Ok, so I have been without a camera for a few weeks, while my wife worked on a freelance photo job. Also, been through a rough run of stuff not going my way in the disassembly of the RR. Good news is that I'm back at it and things are starting to move.
It was clear that I needed to replace all of the brake lines as I found multiple kinks/pinches in both the front and rear lines, so I purchased a complete set from Right Stuff Detailing which included a shortened rear line with a small section to add the Prop valve.
Also needed new inner fender splash shields (the masticated rubber ones that allow access to the UCA cam bolts) as mine were torn or missing.
I needed a new Pitman arm, which was not included in the PST kit (not sure why)... mine was destroyed. Aslo a few replacement bolts and nuts as well as the shock bolts were hosed.
Work completed to date..
1. New front brake lines installed and rear line to prop valve... went in pretty easy no big issues.
2. Old Master Cylinder removed....man what a PIA! getting this out with the nuts on the inside of the firewall and very little room to work. Had to get my wife to use the air ratchet in the engine bay while I contorted into position under the dash... my wife was afraid of the air ratchet, but we got it done.
3. Pitman, Idler, center-link, tie-rods, sleeves all installed and greased....all pretty easy except the idler arm from PST had to be hammered into place and is in there TIGHT! so much that you can feel the resistance at the steering wheel for sure... I'm hoping this gets better after a little wear and some lube.. but might be an issue.
4. Right Stuff knuckles, caliper brackets and PST lower ball joint/steering arms assembled... no issues
5. Re-built LCA's installed... thing of beauty
6. Knuckle assemble mounted to upper and lower control arms.
7. Shocks installed... do this before bolting on the knuckle... Instructions say after, but sooooo much easier if you do it before and then compress the shock by raising the LCA with a jack.... otherwise you have to do the "zip-tie trick", which works great, but can be avoided.
8. Sway Bar installed... "Houston we have a problem"... sway bar looks great, mounts to K-member fine, end links mount up nicely....only problem.. Can't get the stinkin' radiator support that goes from the crossmember to the underside of the radiator support to bolt back up... the sway bar is in the way.
Now this has got me thinking... Is that support even needed?
A. It was not used on all year b bodies
B. It does not support the weight of the radiator.
Only thing I can think of is that it is used to prevent flex in the radiator support....how much flex is there? Anyway.. not sure what to do yet.. might fashion a new one to go around the sway bar.
9. Wheel bearings packed, and oil seals installed... Wheel bearings went in easy, oil seals were a different story. I bent the hell out of the first one trying to get it in with a small hammer and flat head screw driver. which meant I had to buy another one...but which one? Since I have no idea what rotors are being used... went to NAPA and told them the problem... tried 2 vehicles.. 69RR? No-go, wrong size. 76 Aspen...Bingo! same size...ever so slightly different on the seal design but the contacting dimensions were the same. Bought a seal driver from Harbor Freight, worked ok.
10. Dust Shields.... Warning to those that buy the RSD conversion kit... I had to file away some material on the dust shields to get them to fit..the steering arm bolts interfered... If they weren't on so tight, I might have been able to turn them 30 deg and not cut anything, but trimming a little material seemed easier.
11. Rotors installed, calipers mounted....pretty straight forward.
12. Torsion bars back in.. clips in place... I took the easy way out and didn't replace the dust boots... will have to do that in the future.
Here are some pics
