Fall/Winter/Spring Projects 2012/13 for Fiona RESOLVED

[RRoller123]

Redcars: Should he tighten them to torque, or just close and then get everything weight loaded for final torqueing? This was my understanding.

[4uall]

Jay,

are your master cylinder's white plastic plugs original ?
mine are vertical, and they are not very convenient to route the brake fluid hose easily under the brake fluid tanks.
any late version improvement ?

I believe so however, these were on the car when I bought her so not 100% sure

[4uall]

Redcars: Should he tighten them to torque, or just close and then get everything weight loaded for final torqueing? This was my understanding.

maybe not?

http://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/sp ... l_Arms.htm

[RRoller123]

From mirafiori:

"IMPORTANT: Do not tighten the rubber bushings on the pivot pins until told to do so! The rubber bushings must be tightened only after everything is back together and the car is loaded with weight to simulate the normal driving height. If you tighten them in advance, the rubber will become twisted after the car is dropped and loaded with weight. This will cause premature failure of the bushings"

[4uall]

wayyyyyyyyyyy ahead of you

what makes me laugh, is how in hell am I going to get the pre-load weight in the car while I torque

It says 2 adults + 130lbs of luggage

I weigh a healthy 275lbs, my wife is 115-120lbs and our son 40lbs how the hell does this happen

[courtenay]

Too bad I don't live closer, I'm about 275 as well! However, how about concrete blocks or bags of sand?

[RRoller123]

Neighbors and beer will probably work.

[narfire]

What I did and it kind of worked. Measured the distance from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fender when I had weight in the car, exactly 400 pounds, not sure but close enough for me. I had the use of a hoist but perhaps something similar could be done with jacks and jack stands.. When it was up in the air I put a 2 X 4 on a bottle jack and then jacked the lower a-arm up untill the top of the tire was the same distance from the fender rim. Figured that would be about the same pressure so then tightened up the bolts. The weight of the engine was such the car did not rise when I jacked the 2 X 4. So far seems to have worked. Bushings look OK.
Good luck
Chris, in the nice warm sunshine of Naramata

[4uall]

great idea Chris sadly, I still need to figure out how to make weight first

[redcars]

The nuts I was talking about was the ball joint nuts and they be torqued to the steering knuckle be for you release the spring compressor. That way you will not have a problem with them spining free and not be able to get them tight,

[4uall]

The love of a good woman





There is nothing better than the support of a partner who shares/understands your passions in life

[steve8462]

jay, you do indeed have a good wife! i was going to suggest something that might make working out in the garage a little more tolerable. if your garage is connected to your house i normally find that the clothes dryer is also somewhere close by . i went to lowes (or home dumpster) and bought a vent for my dryer and connected to the wall in the garage opposite the dryer. then i went and disconnected the dryer hose from the vent that went outside and stuffed a towel in the hole to block it. i then connected the hose to the new vent that vented into the garage! with a wife and a teenage daughter (almost) the dryer runs enough to keep the cold out of the garage enough to make it comfortable to work in the winter and as a bonus, it smells like that little snuggles the bears ass! never mind the fact that i am helping global warming by recycling heat!
this trick should work for our mates down under too. (note:) stretch an old nylon over the vent to trap the lint.

[4uall]

hey steve this is a good idea in theory however, (for me at least) this would have very bad results I would have severe moisture issues, along with the potential of freeze/thaw issues with my concrete. Between my halogen lights and heater my garage is now nice and toasty

[courtenay]

I've got the same heater, Jay. It works like a charm!! Except when you're under the car...

[RRoller123]

That dryer idea is a good one other than the moisture problem, which could promote mold. If yours is like my house, just run it with no clothes in there, or when the girls don't have a lot of laundry to do, like on 4th alternate Tuesdays in a monsoon and full moon.