vs poly bushings. I have heard the poly bushings can still give a significantly harsher ride. What are the downsides of rubber other than durability. AND how long should you expect rubber bushings to last, recognizing that this will be a weekend driver.

Aloha Mark,

The delrin replacements for the silentbloc bushing have two advantages that I see, easier to install than original type and the service life should be significanlty longer than the original. They will not affect the suspension from my point of view.

As far as reducing the effort to steer the car, an often neglected item is the idler arm assembly. If all other pieces are out of the car, only a couple of bolts need to be removed to take it out of the car. Remove old grease, make sure the zerk fitting is not glogged and replace the seal and it will good as new.

The original silentbloc bushing can sometimes fail quite suddenly. When they do, steering becomes erratic and a bit scary based on my experience.

Hi Pat! I am working on my front end well actually the TR3s..... I was wondering if you had any additional advise on this post? Sticky white sounds like the way to go any thoughts? What did you put on the lower wishbone pivot bearings (or are they the Fucrum Pins) I was thinking a graphite lube. I just realized I need to prepare the wishbone bearings looks like I'm not gonna get this done this weekend..... Thanks!

The silent block discussion reminds me of a TR3 I bought many years ago. The rubber bushings in the silent blocks pin were deteriorated to the point of being non-existant and the steering wheel had about a 1/3 turn of free play. The steering on the Titanic would have been more responsive. Berry