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I'm getting a lot of unsettling noises from the front suspension. Looking to rebuild. Any advice out there?
 
I'm getting a lot of unsettling noises from the front suspension. Looking to rebuild. Any advice out there?
Put the front on the jack stand, so that both wheels were in the air. Shake both for 'loose' feel - these may be the hub bearings asking for some fresh grease repacking and tightening. And all the usual stuff - sway bar bushes and links, ball joints, steering gear and tie rod links, etc.
Try shopping on Rockauto - some decent stuff still can be found, not just nameless crap from overseas.
 
Thinking more about this. Did these really come with nylon gears? I'm struggling to get a smooth idle....
It is the top sprocket having the nylon crown "for quieter operation". I too have the original one and plan on replacement. And I too have shaky idle, despite new mounts-plugs-wires and EFI instead of the carb.
 
Put the front on the jack stand, so that both wheels were in the air. Shake both for 'loose' feel - these may be the hub bearings asking for some fresh grease repacking and tightening. And all the usual stuff - sway bar bushes and links, ball joints, steering gear and tie rod links, etc.
Try shopping on Rockauto - some decent stuff still can be found, not just nameless crap from overseas.
I have found a lot of useful stuff on Rockauto for this car, at surprisingly affordable prices. Also seeing a full rebuild kit on p-s-t.com
 
You guys probably know more about it than i do. Anything big i should know about?
There's a couple of previous for sale threads here on this car, one such thread I believe on this one the sellers listing showed some of the work invoices that was done on the car (quite a bit). I think the shop was in/around the West Palm Beach Area of Florida and I've heard of that shop way up here in Daytona Beach. I thought most of the work was ah misdirected(?) or 'short' but I was surprised at how low the shop hourly labor rate was especially for the Palm Beach area.


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There's a couple of previous for sale threads here on this car, one such thread I believe on this one the sellers listing showed some of the work invoices that was done on the car (quite a bit). I think the shop was in/around the West Palm Beach Area of Florida and I've heard of that shop way up here in Daytona Beach. I thought most of the work was ah misdirected(?) or 'short' but I was surprised at how low the shop hourly labor rate was especially for the Palm Beach area.


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I do have those receipts, and, indeed, some of the work i've done has been to redo or undo what they did. And finding other substandard repairs not on the papers. Drive quality is slowly getting restored.
 
I do have those receipts, and, indeed, some of the work i've done has been to redo or undo what they did. And finding other substandard repairs not on the papers. Drive quality is slowly getting restored.
Yea I just went through the BaT pictures of the receipts, lotta money spent on the A/C... 2 reman compressors? Hope they got that finally working for ya, laff this is the one where they sent the heads out to be done and on the receipt it was billed for 360ci heads, LMAO hope they didn't try to graft some 360 heads onto it. The loud drivetrain noises are concerning if it's clunking when put into drive and clicking on take off it's most likely U-Joints, this car has probably sat for most of the past decades and I'd suspect the U-Joint grease has dried out and the joints are toast. I see quite a bit of oil wetness on the chassis from about transmission pan back, this could be anything from a Power Steering, rear main seal (although the oil pan looks fairly dry) or something in the transmission is puking oil. That needs to be looked at, as far as your timing chain is for the age of the car I see on the repair invoices that the water pump was replaced (boy I wish I could get that labor charge for a pump replacement) at that time it would of been good to go all the way and check the timing chain but that could lead to mucho $$$$$ but for the age of the car and if there is no documentation or evidence that has been done it's a big red flag. Front end noises and float like a boat wandering steering would need to be addressed. I noticed BaT had the unknown mileage disclaimer in the AD and at about this time that this car was listed BaT was going through some legal wrangling with unsatisfied buyers due to false claims of mileage, so... if your front end parts are worn out it's more like 164k+ miles than 64k, front end parts rarely wear out in 50/60k miles.

