The Suspension Rebuild - The Beginning

Driving the car back to Chicago was an adventure, and a good part of that was because the front end was, to be forgiving, scary! Things were moving all over the place, and seldom the way I wanted them to. Luckily most of the drive was a straight line!

So, beyond the first get to know you projects I did, the first major task was rebuilding the front suspension. I originally wanted to get it torn apart and figure out what joints and bushings needed replacing, but while I was at Centerline (again) I went ahead and got the entire rebuild kit. Not to jump too far ahead in the story, but it turned out to be a good idea. Turns out every joint and bushing was completely worn.

Let's start with some before pictures.

The wheel well, before I scrubbed it out.


The spring, spring pan, and lower wishbone.


Split tie rod end.


Upper wishbone A arm before cleaning.


A arm after cleaning, showing the badly worn bushing.


A friend of mine who has experience with working on older cars, specifically the BMW 2002, talked me out of tearing the entire suspension out, and to just start with the upper wishbone. So the first weekend was spent scrubbing out the wheel well (no small task), primering and spraying the wheel well with undercoating, cleaning and painting the control arm, and installing the caster ball joints and the new adjustable A arm. I used a hydrolic jack to hold the steering nuckle and spring in place.

Next, the complete rebuild....