just wondering if anyone has.

my situation:

bought 87 base. has 5 lug in front 4 lug in back no lsd. and a buddy of mine has a gxl parts car. how easy is it to just drop mine and instal his?


remove strut bolts from instal car, detach brake lines, detach ebrake lines, .........

 

2 bolts hold the rear of the differential, 2 bolts hold the subframe up (these 4 bolts are connected to 4 studs that protrude from under the car, these are the main 4), brake lines, e-brake cables, strut bolts (1 each), sway bar bolts, 4 nuts for the drive shaft...I think that's it

Getting it out is easy. Getting it back in was the hard part for me. The entire thing flexes if you try to lift one end, or at both hubs, so I put long boards under the front of the subframe and under each hub (this allowed me to roll it around to get it aligned to the 4 studs while at the same time raising it...using just jacks was too difficult). I then put the ends of the boards on some rolling moving dollies I had, and slowly added more boards/bricks under each end to slowly raise it up to the studs, then tightened the 4 main bolts, then attached everything else.

Using this method I was able to do it by myself, without any real exertion. (meaning, it was easy...just took me ~2 weeks to figure out how)

 

damn that seems..confusing haha

 

pic:

 

you didnt leave the suspension intact? did you just remove it till you have the SF back in there

 

the suspension was still hanging from the car. I only disconnected the bottom of the suspension, and left the top attached to the car. Which reminds me that I think you have to support the weight of the hub while attaching/detaching the suspension.

 

Do you know if whoever put 5-lug in the front also replaced the brake booster and proportioning valve with one from a 5-lug car? If not, your brakes will still work, just not correctly (front-to-rear braking power ratio will be off).

 

alrighty i guess ill give it a try, thanks for the help

 

i think it was origianlly a somewhat racing car, there is a fuel cut switch in the rear. so im guessing he sold the rear subframe before he got rid of the car just to get some money ya know.

 

ahh, that makes sense. Good luck!

 

Your telling me. My buddy and I put mine back in after we powdercoated a bunch back there. Anyway, we actually lifted it up and then held it into place by putting our knees under it as we bolted it in.....god that sucked

 

well its either that, or puttin a lsd in the diff, and installing new 5 lug hubs

 

dropping the subframe is an easy way to replace the diff (which is what I was doing, along with replacing some bushings), so if you have the donor assembly a few steps away, I might be easier to just swap the entire thing. Some may disagree though.

Some folks have had luck replacing the differential by just loosening the rear subframe and letting it hang. As for swapping the hubs, you'd have to disconnect the 3 bolts that hold the hub assembly to the control arm, the brake line, and the halfshaft bolt (axle bolt) in the middle. Then the hub *may* have to be pulled off the shaft with a gear puller. If you've been thinking of replacing bushings, this may also be a good time to do so.

and get an alignment when you're finished!

 

i started on the removal yesterday from the donor car, but there is no motor, just the tranny. so the drive shaft is spining and i cant get the bolts loose. today i think im gunna take a saws-all to it then take it home and figure out somthing. then only real question is how to get my stock one off with out cutting it, or will my motor prevent it from spining?

 

got any other pics of yours?

 

i pulled this bad boy out last week. notice the broken diff mount bracket in the foreground. it wasnt too bad.

 

I did this, very easy, if you have an impact gun, and a jack. I have pictures as well. However im too lazy to post them. I took the whole differential, subframe, and and hubs/rotors with it

 

Yea.....heres how i did it

 

i just finished with the re install, i put jacks under the diff, and screwd it in then i did the front two. came in pretty easy. but i broke a brake line bolt.


Are 4 lug and 5 lug calipers the same/interchangeable?

 

umm.....? rear calipers? just look at them are they the same size? I don't really think they are different, just the hub is different( I think).

 

put some vice grips on the input shaft, and find something to rest them up against so it wont turn.. or pull the e-brake (if it works) that will stop it from spinning.