Hope you provide a good home and are a happy caretaker of you car and get as much enjoyment out of it as you can.

:thumbsup:
 
Oh I forgot what to ask you, what is the big *** wire coming off the battery going in front of the radiator for? Or was that gone by the time you got the car?


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Yea I just went through the BaT pictures of the receipts, lotta money spent on the A/C... 2 reman compressors? Hope they got that finally working for ya, laff this is the one where they sent the heads out to be done and on the receipt it was billed for 360ci heads, LMAO hope they didn't try to graft some 360 heads onto it. The loud drivetrain noises are concerning if it's clunking when put into drive and clicking on take off it's most likely U-Joints, this car has probably sat for most of the past decades and I'd suspect the U-Joint grease has dried out and the joints are toast. I see quite a bit of oil wetness on the chassis from about transmission pan back, this could be anything from a Power Steering, rear main seal (although the oil pan looks fairly dry) or something in the transmission is puking oil. That needs to be looked at, as far as your timing chain is for the age of the car I see on the repair invoices that the water pump was replaced (boy I wish I could get that labor charge for a pump replacement) at that time it would of been good to go all the way and check the timing chain but that could lead to mucho $$$$$ but for the age of the car and if there is no documentation or evidence that has been done it's a big red flag. Front end noises and float like a boat wandering steering would need to be addressed. I noticed BaT had the unknown mileage disclaimer in the AD and at about this time that this car was listed BaT was going through some legal wrangling with unsatisfied buyers due to false claims of mileage, so... if your front end parts are worn out it's more like 164k+ miles than 64k, front end parts rarely wear out in 50/60k miles.

Hope you provide a good home and are a happy caretaker of you car and get as much enjoyment out of it as you can.

:thumbsup:
Most of the oil wetness was from badly installed valve covers. I've knocked out 90% of that. But either i missed a spot or the valley pan is leaking after the head work. And, no, the A/C is not working. I think my ujoints are ok. They have no play, but wouldn't hurt to grease them. The tranny seems perfect, not gonba touch that. Most of the suspension symptoms are front right. I've got new bearings and all new rubber bits there. The only thing i hesitate to do myself is the control arms. I feel the odometer is probably right, but its suffering in the rubber bits for age and sitting.
 
Oh I forgot what to ask you, what is the big *** wire coming off the battery going in front of the radiator for? Or was that gone by the time you got the car?


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That feeds an aftermarket sound system in the trunk. Oddly, it receives bluetooth but theres no head unit. So i'm sans radio. Another item on the list.
 
Most of the oil wetness was from badly installed valve covers. I've knocked out 90% of that. But either i missed a spot or the valley pan is leaking after the head work. And, no, the A/C is not working. I think my ujoints are ok. They have no play, but wouldn't hurt to grease them. The tranny seems perfect, not gonba touch that. Most of the suspension symptoms are front right. I've got new bearings and all new rubber bits there. The only thing i hesitate to do myself is the control arms. I feel the odometer is probably right, but its suffering in the rubber bits for age and sitting.
How can you **** up a valve cover gasket job? nevermind... LOL
A car like that without A/C after all that was done? I'm not gonna go there (ATC II).

Well over many years especially on cars u-joints on the vehicle that appear to be tight can still be grease dry and binding, it takes many miles to grind out a joint. It's best to pop the rear and take the caps off and inspect for little line wear on the trunnion, if you see any marks at all replace the joint. Same for the front joint but that needs the driveshaft to be completely removed and the end part that goes into the transmission should very free move, no binding at all. This car era had no grease fittings from the factory so if there are grease fittings the joints have been replaced either with zerk or needle point (best).

Front end, well if the rubber is rotten on the RF might as well do it all if you want to drive the car for long distances on the highway, if your just going to Cars & Coffee events leave it be I guess.
All fresh rubber joints on the front end makes a big difference in the highway ride as all that rubber resistance is part of the 'engineered' suspension.


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