*DISCLAIMER* I need a new rear lower control arm, if you have a spare... PLEASE let me know, i am also in need of bolt for said control arm. Read the Problem section below for explanition. I also kind of need a tranny mount, the bolts on my current one sheared, and the one on the 5spd only has one of the studs on it. so if you have one, let me know.*/DISCLAIMER*

Well today i finally started to tear her apart.

the Project includes:

85 GSL Rear End
85 GSL Front Strut Housings (better bearing design)
New Rotors and Calipers
New Clutch (Mazdatrix Race PP w/ SS Disc)
Swap to 5spd Tranny
New Idler Arm Bushings

so today, i dropped my front suspension off so i can swap everything over to the new strut housings (the coilovers and illuminas mainly) i have new coilover perches on the way from Ground Control so i'll weld those on during the week. I also dropped the trans (without dropping the exhaust (yay!) and dropped the rear end out, took out the e-brake cables. I had pictures of the 2 rear ends and the one problem i encountered, but for some reason my camera decided not to save them. My plan is to do all the little stuff in the evening mid week and then when all my parts get here, get the job done next weekend.

Currently, my clutch and bushings and some other misc **** is on its way from mazdatrix, along with the proper SS lines that they neglected to send me when i bought my kit from them a year ago, great customer service from those guys. I also have new brake line hardware on the way from www.bakerprecision.com , and a GSL distro block and e-brake cables coming from Atlanta Rx7, great guys down there too.

My Problem:
When i was taking the rear end off, every control arm and watts link bolt came out just fine with the impact wrench and my ingenuity... except for ONE. The drivers side lower control arm bolt on the axle side seems to be frozen into the bushing sleeve. Normally i would have just gotten out the hot wrench (read: OxyAcetelene Torch) and heated her up to get it loose, but i dont have new bushings, and i didnt want to **** them up. So after hours of beating, twisting, PB Blasting... i finally decided that since my rear end is junk, i'll just cut the mounting ears off and get the whole control arm out so i can work on it somewhere other than under the car, now that its off... i still cant get the ****** out, and i had a pic so you could all see... but as i said about the camera so this puts me in a shitty spot, my bolt is probably toast by now, and all my efforts may have compromised the bushing at this point... so the easiest soultion is a new(used) lower control arm that someone has lying around, allthough thats probably quite unlikely.

The only problem i see in the future of this project other than this control arm crap is modifying my tranny tunnel to fit the remote shifter on the FB trans, as opposed to the direct mount shifter in the SA. You'll see in the pics. The FB shifter is at least 4-5 inches farther back on the trans.

Pics:









pics other than dissasembled ones can be found http://hroman.slac.com/rx7/Kurt/ there.

i'll hit the thread tomorrow with the pics of my problem, and the other couple that i took to chronicle the project... i just love how funny the rex looks sitting so high in the air like that, soild as a rock up there too. I just hope nothing goes wrong, as i need to drive this car to rochester not this weekend, but the one after.


-Kurt

EDIT: Anyone know of a semi-easy way to roll my fender lips while everything is off, without taking off the fender or damaging my paint, cause i'm sick of my fenders leaving taking little chunks out of my tires.

EDIT Part 2: anyone know how much i have to take off my RB rear springs to drop the *** of the car an Inch... believe me or not, the car did not drop at all when i put them in, go figure, but now with the coilvers i've gotten the right stance in the front, but the *** sits in the air as you can see in the pics, and a 1 inch drop would give it the perfect stance.

 

Very common with Honda's. When it happens, You need to junk the parts and buy new ones. I micht have a control are on one of my parst cars. If you still can't find one closer I'm sure we could work out something.

Rob

 

lol... yeah when we put new struts/springs on my friends EG Hatch the same bolt (or the one it corresponds to) on the same side did the same ******* thing.

how irritating.

 

You think that's bad. Check out my last Control Arm...

 

that control arm =

 

I woulda drilled or cut the bolt head off, and removed the control arm from the other end so that I could pivot it on what's left of the bolt in the axle...

Hammer and punch work well to get **** like that out, if you can find room to swing em.

 

well the methods i've used so far are:

Impact Wrench (to try to twist the rust loose)
Air Hammer (to try to shock it out)
4lb Hammer (brute force)
22oz hammer (faster slightly less brute force)
LOTS of PB Blaster

Then once it was off:

using a Mill Vise to try to press it out with a sleeve around the bolt head
4lb Hammer w/ sleeve against concrete

the ****** is IN there.

 

Nah, that control arm is fine, just put it on a press and straighten it back out. I just fixed one that was a bit worse than that for a 626, took me about 20seconds to straighten it out.

 

I recognize the ROH Snyper wheels...
I had a fender-lip contact to my front tire, too.
I recently went with 195/50 x 15 on the front and 205/50 x 15 on the rear and have absolutely no fender rub anymore. I am using Eibach Pro springs, too.

 

well its not so much the tire size, i run 205/50/15 all around, kumho ecsta supra 712's (nice tires i think)... as i run the front end pretty low with my coilovers, not much more than one and a half fingers... if that.

i might have found a control arm from a fellow forum member, gotta love the 1st gen brotherhood.

 

new pics:

Pics of the Offending Control Arm


The GSL rear w/ SS Lines, and the Old piece of crap


SA Console modified for FB tranny... making a shift boot and rubber surround to seal the hole is really gonna blow *** though.

 

I installed a -se tranny in my 80 SA. Had to cut a bunch of metal out. After you get the tranny in you need to make a coverplate. That is what i did.

 

well you dont HAVE to... get a breeze without running your blower..

nah, i've got a bunch of tin sheets lying around, i figure that and some rivets would do the trick really well.

its the shift boot thats gonna be a **** and a half.

 

well thanks to zoomie, i have upper and lower control arms w/ bushings and bolts on the way!!

he is my savior, and the project is back on track.

 

Will any of these work?

http://www.mazdatrix.com/in-shift.htm

 

i have a 2nd gen shift boot in my car.. i got the bag with the little plastic peice.. slides in real nice, and with the shroud over it, looks real good. I can take some pics tomorrow if ya want.

 

85gs is officially the 2nd savior of the project, as he has a tranny mount on the way to me!

At this point, i should still be on track for my deadline, my clutch, idler arm bushings, throwout bearing, LSD fluid, pilot bearing and the PROPER brake lines arrived yesterday. Thanks Mazdatrix.

anyone ever seen a clutch disc with rubber "springs" instead of springs in the sprung hub?

 

Kurt you still dont have that rear i sold you in your car yet? Holy dude when was that...a while ago. lol

 

this thread is like 5 months old, he installed the rear end the same time he put the 5 speed in

 

dohhhhhhh lol my bad