Suspension Rebuild Begins...And then some

Well, today was "D-Day" so to speak. Got the car situated all cockeyed in the garage up on jack stands with plenty of room to work and I'll be heading into the suspension rebuild. I'm replacing all bushings and ball joints in the front and all the sway bar bushings. (Bought a kit from Maserati Source on Ebay) I'm going to be ordering QA-1's as well. In addition, I'm replacing the steering rack with a 2.5 turn 'fast rack' that I picked up on FAds. (Thanks again Fastradio!) I'm having the front spindles ground down to better accept the dustcaps so the 328 wheels fit better, and now I'll be draining the gear fluid that I just put in to drop the gearbox cover to see what the heck is going on in there. I'll keep this thread with updates and pictures as I go along. Luckily for me the ground is soaked so there is no golf at the moment to distract me.
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Good Luck with it Jim.The suspension is pretty easy and straight forward.Refitting the rack is a bit of a pain in the rss if you are doing it alone.

 

Take a lot of photos Jim! I'm sure that there will be others to follow your example

And good luck!

Hans

 

Jim,

What about the driving season?? You wont have her done by then.

















I'm just busting yah.
Good luck on the rebuild and yes on the pictures.

Pizzaman

 

I thought about that....with all the potholes and no guarantee that winter is 100% over, I figure now is as good a time as any to do it. Plus, I'll enjoy the driving season that much more!!!

JIM

 

Ok, when I remove the calipers, should I just let the master cylinder drain or what will fit over the lines to cap them off? They will be bled after everything is back together...

JIM

 

Hi Jim,

I'll be following your posts. I'm next in line for a suspension rebuilt. Please take lots of pictures.

Cheers,


Richard

 

If you are not rebuilding the calipers then they dont have to come off at all.Just tie them out of the way.I didn't remove mine although I replaced the hoses later.

 

I wondered that too. All 4 calipers were rebuilt a couple years ago.
Thanks!

JIM

 

Hey Jim,

Check out "jwise" thread on his suspension rebuild. He's got great photos.

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90608

 

On the 308 you have to remove the steel line to get to one of the caliper bolts . .. what I want is some plugs to screw in the end of the line so brake fluid doesn't drain all over . .. probably available at auto parts store?

 

Chris,

I've referenced this thread a zillion times! Great writeup!

JIM

 

More importantly, make sure you get it done before bike-riding season returns. (See 1st two photos)

 

I get a lot of comments about those bikes hanging there. I could do pull-ups on those things....they are NOT coming down without some serious help!!!!
Good conversation pieces they are!



JIM

 

Jim
I feel like such a leech, but it sure is nice to have you about 6 months ahead of me in the repair and replace process.

 

Skip,

Anything I can do to help! Our cars are virtually brothers! I think we are only 4 or 5 SN#'s apart!!!!!
If you have any specific picture requests as I go along, I'll gladly take care of them for you.

JIM

 

While waiting for some tools to show up that I ordered, I decided to swing by the local Harbor Freight store to price a press. Well, it just so happened that they have a 6Ton table top press for $40. What a bargain!!! I got it all put together and did my first press action with it. You can see the results. I also stripped the paint off of my Drop Links with my dremel tool and a soft wire bit. They are all pretty now.
I start tearing apart the suspension on Thurs. PM.!!!!!

JIM
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That's a nice little press. I haven't seen that one before.



Jim, get some sleep.

 

Poly bushings? I had them on a restomod [65 302 mustang] and they were great until I got caught in a rain shower...then they squeeked like mad ;(

Did you coat the drop links?

 

I don't have too much room for the floor model. I was standing in Harbor Freight debating it when I noticed the smaller one. It's not listed on thier website, but is at their stores. SKU# is 1666 for those interested.

JIM

 

We'll see how they do. I used my Dremmel tool to strip the paint off of the drop links, which gave them a polished/coated look. I'm debating wether or not I'll paint them black again or leave them stripped. If I do is there a need to coat them? I read in another thread where a lister put a clear coating on his...

JIM

 

Looks like your gunna have a bit of fun Jim. Enjoy.

Had a laugh when I saw the Golf Clubs next to your new press.

mmmmm Golf or suspension today. lol

 

If it werent raining that would be a serious decision I would have to make. I'm HORRIBLY addicted to golf.

This should be fun. I have a feeling that the car is going to behave very differently when I'm all done.

JIM

 

I thinks is going to be fantastic. I had mine done a few years back and the difference was amazing.

Some of your photos showed the bushes had started to crack and break down. She'll be like driving on tracks.

 

Jim if you dont clear coat them they will begin to surface rust....ask me how I know