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SaxMan's Winter 2016 Overhaul Thread

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The shock should not be empty. Talk to Peter.
 
Peter C told me to go ahead and send the shock back, and he'll fix it.
 
Tonight I went to bleed the front brakes. I bought the Gunson EZ-Bleed, a rather convoluted mechanism using tire pressure to send brake fluid through the system. Unfortunately, the caps they supply aren't big enough for the Sprite IV's master cylinder. There was a supplemental kit that VB included with the purchase that is supposed to hook to the cap with a series of pins, straps and rubber seals. When the moment came to give it a shot, all it managed to do was spray brake fluid all over the engine compartment.

I went back to the tried and true method of brake bleeding. Fortunately, I was able to stand outside the car on my left leg, pump the brake with my right leg and watch the fluid pass through the driver's side brake until there were no bubbles. For the right side, I would pump the pedal a half dozen times and then stop and inspect the tube for bubbles (I used about a 24 inch tube). Once I saw that there were no bubbles in the tube, I closed off the bleed screws.

Thankfully, having a dual circuit brake system, the rear brakes were untouched. The rears were done last year, so I felt leaving the rear circuit alone was the better course of action, as opposed to looking for problems that didn't exist.

The one thing I am concerned about is that the clutch fluid is looking kind of darkish and probably should be changed. The shop manual is mute on how to do that. It only mentions bleeding the system through the slave cylinder, which appears to be under the car in the vicinity of the starter? I imagine if I open the bleed valve and let the fluid drain, that should do the same thing?
 
You don't want it to drain you want to keep the MC full and pump it out. Access to slave is on LS of passenger footwell. There is a rubber plug you will see when you crawl in there with a light. Pop the plug and voila access to the slave.
 
Finally got the Ball Joint Separator from Harbor Freight and went back to working on the rack boots. Once I realized I needed to put the tool in upside down, it worked well. However once the ball joint was separated, the outer tie rod ends are refusing to budge. I found two flat spots on the rack, which I assume is for a wrench to loosen up the tie rod -- it was stuck. I hit it with some PB Blaster and called it a night. I'm too far into this to back out. Once I get past this, the rest of the winter work is pretty easy.
 
Let it marinate for a few days with PB Blaster. Then heat may be needed to separate. If all else fails another rack may be the answer but keep soaking.
 
Jim_Gruber said:
Let it marinate for a few days with PB Blaster. Then heat may be needed to separate. If all else fails another rack may be the answer but keep soaking.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Jim. I will do that. I was thinking I may need some heat on it as well. I'd hate to have to yank the whole rack, but if I'm dealing with a cold weld I may not have a choice.
 
Go "full gorilla" on it. It will break loose.
 
Once the lock nuts were loose I've never had a problem. The lock nuts have been a bear in the past since you can only get an open end wrench on them.

Kurt.
 
Locknut turned no problem. I'll keep marinating throughout the weekend and then if that fails, time to break out the torch.
 
Try working them back the other way as well, in and out.
 
I had to use a torch when I did the ones on the Tunebug a few years ago. Took a few tries, but eventually everything came apart.
 
OK, jamb nut loose. TRE should be still connected to the steering arm. Using the flats on the inner TRE it should break loose with a long wrench. If you need more leverage ... bust out a pipe wrench and slide a cheater bar over it.
 
Trevor Jessie said:
OK, jamb nut loose. TRE should be still connected to the steering arm. Using the flats on the inner TRE it should break loose with a long wrench. If you need more leverage ... bust out a pipe wrench and slide a cheater bar over it.
Click to expand...

X2!! Just be careful not to bend the rod as a PO did on my driver.

Kurt.
 
Does anyone know the width of the flats? A 1/2 inch wrench wouldn't fit, and the 5/8ths seems to have too much play. I actually had a better fit using a 14mm wrench. I'm thinking 13mm or 9/16ths wrench would be the correct fit. Still no luck getting the TRE to loosen up. Will try using heat and a longer wrench.

I did change out the diff fluid tonight. Spent 10 minutes trying to undo the drain plug until I realized I was trying to turn it in the wrong direction. Not a whole lot of old oil came out -- more went back in than what dripped out, so I'm probably leaking somewhere on the diff, or a didn't fill it properly last year.

EDIT: Correction - it was a 9/16s, not a 5/8s, that had play - so I'd probably be looking at a 17/32?
 
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At 9:30 PM EST, the Tie Rod End successfully separated from the rack. It was a pipe wrench that did the trick. Not a huge one, but one long enough to get some decent torque on it. Here's some pics from tonight:

You can see the culprit for the stickiness - rust had formed inside the TRE:
DSC_0067 by David Cohen, on Flickr

Rust is also evident on the rack threads:
DSC_0069 by David Cohen, on Flickr

New boot was a pain in the butt to install, until I figured out how to do it right:
DSC_0071 by David Cohen, on Flickr

Not a great shot, but the boot from inside the engine compartment:
DSC_0072 by David Cohen, on Flickr

As frustrating as these stubborn moments are, they are just as exhilarating when those moments are finally overcome. The Beatles must have had LBCs in mind when they wrote the song "With a Little Help From My Friends". Without the BCF and this forum, I'd be spinning wheels. I can't thank you guys enough.
 
Congrats��
 
A mean but necessary job if you want your steering rack to last!

Kurt
 
Reassemble with never seize on the tie rod end in case you have to disassemble another time.

Kurt.
 
nomad said:
Reassemble with never seize on the tie rod end in case you have to disassemble another time.

Kurt.
Click to expand...

I usually use a lightweight synthetic grease that is intended for bicycle use. My Sprite will never see the abusive conditions that my mountain bikes go through, and when I do a disassemble, everything comes out easily and the threads look well protected.
 
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