Hats off to you K. I replaced the rear struts on my car today. Had to remove the brake calipers to access the lower bolts and the back seat for the upper ones. Even with the seat out it was a PITA to get those top bolts off and back on. Took me almost 4 hours for the entire job. That's about as much tear down of a vehicle I care to get involved in anymore. Here's a pic before I lowered the rotor to remove the old one from it's overhead moorings. Then one with it out.
There are a few things I've done on vehicles that I'll never do again. 1. Struts of any type. 2. Clutch replacement in a FWD car. Or any work that requires pulling the trans in a FWD vehicle. 3. Replacing all brake lines on a Silverado. All the above wouldn't be bad with a hoist, but are a PITA laying in the garage floor. Good for you taking that job on Kimberly. Hope it goes well.
The new struts are in place; I got a good deal on a complete ready to go set; no compressing the string etc. Since I had to remove everything it only made sense to replace the worn out stuff. outer and inner tie rods will be replaced. I was not going to do the inner ones but found too much play on the driver's side. Replacing them will help keep the tyres wearing even. I got some Moog off of a guy on ebay; price at AutoZone was $34 something each; I paid $9.45 each with shipping included. Yes, spending way more money than I anticipated but since all the labour is done anyway, it only makes sense to replace these items. Same with the motor mounts, really silly to put old broken ones back in. Not sure about the rear struts on this car; that will probably be done at some later date. The car may sit a bit high in the front if the rear are really worn; I will see when it is all back together and on the ground. Will have to have a front end alignment done; think I will shop for a good price on that.
Now, I have a question for the mechanical people here. The rear drive/flex plate bolts were suppose to be torqued to 11 foot pounds and then each was suppose to be turned 50 degrees. I managed to do about 45 degrees. I am thinking that I should put a break bar and try to give them another bit. What do you guys think? I have never done the degree bit before and I do not have an angle tool for this; I simply lined the ratchet so that it was horizontal and eyed it but I was not really strong enough with the ratchet to get that 50 degrees.
Oh, on the trans; I ordered a new set of ACDeco valve body gaskets. When they arrived, both gaskets were the same; there are two different gaskets. So I had to order a new set; can't seem to just get individual trans parts at the local parts shops, from a different dealer since the one I got the first time had sold out. So I am sitting waiting for the new gaskets before I can get the trans back together. And the new pump shaft was the same as the old one, only one end was hardened; the part that stripped out before is not hardened. I may be foolish not replacing the torque converter but the guy at the rebuild shop had no reason to think that the torque converter would be at fault. Putting in a new rebuilt torque converter could cause the same. If I can get another 100K miles I will call it good. The car is only driven for grocery shopping and the occasional trip so it will take me a long time to put 100K miles on it and the old one lasted 204K miles.
I can't remember exactly, but most (bolts in the car)are tty or torque to yield. Meaning one time use. They have already been stretched....... I've always reused them with red lock Tite. I don't know if you are talking the converter or actual flywheel....but same for both. The only bolts not to reuse are pretty much for rocker arms.....cam sprocket bolt if you're fancy...
Yes, you are correct, the car undercarriage is nice and clean unlike some of the cars I have seen on YouTube from the Northeast where rust has caused problems. So the car is worth putting a little money into it. It it that I had planned on building a small garden shed and I had wanted to get a small trailer for hauling wood. Those will have to wait. Actually I have done pretty well in keeping the costs down. I had to replace the lower ball joints; those are Moog from RockAuto and got a good deal. The outer tie rod ends were shot, they are Moog and were from RockAuto and I got them cheaper than local parts shops. The inner tie rod ends were shot as well. The inner I got from a guy on ebay, also Moog and I paid $9.45 each including the shipping while AutoZone were going to be $34.95 each. Yes, I whine about having to spend the extra money but having a good tight front end means my tyres will last longer so I will be saving money in the long run.
I have not read anywhere that these are one time use. These are the flexplate/driveplate/flywheel bolts that go into the end of the crankshaft. I will see what I can find out. I hate to think about having to order new bolts and have more waiting time in getting the car back together but at the same time, I don't want something to go wrong because you have to pull the engine/drop the trans to get back to these bolts. That is why I replaced the rear main seal because of the work involved in something so simple.
Yes, the flywheel bolts are not to be reused. I might could get by but one place showed failure on the second torquing; which I have already done. So probably best to remove them and install new bolts.
The only place I could find the bolts was at a GM dealership and they were going to have to have them sent in from another dealership and they were $40.80 for the set. I don't know; I don't have the money to keep throwing into this thing. You have to remove the flexplate to change the rear seal but you are suppose to use new bolts but you can't get the new bolts.
Just replace them with regular ole grade 8 bolts and torque them to specs. Done. Maybe could put blue Loctite on them if ya want...
There ya go once again....about the $$$$$..... Haven't seen any caskets that have pockets in them....
The lower ball joints rivets are being a bear. I remember helping Dad do the lower ball joints on Mum's car and he used the air chisel and cut the rivets off. I am using the same air chisel and it is barely making a dent in the rivet. I am using the angle grinder to grind the dang rivets off. Maybe I just don't know how to use the tool.
Reminds me of a joke. A man claimed that he was going to take all his money with him when he died. On the day they was putting the man in the ground, the wife wrote him a cheque and threw it in the casket. Yeah, it lost a lot in my retelling ^_^
Yes, somehow it was a better joke in my memory than it was in the telling. I wonder if I left parts out?
