So I finally picked up a 12-Ton hydraulic press from harbor freight on the way back from an auto-x on Saturday. (I'm glad I got the 12-ton and not the 6, the diff bushings can be a bit stubborn...)

it's pretty nice so far I've pressed out my tri-axial hub bushings, subframe bushings and my diff bushings and pressed in my new mazdaspeed diff bushings.

it's a bit annoying to get it all lined up right, I've been using the stack of my impreza's winter/rally-x wheels as a table to balance the bigger things on like the subframe and diff. The subframe and diff bushings are kind of a pain to get out because they have a lip on the side you're pressing them out of so you don't really have anything to hold the thing up by, I've just been putting a metal ring right around that lip and eventually it presses it into the ring and then I just have to pry it out of the ring I just pressed it into

Here are my control arms with new triaxial bushings (they don't have the metal sleeves in them yet)


I ended up having to buy the whole set of delrin bushings from mazdaspeed (incl. another set of DTSS elim. and a set of delrin control arm bushings) so they're for sale if anyone needs some.

new mazdaspeed bushings pressed into my diff:


and here is my subframe with no bushings in it next to my press:


Next I need to go to advance and get some wheel bearings... and I also need to go get a 5/8" drill bit to drill out the toe-link holes for the AWR links.

I've decided I'm going to clean up all the steel bits (subframe, control arms, and half the diff) and paint them. I'm thinking either just a satin black or maybe a darkish blue like this...?


what do you guys think?

 

black would be nice.. i think you may regret the blue later down the road

 

yeah... that's what I'm afraid of.

 

finally got around to doing some more work on the 7...





got the new wheel bearings and ARP studs in. I forgot to put the brake heat shields back on before I pressed in the hubs so I'm deleting those

pressed out the DTSS bushings and installed the eliminators

the ABS rings were disappointingly light, they're hollow and made from aluminum...

now I just need to start reassembling things

 

Nice work.

 

I'm tellin ya man, get some por 15. You won't regret it. It looks really nice + protects it really well. I still like doing a pushup or two behind my car so I can see the pretty silver diff. My black got messed up because I didn't stir it continuously, but you can do better.

 

Oh, are those APR studs longer than stock? Or just stronger?

 

they're 2.5" studs which are about 1 inch longer than stock.

my 275 hoosier A6s were rubbing against my control arms so I need to put some spacers back there.

 

slowly but surely moving along... started painting stuff:

 

weekly update



it's getting close to being done... I just have to torque everything down to specs, install the axles, and install the pinion snubber... and then bolt it up

 

How do you like those adjustable lateral links? I'm thinking of getting some.

 

they seem nice. I haven't had to adjust anything with them yet, other than adjusting them to around the same length as stock.

 

did you ever finish this project? i am kind of doing the same except not as proffessional and in-dept. i am replacing the diff mounts, sub frame mounts, dtss elim.,

 

yeah, it sucks that all the links are broken. You can see some of the pictures in my build thread:
https://www.rx7club.com/build-thread...-tubo-1031251/