On my brothers 88 monte carlo ss. Hotckis 1 inch drop springs, energy suspension bushing kit. This was my first complete rebuild and what a pain in the rear it was. Took us 4 days. Every bolt and nut were rusted and did not have air tools. Had to drill out all the cotter pins. Had to make tons of parts runs at 3 in the morning to get spring compressor and what not. My whole body aches and Im severly tired. Im not workin on a car for a week.

The result: Car handles extremely better with the new shocks and stuff. Its sittin at stock ride height right now but for some reason it seems like it lower. It will have to settle for a while. I guess it was worth it to see my brothers reaction when we were done. I showed him how to do this stuff and I think he will now understand what I will be doing for the rest of my life. But I dont think I want to see him for a week.

Originally posted by LYTEMUP:
But I dont think I want to see him for a week. Sounds like something my brother would say after he helped me :D I am gonna do an entire front end rebuild and I need his help. A case of Heineken should help ease his pain!

Alcohol would have made it funner, but I dont think I would have made it through the night taking off the springs and what not. :eek:

oh yeah! know that feeling I completely understand I have done my complete suspension myself and without doing anything like that before! Taking 35 year old bushings out is not fun at all I just did the rear this weekend and the upper control arm bushings what a nightmare I got my new bushings pressed in because i didnt want to mess them up hammering them in. Now that i know how to do it I will not be doing it for a while smile.gif gotta love it!

Isn't living in the "rust belt" fun??!! :mad: I just wish the southern TC weenies could share in the enjoyment of removing fasteners after a few years of salt baths!

I had to use Metric tools on my suspension rebuild. On my '64. Metric sockets were the only ones that would fit the rusted nuts & bolt heads and not round over!

Wait a minute...Parts runs at 3:00AM??? Could you please enlighten me on this? Wish we had something other than Tim Hortons (the Dunkin Donuts of Canada) and 7-11 open at 3:00am. There have been many times I had to wait till the next morning to get what I needed.
Glad to hear it worked out well for you..
Steve

yep, we have 24 hour autozones round here.

when we pressed the bushings out the arms started to collapse even when we had them supported. Thats how rusted they were. These montes used metric all over. Then replacement parts have standard. Gets confusing.