| Author | Message | ||
| Mitchell Le (Yelcab1)
Member Username: Yelcab1 Post Number: 666 Registered: 11-2001 |
There are tiny little dowel pins (size of toothpicks, but 1/8 inch long) in the rear suspension control arms bushings assemblies, not the ones you are replacing, but the brass ones that you are not replacing. They are locating pins for the little flat washers. Pay attention to what you remove, and put those back the same place. | ||
| 1975GT4Don (1975gt4don)
Junior Member Username: 1975gt4don Post Number: 74 Registered: 1-2002 |
Mitchell and the others, thanks again for your incredible help! Mitchell, what and where is this(these) dowel pin(s)? I haven't seen one of mine yet, I just received my bushings from Superformance and I am just about to start dremeling the spot welds away to start the old bushing removal process. TIA. | ||
| Mitchell Le (Yelcab1)
Member Username: Yelcab1 Post Number: 664 Registered: 11-2001 |
quote: BTW another famous F-mechanic did my rears previously and I found several parts missing including the small dowel pin in each arm! End of quote. This is why as far as my car is concerned, I am the professional mechanic. | ||
| Robert W. Garven Jr. (Robertgarven)
Member Username: Robertgarven Post Number: 277 Registered: 2-2002 |
Here is some photos i did of the rear using the eastwood chassis black. Superformance said they do not spot weld the bushing but I did. A trick is to slip a piece of drill rod through the bushings while you weld them, i forget the correct size. It is hard to do without melting them. I used a friend and his mig and had wet towels ready right after each short weld. My borther in law used a tig and melted all the rubber on one. Live and learn!!! BTW another famous F-mechanic did my rears previously and I found several parts missing including the small dowel pin in each arm!   | ||
| Carl Jones (Carl888)
New member Username: Carl888 Post Number: 14 Registered: 7-2003 |
Hi Don, I use a paint by Wurth, it's a bitumin based elasticised sealant in an aerosolm can. Although the photo's are not great, here is a pic of an arm that I painted with it. Please ignore the fact that the arms on the left is bent! The longer locating bolts are to enable 3 degrees of negative camber on the front BTW. Regards, Carl.   | ||
| philip loulis (Ria)
New member Username: Ria Post Number: 27 Registered: 3-2003 |
on the paint i, use the original chassis black from eastwood good paint. | ||
| Mitchell Le (Yelcab1)
Member Username: Yelcab1 Post Number: 655 Registered: 11-2001 |
Rustoleum semi gloss black will do. Or, powder coating. | ||
| 1975GT4Don (1975gt4don)
Junior Member Username: 1975gt4don Post Number: 73 Registered: 1-2002 |
Carl, thank you kindly, yes I do have the parts you mentioned on order, I am not cutting any corners on this job. What type of spray paint do you recommend? I have heard others in here talk about poly urethane paint, but I cannot find any. T Rutlands recommends rustoleum semigloss black. Thanks in advance. | ||
| Carl Jones (Carl888)
New member Username: Carl888 Post Number: 11 Registered: 7-2003 |
Make sure you replace #8 as well, the teflon lined sleeve that the bush rotates in. Also, #12,#9 and #4 are a bearing, do them too. Best to disassemble first to check if they are worn, which they probably will be. It's easy to tell, the teflon face will be scored. If you are being really fussy, replace the rubber seals #6 and #7 to eliminate the ingress of dirt. You MUST weld the rubber bushes in the arms. If you don't whilst it's correct they cannot fall out, the axial load placed on the bush under accellertaion and decelleration will enlarge the hole on the arm to the point where the arm will fail. I know this is the cest because the bushes in my suspension were poorly welded in, and the spot welds cracked, leading to the faliure and subsequent destruction of the front lower LH wishbone. You don't have to use the genuine fasteners as supplied by Ferrari, but they do have to be either a 10.9 or 12.9 tensile strength (It's stamped on the bolt hex) and they are a metric fine thread. You are really crazy if you take short cuts with jobs like suspension, steering and brakes. Bill is correct with his loaction of the chrome bushing. Carl. | ||
| 1975GT4Don (1975gt4don)
Junior Member Username: 1975gt4don Post Number: 72 Registered: 1-2002 |
Bill, no it isn't. I am going to have to call GT Carparts back up and ask them to verify again the part number, I believe they told me the wrong one. | ||
| Bill Sebestyen (Bill308)
Member Username: Bill308 Post Number: 502 Registered: 5-2001 |
GT4DON, Is item 11 the chrome bushing we are discussing?  This bushing may indeed be chromed. Initial brain fade on my part, sorry for the bum steer. According to my 78 308 GTB/S PM, this is part number 109905. It may be a different part number on your car. There are 4 of these per side for the rear suspension. | ||
| 1975GT4Don (1975gt4don)
Junior Member Username: 1975gt4don Post Number: 71 Registered: 1-2002 |
thank you everyone for your help! You guys are very special. The part number that GT Carparts quoted me 48.92 EACH for is 100785(the chrome bushing apparently), I don't see that part # of my GT4 parts manual callout. I strongly believe after calling several F-car places, Superformance in the UK has the best prices by far. These U.S. dealers want to retire off of one sale and it won't be with my money. My bushings appear to be rusted especially on the lower A-arm, so I will out some dough. My shorter bolts appear to be fine and not rusted, but my longer A-arm bolts are rusted, I will try Superformance for those, but they do not appear on their price list for sale, so maybe I can email them specifically for that part. Anyone that has had any experince with Superformance please feel free to post here, both good and bad. | ||
| Jerry W. (Tork1966)
Member Username: Tork1966 Post Number: 913 Registered: 7-2001 |
