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Front Suspension rebuild sequence

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Run with it, Doc!
 
mehheh.

Jay must be whackin' on old seized geometry bits.

While I sit here inna lap o' luxury! :jester:

<span style="font-style: italic">EDIT: Bad bit is: I know the end of this saga. New kingpins, bolts, bushings, lower a-arms... BTDT. Dozens of times. I ~have~ saved a few, tho.</span>
 
Ok,

It is all apart. Lower control arm sides are not wallowed out. Had to cut the bolt off once it all seperated though to get it off the other lower control arm side. So, going to buy a lower pin kit and have my spindle re-done with new bushings reamed to fit and put it all back together with the new prothane bushings.

Whew, now to do the other side tomorrow and then drop the spindles off at Sports Car Craftsman.

Front end will be all new and tight after this and I WILL grease the dang thing on a regular basis!!!!

God I hope the rear spring job is easier than this!

Thanks for all the help kind sirs.
 
The shackle bolts back there can be as cantankerous as the lower trunion on the fronts. PB Blaster can help a bunch.
 
:iagree: As can the front spring hanger bolts.
 
And all as you are attempting to swing a BFH in upside-down attitude to boot... :devilgrin:
 
Man!

You guys are just full of all kinds of good news aren't you!

Beleive it or not I am having fun. And like the adjustable suspension I put on the Elan,, it just makes it feel that much sweeter that first drive when it's correct and i know I did it all myself.
 
tony barnhill said:
I'd remove the wheels, remove the steering rack & drop the entire suspension beam with everything on it!
Click to expand...
I find it much easier to disassemble and reassemble the front suspension with the cross member on the car. On a work bench, you can't put nearly as much leverage on the thing. In addition, one person can easily lift the bare cross member off the car without any help. With a fully built unit, it takes two people and a hydraulic jack, at a minimum, to do it safely.
 
Jayrz said:
Man!

You guys are just full of all kinds of good news aren't you!

Beleive it or not I am having fun. And like the adjustable suspension I put on the Elan,, it just makes it feel that much sweeter that first drive when it's correct and i know I did it all myself.
Click to expand...

Comparatively, the MG is like working on a 1949 Ford TRUCK!! :wink:

And it ~is~ fun. :thumbsup:
 
:lol:

I think he's sussed that by now, Steve. :smirk:
 
Dr,

I am sure every Elan owner has a special "shortened" open end wrench specifically for changing that dang fuel pump!
 
And tomorrow morning I am digging in the other side.

So in summation, the passenger side front is now all apart and anything that is a "wear" item and made of brass that is supposed to be floating in grease was,,,, not!
Have all the rubber bushings to be replaced with prothane stuff but now the spindles bushing will need to be re-done by a pro. I have to admit to being reasonably good at this stuff but I am not going to slap these in the press and start crushing new brass parts just to learn that I should have paid someone to do it correctly, besides, I don't own the reaming tool.

I expect tomorrow to find the drivers side pretty much the same.

Since I have this apart is there a better set of wheel bearings that can be used? Like perhaps the tapered roller stuff I allways replaced the stock stuff with on my Road Race Motorcycles?

And yes,,,, I was that crazy once!

If any of you have driven a car quickly around Pueblo Raceway,,, a good time for me on the Aprilia was 1min 36sec

Jay
 
I help support John's racing effort at every opportunity, too. :wink:
 
Timken is what I allways used in the Yamahas

So if they make tapered rollers for the front hubs, who carries them or do I contact Timken directly?

Jay
 
Ok,

Problem number 7,

Top spindle nut will not come off. I put a torch on it and got it pretty dang hot but not glowing, and my electric impact still couldn't get that thing to budge.

Currently soaking it in PB Blaster, is there anything better to use? or a different technique that will get this bad boy off of there?
 
Gah... PB is about as good as it gets. Heat-cool-heat-cool with PB is as non-invasive as there is. Next is cuttin' it off by spliting it with a Dremel or other violent means.


rats.
 
You don't want to damage the upper trunnion but you don't care about that nut, you'll get a new one with your new kingpins....if all else fails, get a 'nut cracker' & bust that sucker in half.
 
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