Front End Rebuild
With the rear subframe back under the car, it was time to focus on the front end. Merry Christmas to me! I've managed to have my wife, my elderly parents, and my adult Son buy me 2002 parts..
It's wintertime. Fire up the propane heater.
First order of business was to press out the old bushings. I bought a bushing puller set.
The nuts below were solid mounds of rust. I had to take these parts to a machine shop to grind them off.
The gland nuts on the front struts didn't want to let go. I bought a 24" pipe wrench and mapp gas. That did the trick.
The strut inserts didn't want to come out. I used a slide hammer with vice grips to free them.
The KYB inserts were severely rusted in the bottom of the strut housings.It
Getting pretty comfortable using this POR-15 stuff.
Billy HDs
There was so much rust in the bottom of my strut housings that the Billy HDs wouldn't go clear in. They stopped about 3/4 inches short. I had to get a cylinder hone on an 18" extension bar and run it down inside the strut housing for a very long time in order to seat the inserts.
I ordered a special bilstein gland nut wrench so I could torque the nuts, but they were the wrong size, so my Son welded some longer tabs onto the wrench.
Coming together. I took my struts to a local BMW motorcycle dealer and they did the speedwire for me (for a price.)
As I put the control arms and tension struts together, I noticed the front tension strut bushings were very loose. I had bought Energy Suspension urethane bushings, and no amount of tightening would snug them up where they mounted to the car. I took everything apart. The Energy Suspension bushing measured about .950" between the bushing halves. I realize that not all 2002s are the same, but my 2002 front tension rod mount measured about .900", so these bushings were never going to fit snugly.
I bought a set of Ireland Engineering Urethane bushings, and the front tension strut bushings were at about .850", so they fit snugly.
Time to replace front wheel bearings. Mlytle's article was most helpful.
New calipers and Porterfield pads
Bleed the brakes and let's drive this thing!
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