Why spot weld the bushings? The way they are put together, there is no way that they can go anywhere. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the ride with my ES bushings!!!! Personal taste obviously. | ||
| Mitchell Le (Yelcab1)
Member Username: Yelcab1 Post Number: 646 Registered: 11-2001 |
Don I would spring for the original bolt. Yes, it is $18 but you are only replacing one. The shorter bolts are all fine, right? | ||
| Carl Jones (Carl888)
New member Username: Carl888 Post Number: 8 Registered: 7-2003 |
I STRONGLY suggest you do the outer rear hub bushes and sleeves (That's the sleeve pressed into the hub). They do wear and you will have some toe changes under accelleration and decelleration that will make the car feel bad. Be VERY careful with the bolts. if you want to know why they are that price, check the tensile strength of the bolts first BEFORE you buy some cheapies! NOTE, only the outer rear a arms bushings are th esmall chrome ones. carl. | ||
| Philip Airey (Pma1010)
Member Username: Pma1010 Post Number: 383 Registered: 7-2002 |
The chrome bushing is the rear outer bushing. Should not need to be replaced as it is a hard chrome, unless rust has got in there. On the bolts, contact Dave Bendl [[email protected]] he found them cheaply. | ||
| philip loulis (Ria)
New member Username: Ria Post Number: 26 Registered: 3-2003 |
the new bushings must be spot welded in plase. i, do not like the energy suspension it makes the suspension to hard i, put back the OEM bushings , and i did not see any chrome bushings on my car. for the bushings try T. RUTLANDS 800-233-7820 $ 18.00 a, bushing. | ||
| Bill Sebestyen (Bill308)
Member Username: Bill308 Post Number: 497 Registered: 5-2001 |
GT4DON, I'm not sure what chrome bushing is being referred to but both the inner and outer A-arm bushings are not chromed. | ||
| 1975GT4Don (1975gt4don)
Junior Member Username: 1975gt4don Post Number: 70 Registered: 1-2002 |
anyone here know where I can find the A-arm bolts and the nuts other than a Ferrari supplier? GT Carparts wants 18.82 EACH for the 5" bolts and 12.44 for the shorter bolts each. Also, GT Carparts quoted me 48.92 each for the chrome inner bushing that they said usually does not need to be replaced. Is this bushing the part that is welded to the A-arm? Thanks in advance. | ||
| Bill Sebestyen (Bill308)
Member Username: Bill308 Post Number: 495 Registered: 5-2001 |
The inner bushings on all the A-arms of my 78 308 are spot welded in 2-places per the Shop Manual. This locks them in place on the A-arm. | ||
| Jerry W. (Tork1966)
Member Username: Tork1966 Post Number: 906 Registered: 7-2001 |
Bushings do not need to be re-welded. Also you should install Energy Suspension bushings instead of the stock rubbers. I did mine bushings last winter and bought new (lower) springs from the UK (lowered the car 1"), had the shocks rebuilt (True Choice), and had the A-arms sand blaster and painted gloss black-urethane...looks awesome!! | ||
| philip loulis (Ria)
New member Username: Ria Post Number: 25 Registered: 3-2003 |
dave i, will replase front and rear shocks on the control arms i, did not know that the bushings need to be weld on the arms. thanks for the info on shocks. | ||
| dave handa (Davehanda)
Intermediate Member Username: Davehanda Post Number: 1643 Registered: 5-2001 |
Philip, as long as you have it apart, why not change the shocks? You say you are changing the shock bushings anyway? Koni shocks are very reasonably priced at www.tirerack.com | ||
| philip loulis (Ria)
New member Username: Ria Post Number: 24 Registered: 3-2003 |
i, want to thank both of you for the info on this. | ||
| philip loulis (Ria)
New member Username: Ria Post Number: 23 Registered: 3-2003 |
i got the bushings from maranello auto parts i, will do both sides + the front sway bar bushings for $ 200 the shock bushings need to be replase the shocks look good, or replase the shocks and be done with it. any info!!!! $$$ thanks. | ||
| Mitchell Le (Yelcab1)
Member Username: Yelcab1 Post Number: 643 Registered: 11-2001 |
Not a difficult job, I did mine last weekend. There is a sequence of things to remove and re-install that makes it easier than other. Email me and I'll send it to you. You might as well do both sides and replace all 8 bushings. $200 for the whole thing from GT Car parts. I ended up replacing one of the drop link bushings because it was toast. The longest bolt (5 inches) tend to get bent and hard to replace. But, impact air wrenches will do the work for you. | ||
| Philip Airey (Pma1010)
Member Username: Pma1010 Post Number: 368 Registered: 7-2002 |
Philip It's not a difficult job (I did mine over the winter). The spring doesn't need to be compressed to remove the control arms. The shock and attached spring comes out as one unit as part of the process (fully extended). The challenge tends to me if some of the bolts are stuck. Generally if you can move the bolt heads after slackening off the nuts, you're OK. If they are tight, most people have found a penetrant like PB Blaster (available at NAPA and similar) to do the trick. In the "while you are at it" category/if these are bad others will be - the rears tend to go too as do the shock rubbers. Shocks too for that matter. Superformance (UK) has a pretty good price on the bushings and also sells a harder bushing, but I'd also check with Maranello (Rutlands). They are pretty competitive on this stuff too. Only watchout is to make sure you reinstall the upper ball joint mount with the correct orientation. You'll need an alignment when done, so it all adds up. Best to do the whole thing in one (bigger) project. HTH | ||
| philip loulis (Ria)
New member Username: Ria Post Number: 22 Registered: 3-2003 |
i, need to replase the front controll arm bushings on my 1980 308gtsi i, need to know if i need to compress the shock spring or not !!! to get it out of the way. i, will not replase the shocks look good or just need to take the ( 2 ) bolts holding the shock!!! . need help on this thanks. |