Wishful thinking, but I'm hoping to be finished with the car NLT Saturday, which would be Day 23.

Here is my tentative schedule: I'm planning on removing my old brake lines tomorrow, and will begin shaping the new lines to match the existing lines. I should be an pro at this by now. Will hopefully have the new lines reinstalled by Wednesday. My "new" hub is scheduled for delivery by USPS tomorrow. Will have them by Wednesday. The hub will need to have the original DTSS bushing removed, new aluminum bushing installed, and a new RWB installed. I already have all these parts. That should hopefully be finished by Thursday. Will reinstall that hub on Friday and hopefully be finished that afternoon or Saturday morning.

I've been accumulating new hardware for this job for years. Finally, they're out of my house and being put to use.

You are correct regarding the Pro-Kit springs...they are no longer available. With the car being 35+ years old and so few on the road, a lot of vendors have given up on trying to sell aftermarket parts. No money to be made.

The new end links use PTFE lined spherical bearings. I'm hoping that they will not have the same premature wear problems that the original links have. That's another reason why I decided to use them. We'll see how they fare when I go in for an alignment.

The rear arm PU bushings that I had in there did not squeak. I don't expect the replacement PU to squeak either. I did grease the bushing with the grease that Energy Suspension provided. It's a very sticky almost translucent grease. Yeah, I'm using either grease or anti-seize on everything that's bolted together.

The camber adjusting bolts are new, but the old offset washers were reused. New washers are NLA from Mazda. The new bolts were installed in same position as the old ones were. Mazda FSM shows bolts installed with their heads facing towards the outside. I even took photos of the old bolt's markings so as install the new bolts in the same exact position. Hopefully, the rear camber alignment will be close to the original alignment, but will need to have that checked.

I didn't mention earlier, but I also have Eibach anti-sway bar kit on my car. The kit included larger diameter bars on front and rear with rear bar having three holes on each end for adjustment. The PU bushings that came with the larger diameter rear ASB were worn out to the point where they were loose. The rear bar is 17 mm in diameter. Nobody, and I mean nobody, makes PU bushings that size anymore. So, I reinstalled the stock Mazda ASB with PU bushings. The S5 also used plastic endlinks. I replaced these endlinks with steel S4 links, but replaced the rubber with Energy Suspension PU bushings.

It looks like I have a bit of a leak at or near my splitter block, too. I think one of the lines may have a hairline crack. That's another reason why I decided to replace all the lines now rather than later. I might take a better look at the original splitter block once it's removed. If it looks okay and I can clean it up using a wire brush, than I might just reuse it. We will see. Will do...I will post photos of the new lines once they are shaped. I also ordered adhesive based heat shrink tubing to put over the left line, like Mazda did.

I'm anxious to see how the car will ride and handle with all these new parts, too. Can't wait to get her on the road again.

Well Jeff76, an old wise man once said, "Never underestimate your ability to surprise yourself".

 

As of yesterday, the car has been in the shop for one month or 23 working days. Last Thursday, my "new" used left rear hub assembly that I bought off Ebay was finally delivered. I replaced the RWB, oil seal and removed the original Mazda DTSS bushing. I replaced the bearing with a BCA NTN bearing that I bought from Rockauto. The good news is that this bearing was stamped "USA". I replaced the original DTSS bushing with a Parts Shop MAX Toe Steering Eliminator Bushing, as I had already done on the RHS.

Using the NAPA Ni-Copp prefabricated brake lines that I had bought earlier, I tried to duplicate my original rear brake lines. This job didn't go as well as I expected, but in the end the lines did fit alright. The LHS line (12" line), I had to hand shape due its short length. It was too short to use a bending tool on it. The RHS line (48" line), I started shaping the line using my bending tool and it was looking very good until I realized that the fitting was on the other side of the line. So, I had to undo my bends and move the fitting to the correct end of the line. So, in the end, the bends weren't that pretty for that line, but it did fit okay. I'll probably send my original rear brakes lines to a shop near Buffalo, NY and have them professionally fabricate new lines for me. This company uses state-of-the-art computerized CNC programmable tube benders, ensuring exact duplication of the OEM specifications.

Photo of my L&R rear brake lines.



Photo of right rear brake line installed on the car.



Photo of left rear brake line installed on the car.



I replaced my brake fluid with new yesterday and bled the brakes (and clutch). I used a Mighty Vac to do this and went around the car wheel by wheel (RR, LR, RF, LF) several times, and in the end the brake pedal felt firm. Was almost finished with the car yesterday, but ran out of time. Will return to the shop next Tuesday when they reopen and remount my wheels, finishing up this very long job.

On another note, once the exhaust was back on, I started the car and let it run for a good 30 to 40 minutes. The idle was now much smoother with the new fuel lines. Before the new lines, once the car was warmed up the idle would drop to about 500-600 rpm and bounce around. Now, it seems to be steady as a rock. I'm looking forward to a road testing the car next Tuesday morning.

 

Thanks for the photos with the undate. This looks much nicer than the work that I did to mine. The end is near finally.

 

I finally picked up my car yesterday after being in the shop for almost 24 working days. Drove it home almost 35 miles through lashing rain. Stopped along the way to get my VA annual safety inspection renewed. I passed without any issues. So, now I can drive it legally on the streets.

I took the car out this morning for a short drive both suburban and interstate. The rear suspension felt really solid now. Rear suspension rode very firm, but ride was not too harsh. The engine seemed to pull stronger now with the new fuel lines. The idle still dropped kind of low when the engine was at normal operating temperature, but probably not as low as it did with the rusted fuel lines. It's funny that the car idled great while in the shop, but today not so good. I suspect that maybe this is due to the fuel injectors. In the coming weeks, I'm planning on sending them to an injector shop to be cleaned and flow tested. More on that later in another thread.

 

Thank you for the update. It's great to see the hard work pay off! Anoher FC is back on the road! Have some fun and be safe.

I will be looking forward to the next thread.