REPLACING OEM SHOCKS & STRUTS
 

I am in the process of replacing the OEM shocks and struts on my 1989 GTU. I have gotten a set of KYB AGX struts and shocks with new boots and I have several questions I hope y'all can help me with.
The rubber pads that the coils sit in at the top of the struts look pretty good but has anyone replaced theirs when changing out the struts? What is the best source for these rubber pads? Mine look in pretty good shape with just a few cracks on one side.

I am also cleaning up the metal parts and repainting everything that needs it, the springs and the dust shields, nuts and bolts and trying to get the wheel well liners cleaned and repainted. Anyone got any recommendations for cleaning the wells and recoating them or painting them?

Also do the bottoms of the strut boots need to be secured to the strut or should they hang loose at the bottom?

Thanks for the No help or maybe there was just NO interest in the topic. I found a great site for cleaning and detailing info and products;
http://classic-motoring.stores.yahoo...htiwhwecl.html
Might answer some detailing questions and might be a source of sponsorship for this site.

Hold on man! Good god have some patience!

Those are isolators, and I never replaced mine. If yours look good then carry on.


They generally just fit around the bottom snugly.

When I cleaned my wheel wells, I used dish soap and water with a green Scotch-brite scouring pad and you'd be surprised how good it looked with 20 years of oil and grime to keep the paint safe. :D I went the next step though and sanded and painted with POR 15.

I also upgraded my suspension to the Eibach ERS springs, 440/300, with the Ground Control perches on Tokico Illuminas, I didn't replace my isolators and it's worked fine. They may be the only stock part on the car now. :D

Thanks guys for the insight. I was hoping that I wouldn't need to replace them and I think you confirmed that. I have done some research on cleaning the wheel wells and its gonna have to be done as part of the shocks and strut replacement. I don't think they've ever been really cleaned since it rolled off the show room floor. I know its gonna be a lot of work but seems that now is the best time to do it and I'll just have to give as much attention as the rest of the car when I wash it.

I don't beleive that there is any rust yet and when I get them really cleaned I am thinking about respraying them with a flat black paint or undercoating to protect them.

Go to the hardware store and get a good stiff bristled scrub brush.
With the car jacked up and wheels removed, liberally spray the wheelwell area with PurplePower or the cleaner/degreaser of you choice.
Let it sit for a while and do it's thing.

Then, use the scrub brush and hot soapy water and go to town.
Rinse with hose when finished.

Be very careful about paint/undercoating.
Paint (especially flat black) will deteriorate in a matter of weeks and cheap undercoating (think Pep Boys) will chip and allow water to get behind it- you'll have worse rust than if just left unprotected.

Your RX will love having clean armpits.

Here's the results of mine - it almost makes me not want to put the wheel liners back in.

http://trueslide.net/images/rx7-sealed.jpg

You don't sand to bare metal, just a quick hit with 220 grit or so to make sure all the oil is off and to rough up the surface a bit. You can't paint over oil or it will all lift off. (This goes for oil from your fingers, too!) POR 15 applies with a cheap foam brush, and a pint can goes a long way. A quart did the whole underside of the car.

^
That's beautiful and should last a good long while.
A very good example of doing the job right the first time.

When I did my suspension I replaced EVERYTHING from the front strut mounts to all the bushing under the car. If you gonna do it do it right replace it all, remember these cars are old and rubber starts cracking exposed to weather. Use sand paper and brush to get noticable crap off then paint with truck bedliner gives you a nice HARD plastic coating on the surface, thats what I did.

Thanks, I have partially cleaned the passenger front wheel well and I was surprised at how good the original paint looked after getting all the 18 year old crude build up off the metal. It is a lot tougher scrubbing the plastic liners.

Goddamn that's sexy.