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Suspension.

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beken View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote beken Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Suspension.
    Posted: 23 April 2011 at 6:39pm
Okay...it's all in with the exception of one new bushing which turned out to be defective.   Will try and get that exchanged and installed on Monday. So newly installed on my car, bushings, ball joints, tie rods, wheel bearings, shocks, struts. Here's the pile of 26 year old parts.



I also bought an entire set of coolant hoses from the Fierostore awhile ago. As a result, I found one hose is totally wrong. It is the wrong length and turns to wrong direction. I will go to Lordco to get a generic one to replace the old one.

So the last two times I ordered from the Fierostore, the parts were not quite right. Just a warning for those who have put a lot of trust in Fierostore's "expertise" at specializing in Fieros.

The unused hose, I will eventually donate it to the club draw in case somebody has a use for it.   

The other thing that wasn't quite right was my coolant overflow bottle.   I had to use a heat gun to soften and bend the mount tabs to fit the mounting points on my car.

Next up, once all the hoses are in and coolant filled, a wheel alignment.

BTW, anybody know where I can find new front swaybar bushings?





Beken (aka Ken) - bekentech@westcoastfieros.com   Original and still the owner of an 85SE 2M6 4spd
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Romeo View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Romeo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 April 2011 at 10:37pm

Lordco carries them (Energy Suspension).

Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Dr.Fiero Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 April 2011 at 6:17am
As long as you don't mind them being red.

They can order in the black ones though. Make sure you measure your old sleeve.  They come in many lengths, and it really does matter. I realize in your case, it's all stock, but...  if you've lowered your car (or jacked it up?!), the sleeve should be adjusted to make the flat area of the sway bar be parallel to the control arm.

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Post Options Post Options   Quote beken Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 April 2011 at 11:15pm
The front swaybar endlinks I bought from Fierostore are too short. It could be because my new bushings aren't exactly the same size as the original stock ones either.



Beken (aka Ken) - bekentech@westcoastfieros.com   Original and still the owner of an 85SE 2M6 4spd
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Dr.Fiero View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Dr.Fiero Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 May 2011 at 7:17am
Pictures?
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Romeo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 May 2011 at 9:33pm

Originally posted by Dr.Fiero Dr.Fiero wrote:

As long as you don't mind them being red.

They can order in the black ones though. Make sure you measure your old sleeve.  They come in many lengths, and it really does matter. I realize in your case, it's all stock, but...  if you've lowered your car (or jacked it up?!), the sleeve should be adjusted to make the flat area of the sway bar be parallel to the control arm.


No, you can order them in unlubed. Red is pre-lubed. Black is unlubed. Would probably advise just buying the reds, as they're the same price.

Price was $40 when I went, just, as a frame of reference.

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Dr.Fiero Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 May 2011 at 9:37pm
No - don't get the red! One glance under there, and someone will know it's not stock.

Tristan - remember Ken has COLLECTOR PLATES!  Even doing poly is probably a violation of his insurance by the letter of the law/rules... but as long as it at least LOOKS correct, nobody is going to care I'm sure.

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Romeo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 May 2011 at 10:17pm
Oh, right right... Well then yes, grab the blacks, just don't forget to lube them before installation then.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote beken Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 2011 at 11:59am
Ahhhhh!!! Nice to be driving around without the car wallowing all over the place everytime I go over anything resembling a hump on the road.

The wheel alignment did not work out to exact spec. Seems the bushings and ball joints were not so exact in size that it would allow the alignment to be perfect, but close enough to allow pretty decent handling. I was unable to get some negative camber in the fronts.   +.5 in the front was as close as they could get.   Also, the could only get to about 5deg in the wrong direction. Not bad considering such an old car, and good enough for spirited highway driving. But I probably won't be racing the car much.

The car handles well enough (it is mid-engined afterall) that the person who did a lot of the work for me said he might be interested in getting a Fiero (after driving mine around a bit) once he gets his garage cleared out with enough room for another car.   




Beken (aka Ken) - bekentech@westcoastfieros.com   Original and still the owner of an 85SE 2M6 4spd
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Romeo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 2011 at 1:09pm
Uh oh. They could only get positive camber on the front?
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Post Options Post Options   Quote beken Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 May 2011 at 11:08am
Well, .5deg is within factory spec tolerances. It's caster that is 1.5deg outside of spec tolerances.

I'm hoping once the bushings and ball joints wear in a bit, the wheel alignment should be able to get into factory spec range.


Beken (aka Ken) - bekentech@westcoastfieros.com   Original and still the owner of an 85SE 2M6 4spd
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