A Tale of Woe
10-03-2010, 04:55 PM
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Car: 1982 SC/1984 Z28
Engine: 305 4BBL/305 4BBL H.O.
Transmission: 700R4/700R4
Axle/Gears: 4th Gen 3.23 Posi/3.73 10 Bolt
A Tale of Woe
Today was gonna be the day. I was gonna do all those things that i had on my list that i couldn't do during the week. O'Reilly has a "Shocktober" event where if you buy 3 Shocks/Struts, You get the 4th Free.
I got my Shocks and Struts and went to work. The Rear had Gas Shocks on there before, but i went back to plain old Standard ones since they were VERY worn. Then i went to the front. I had never replaced Struts before but i was relieved that they didn't have springs attached and proceeded to Remove the first one. The manual that i had read beforehand had told me to LOOSEN the bottom two bolts first, and then remove the upper bolt. It had also told me to support the Control Arm with a jack. I had forgotten that part. When the top nut came off, the Control Arm/Disc slammed into the ground. Lucky for me, I was not Injured and the Car was undamaged. Lesson learned. on the other side, i MADE SURE the Control Arm was supported.
With the Shocks and Struts complete, I moved to the Inside of the car to trace down some Electrical Problems that i had in my Instrument Cluster. I believe i was successful. I have to wait until Nightfall to be sure.
Next on my agenda was Front Sway Bar End Links. Everything that i had read said that this should be done with the wheels on the ground or on Ramps. Since the Camaro is pretty low, i used ramps. The First Link didn't want to yeild but eventually it realized that Resistance is indeed Futile. After i had it removed, i noticed that the Bolt was almost rusted in half. There wouldn't have been very much longer for that one. The Passenger side was Missing a Bushing, but i Found it in one of the Crevices on the Control Arm. When i got to the other side, i noticed that there was less clearance. Puzzling......
Once i completed that, i Drove the Car off the ramps and went for a Test Drive. There's a Spot just down the road from my Condo where there's a SIGNIFICANT "S" Curve. I think it's a 25MPH Curve. That would be my Test. I never made there. I got perhaps 300 Yards down the road and started to hear a CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK. My Mind was Racing...... What happened? Did the End Links Give out? Were they too loose? Maybe i'm losing a U joint. I found a Driveway and gingerly Turned around. I Crawled along the edge of a Busy road until i got to the entrance of the Condo complex and turned in. Right after i was in (Going perhaps 5 MPH) My Left front wheel JUST CAME OFF!!......... Stupid me, I didn't Tighten the lugs enough. As a Result, the wheel RUINED my quarter panel. Lucky for me Replacement Quarters aren't expensive and the car hasn't been painted yet. Earlier, asked advice about that same quarter not fitting correctly. I was worried that the car's Unibody had been damaged. Well, at least i can PLAINLY see now that the Unibody is Okay, however a Whole day's worth of work is RUINED.
I'm sorry about being long winded, but i had alot on my mind.
I got my Shocks and Struts and went to work. The Rear had Gas Shocks on there before, but i went back to plain old Standard ones since they were VERY worn. Then i went to the front. I had never replaced Struts before but i was relieved that they didn't have springs attached and proceeded to Remove the first one. The manual that i had read beforehand had told me to LOOSEN the bottom two bolts first, and then remove the upper bolt. It had also told me to support the Control Arm with a jack. I had forgotten that part. When the top nut came off, the Control Arm/Disc slammed into the ground. Lucky for me, I was not Injured and the Car was undamaged. Lesson learned. on the other side, i MADE SURE the Control Arm was supported.
With the Shocks and Struts complete, I moved to the Inside of the car to trace down some Electrical Problems that i had in my Instrument Cluster. I believe i was successful. I have to wait until Nightfall to be sure.
Next on my agenda was Front Sway Bar End Links. Everything that i had read said that this should be done with the wheels on the ground or on Ramps. Since the Camaro is pretty low, i used ramps. The First Link didn't want to yeild but eventually it realized that Resistance is indeed Futile. After i had it removed, i noticed that the Bolt was almost rusted in half. There wouldn't have been very much longer for that one. The Passenger side was Missing a Bushing, but i Found it in one of the Crevices on the Control Arm. When i got to the other side, i noticed that there was less clearance. Puzzling......
Once i completed that, i Drove the Car off the ramps and went for a Test Drive. There's a Spot just down the road from my Condo where there's a SIGNIFICANT "S" Curve. I think it's a 25MPH Curve. That would be my Test. I never made there. I got perhaps 300 Yards down the road and started to hear a CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK. My Mind was Racing...... What happened? Did the End Links Give out? Were they too loose? Maybe i'm losing a U joint. I found a Driveway and gingerly Turned around. I Crawled along the edge of a Busy road until i got to the entrance of the Condo complex and turned in. Right after i was in (Going perhaps 5 MPH) My Left front wheel JUST CAME OFF!!......... Stupid me, I didn't Tighten the lugs enough. As a Result, the wheel RUINED my quarter panel. Lucky for me Replacement Quarters aren't expensive and the car hasn't been painted yet. Earlier, asked advice about that same quarter not fitting correctly. I was worried that the car's Unibody had been damaged. Well, at least i can PLAINLY see now that the Unibody is Okay, however a Whole day's worth of work is RUINED.
I'm sorry about being long winded, but i had alot on my mind.
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