2002spaceodyssey

Like Mike said, they will fit with the washers and circlips, but a large vice will help and you may have to shave a little off the urethane bushings with a razor blade to get the circlips in. I also just installed the Blunt bushings in my 1974.

Can't resist piling onto this thread. I'm impressed by the quality of work done by members here. Love the gray ones, by the way. I think these subframes are way better than they were when they left the factory! Before: After:

Try this useful link: Get off the bus! upgrade your '02's steering wheel. - Bay Area 02

I recently installed one of Pierre's Kamei repro air dams. I bought it a couple of years ago, and finally got my car on the road. Pierre suggested using rivnuts to install it, so I bought a tool on line. This was my first experience with rivnuts, and they worked very well. I ended up using 9 rivnuts in 6mm size. My 1974 2002 has cutouts for the big bumper brackets up front. It was suggested the air dam could cover those openings, but installing it that high made the ends come up short of the fender lips. I will have to have the openings filled and painted later. Here is what the rivnuts look like: Here is rivnut installed on a washer to show what the backside looks like once installed: This is the tool I bought - Astro Pneumatic Tool Company 1427. It worked well, no doubt because it had "Astro" in the name. I laid out the 9 holes on the air dam, and then used it as my template to drill the car's valence. Here are the rivnuts installed. I found some thin 1" wide rubber tape and used it between the fiberglass air dam and the car's paint. Pierre's air dam fit extremely well with almost no space between it and car. Once installed, the height from the ground was a uniform 6.25". I will have the air dam painted soon (right now it's in gelcoat as received.) I've also ordered some black stainless steel washers and button-head 6mm bolts. And (sigh) I live in MD so I need to figure out how to mount a front license plate. Here are some gratuitous pictures of my car with the air dam.

The slide hammer got my old inserts out, This is what one looked like: The inside of my strut tubes had rust inside, and wouldn't let my Billy HD inserts go in all the way. I had to run a cylinder hone on a drill down inside the strut tubes to clean the gunk out.

Pipe wrench and Mapp gas to loosen nut. Slide hammer with vice grips attached to get tube out.

What a great website. You guys were right. My engine block wasn't sufficiently grounded to the chassis.I can't say why it worked before. I went with a braided ground strap like tech71 suggested, and that was it.

jimk- Yes, the starter motor support isn't being used as a support due to the shorter starters. I an going to eliminate it and buy a larger-gauge ground cable, which I'll connect directly to the engine block's threaded hole. I believe I'll fasten the other end of the ground cable to the front bumper bolt. AustrianVespaGuy- I had both of my starters tested off the car at Advance Auto, and I'm afraid they are damaged.

tech71- The bracket has been cleaned with a wire wheel, hence the colors. Under the bracket I've also wire brushed the attachment point on the block. Mike A- Picture attached. The bolt is welded to the chassis. One thing I'm wondering about - I have a "star" washer under the neg battery connection to the chassis. I'm sure this is something I read on the FAQ, since I am a noob when it comes to wiring. Now I'm not sure the star washer is a good idea....

I want to give an update to my no-start issue...no solution yet. Let me summarize the events in case it helps find a solution: 1. I replaced the tired stock starter in 2016 with a Bosch SR440X. The battery had already been moved to the trunk. I installed an Optima Red Top sealed battery.The engine spun quickly and started immediately. 2. The car sat for an extended period of time due to rust repair and total suspension and brakes rehab. The battery was kept on a Battery Tender. I started the car a couple months ago with fresh gas and it fired up easily. 3. While installing the interior, I foolishly plugged in the seat belt interlock connector to my seat belt buckle. This led to a no-start condition because the seat belt wasn't buckled. Upon trying to start the car, the dash lights would come on, but nothing else...no crank, etc. When I realized what was happening, I discovered that I had trapped the wire for the interlock between the bolt and the floor, stripping the insulation. I repaired it with electrical tape, unplugged the interlock, and the car started. 4. Recently when I was ready to drive the car, it wouldn't crank/start. I replaced the SR440X starter with an SR441X unit. The very first time I tried to start it, it almost started. Then it wouldn't crank again and some ground wires started smoking (see the video I posted above.) Based on sound advice from this forum, I connected a jumper cable from the starter mounting bolt on the block directly to the battery's negative terminal in the trunk. The starter would only turn a tiny amount and made the clicking sound. The wire in the photo below with masking tape on it gets hot but doesn't smoke. 5. I took my battery and both starters to Advanced Auto to be tested today. The Optima battery tested good. The SR440X (my original starter) spins but does not extend to engage a flywheel. The new SR441X is toast. It turns a tiny amount each time it's triggered. As you can imagine, I'm not in a rush to install another starter until I understand what's happening. Just for fun, I ordered an E30 positive cable off the 2002FAQ.

I've been where you are. I can't see your floor plugs in the photos, but that's where the rust usually takes off. Also, I would remove the black sound deadening from your rear inner fenders. Mine looked like yours until I removed the black tar, and I found both rear fenders were rusted clear through. As far as repairing holes, you can still buy the metal 2002 floor panels and cut what you need, or have a body shop use some sheet metal. To treat the surface rust, it's tough to beat sanding and using POR-15. My blog entry "First things First" show detailed pictures of the metal repair and POR-15 painting. I'll try to attach a link here: