2001 Formula Hawk #293 Restoration thread.

[NBrehm]

Next on the docket is the rear suspension. Because it is my house I had everything laying around except for spare sway bars, so I could leave the car mostly intact while I prepped the parts. I invested in a GM lower control arm bushing removal tool, and OMG it is easily my current favorite tool. It popped every bushing out like it was nothing with the exception of the panhard bar. Because there is no metal sleeve the bushings had to be burned out. Once that was all done once again packed it all up and off it went to the sandblaster

Rear Suspension Post sand blasting



Then, since I was away, the old man primed them for me, which pretty much still looks bare because the primer is grey. He also pioneered a new use for the lift so he could raise and lower the big parts while he painted....pretty smart for an old guy







Professional Sand Blasting $80.00
2 Cans of NAPA Self Etching Primer $22.00
Total Cost for this post $102.00
Overall Cost: $2938.00

Labor this Post: 4.0
Total Labor: 29 hrs

[NBrehm]

Got the rest of the rear suspension painted. It came out OK, but the paint I am using is pretty old so it didn't lay down as well as I hoped. Having said that, they are chassis parts, so they are going to get dinged and chipped anyway, but hopefully won't get rusty again. Also started assembling the front Control Arms. Uppers were a pain in the nuts but the rest went easy. Going to let the paint harden until next weekend then hopefully get it all (or most) installed on the car over the long weekend! New brakes are on the way too!







And here are all the re-finished parts so far, in various states of assembly


For this post:
2 Cans of Eastwood X-treme chassis Black gloss $0.00 (had them on hand)
AC Delco front, lower control arm bushings (front bushing, X2) 89056252 $7.50
AC Delco Front, Lower control arm bushings (Rear, X2) 89056253 $19.50
AC Delco front upper control arm bushings (X4) 89000864 $32.10
Total Cost this post $59.10
Overall cost $2997.10

Labor this Post: 7.0hrs
Total Labor: 36 hrs

[NBrehm]

I've gotten more done on this, once the board can host images again I will get some updates in

[PontiacFan]

[quote="NBrehm"]I've gotten more done on this, once the board can host images again I will get some updates in[/quote]

This forum has never been able to host photos.
You'll need to use a 3rd party like Flickr or some other.
I use to promote Photobucket, ..., but that has since gone to hell, ...

[NBrehm]

Fixed all the IMG links, all appears to be working now!

[2002 red hawk]

So glad to see this thread back up & running again. Awesome work Nick.

[NBrehm]

Finally got the suspension parts assembled, all new hardware, touched up a few spots then clear coated them. Going to let them st one more day to cure then start putting them on

[NBrehm]

Alrighty, so for final assembly on the rear suspension (finally). First thing you have to do is install the bushing. The panhard bar could not be any more straight forward, grease the new bushing, push them in then grease the bolt sleeve and push that in. Done! The control arms are a bit trickier. They have a steel sleeve. The bushing tool I bought also comes with everything you need to install the sleeves. It has 2 spacers you put on either side of the sleeve int he LCA to keep it from crushing in, then essentially just works backwards from the removal. Again make sure you grease everything, after that you just push the bushings into the sleeve and it is ready to go. For the front torque arm mount I bought a new one, ground down the rivets that held on the stock rubber bushing, then scuffed it up, painted it and installed the polygraphite bushing. The front torque arm mount is a hop in the a$$ without a lift if you put in a single piece bushing. Since I went with polygraphite instead of straight poly it was pliable enough to install the torque arm after the bushing was installed in the clamshell. With a poly one getting the top bolt on the front mount in is a real PITA, stick with it and it will get there. Pretty basic after that, unbolt old stuff, bolt in new stuff. Again, make sure you grease it all, get the right torque specs (I used LS1 tech) and torque it all while the car is on the ground. I also changed out all of the hardware as well as the sway bar bushings and endlinks

Torque Specs:
Lower Control Arms: 87 lb/ft
Panhard Bar Bolt: 87 lb/ft
Panhard Bar nut: 55 lb/ft
Torque arm to axle: 96 lb/ft
Torque arm to transmission (top): 33 lb/ft
Sway bar brackets: 35 Ft/Lb
Say Bar links: 18 Ft/Lb










For this Post:
LCA bushings: PST POLY33136 $69.00
Panhard Bar Bushings PST POLY37106 $28.00
Torque Arm Bushings: POLY31111 $28.00
Torque arm mount: GM 10252375 EBAY $195.00
Sway bar bushings (21MM): PST POLY35145 $45.00
Sway Bar links: GM 10023178 $12.00 ($6.00 ea)
LCA Bolts: Spohn 981 $12.00
Torque Arm Bolts: Spohn 982 $22.00
Panhard Bar Bolts: Spohn 983 $11.00
Cost this post: $410.00
Total Cost: $3407.10

Labor this post: 6.75 hours
Total Labor 42.75

[NBrehm]

Tackled the front suspension. Again pretty basic stuff. Unbolt old stuff, bolt in repaired stuff. The only real issue was the bolts for the lower front control arms were completely seized in the bushings. I got the horizontal ones out after some work with a hammer, but the vertical ones had to be cut then driven out with an air hammer. I put a lot of anti-seize on the shafts of the bolts just in case they ever have to come out again hopefully they won't be rusty. Important note, if you change your lower control arms you will 100%, without a doubt, need an alignment. Everything else went pretty smoothly. Was time consuming mostly for the SNAFU with the LCA bolts. Also installed the sway bar, nothing eventful. Since things took so long I didn't have time to clean up and paint the spindles, but easy enough to do on another day

Torque Specs:
Shock Mount Bolt: 32 Lb/Ft
Shock Mount nut: 37 Lb/Ft
Shock Lower Nut: 48 Lb/Ft
Shock Lower Bolt: 48 Lb/Ft
Tie Rod end Bolt:35 Lb/Ft
UCA bolts: 39 Lb/Ft
LCA Bolts (Vertical): 74 Lb/Ft
LCA Bolts (Horizontal): 81 Lb/Ft
Sway bar brackets: 41 Ft/Lb
Sway Bar links: 18 Lb/ft

Old Vs refurb UCA

Old Vs Refurb LCA

Installed right LCA

Installed right UCA

Complete right side

Completed left side


For this Post:
Front LCA Bolts: Spohn 987 $15.00
Front UCA Bolts: Spohn 985 $11.00
Upper Ball joints (X2): PST BJ104233 $120.00 for both
Lower Ball Joints (X2): PST BJ10277 $54.00 for both
Sway bar bushing bolts: Spohn 989 $7.00
Sway bar bushings (32MM): PST POLY35162 $21.00
Sway bar end links: GM 10023178 $12.00 ($6.00 ea)
Cost this post: $240.00
Total Cost: $3887.00

Labor this post: 9.25 hours
Total Labor 52.00

[NBrehm]

Lastly for the big stuff this year, decided to replace all the calipers, pads and rotors. I bought all new hoses but didn't have time to get all the rust off the old fittings and decided for now to just leave the old hoses in place till next year. Also found an axle leak on the passenger side. No big deal, Have an axle to rebuild over the winter so not going to lose sleep over it. I ordered the brakes as a complete kit from Rock Auto. Made it cake and a very good price. Only big tip here is when you get powder coated calipers be wary where the caliper lines bolt on. I always sand the coating off there to make sure there is a clean, smooth surface to prevent leaks. Powder coating is awesome for longevity, but it is thick and leaves a ridge where the hoses bolt on. Apart from that no other surprises. Took all the old stuff off, the calipers/brackets came assembled so I put the rotors on with a couple lugs to keep them straight, bolted the caliper assemblies on and then put the pads in. Make sure to grease the pads where they go into the slides to prevent them from hanging up. Ran out of time today, will bleed them tomorrow.

Torque Specs:
Brake Caliper Slide Bolt: 23 Lb/Ft
Caliper bracket Bolt: 74 Lb/Ft
Caliper hose bolt: 30 Lb/ft

Power Stop Brake kit

Old Brakes (all wheels looked similar)

Rear Passenger side

Rear Driver Side

Front Driver side:

Front passenger side


For this Post:
Brake kit: Power Stop KC154826 $558.00 (Rock Auto)

Cost this post: $558.00
Total Cost: $4445.00

Labor this post: 6 hours
Total Labor 58.0

[TTOP350]

Looking good , just wondering, why didn't you clean up the spindles while you were that far apart ?

[NBrehm]

Looking good , just wondering, why didn't you clean up the spindles while you were that far apart ?

Time constraints and weather. I didn't have an extra set of spindles and was chilly and rainy the days I was working. Car has to be back together to go into storage for winter and those were the last days I had off to work on it. If anything went wrong on the spindles I'd be hosed. Besides, they are easy enough to get to in the future