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Dear Fellow Brickers:
Well, I just got done changing out the following on my 1989 760ti wagon:
Front strut inserts
Strut bearings and plate
Rebound bumper and accordian strut rod cover
Outer tie rod ends
Ball joints
Sway bar end links and polyurethane bushing upgrade
Rear shocks
Overload wagon springs
ATE power groove discs
Rebuilt Girling calipers loaded with new pads
Flexible brake lines (only one side as the other wouldn't break loose)
I thought I'd share my experience with the Brickboard as it has been so helpful to me. All the parts either came from Nick Bauer at fcpgroton.com or ipdusa.com, both of them come recommended and I can second the motion. I took it easy and did this work over a period of days and that made all the difference in my success rate...
First, heat and PB Blaster really do work to undo bolts. I was only unable to free 3 fasteners using this method: one of the flexible-to-hard brake line connections was spinning despite my using PB Blaster and a flare wrench, so I gave up and am just using the old one, which seems OK; and two of the sway bar to frame bracket bolts. I tried using heat but there was too much flammable undercoating and plastic nearby and I was worried about setting the old girl on fire! The bolts started to round off, so I decided not to replace the bushings.
Second, I think that the special tool I bought from ipdusa.com to hold the strut rod top nut did not work too well: I found that the socket-like part of the tool was too tall to let me get a grip on the top of the strut rod with an adjustable wrench. I tried a 10mm open end, and managed to get the thing loose when the strut assembly was out of the car. This after I repeatedly applied PB Blaster and let it soak between heating sessions with a blow torch.
Third, for anyone wanting to change out their Nivomats for the ipdusa.com replacement kit: Do it! There are only three bolts involved to remove and replace the Nivomats and on two of them, the thread are protected and were quite easy to remove. You need a *long* extension to remove the stud & nut holding up the spring cup because I found it too hard to get to the nut by just reaching in-between a few of the coils with a 1/2" socket wrench and extension.
I put anti-seize on the bolts and put them all back in. I have been having troubles with a sagging rearend and also, while accelerating uphill, there has been a rumbling noise, which I suspect is a sad, tired u-joint, aggravated by the change in angle caused by the droopy tailend. I'm hoping this swapout helps mitigate the noisy driveline.
Fourth, I would say that anyone with time, a bit of Yankee can-do attitude, and strong arms and hands (that or an impact wrench/breaker bar of suitable length) can do this job. I tried using a Mity-Vac hand vacuum to bleed the brakes after I replaced those parts, and found it a bit tedious. I might prefer the buddy-on-the-pedal next time. The front passenger caliper (the one I managed to replace the brake line on) only let out small dribbles of fluid. The Mity-Vac seems to introduce lots, and I mean lots, of big air bubbles into the stream of fluid and makes it impossible to tell if you have air, so I just bled *a lot* of fluid through each caliper. Unfortunately, I used DOT 3 fluid, so I'll be flushing it again soon with DOT 4 to increase the boiling point a bit. I did about 5 panic stops in short order (to help seat the pads and relieve heat stress in the rotors from the manufacturing process(or so I read?)) and found that on the 5th one I had some fade. It also took a week or so for the pads and rotors to bed in and they feel pretty good now. The rear discs look glazed and the pads are a bit thin so I might replace them in the near future.
I'm taking the car in to get it aligned now that it's all shiny and new, and I'm a bit worried as the driver's side front tire looks like it has too much negative camber, while the passenger's side look about vertical. I can't figure out why, but maybe it has to do with the polyurethane strut rod bushings that the PO put in? I figure maybe the bushings are holding the driver's side strut out too much and creating camber. Is this possible? In any case, I hope the frontend guys are top-notch and can either allay my fears, or even maybe slot the top of the strut tower/tighten the strut rod nut to get the camber in specs. I fear that there might have been an accident in this car's past that didn't come up in Carfax before I bought it and due to a hit on the driver's side suspension, it's bent and therefor the camber is messed up...
I also adjusted the automatic transmission's kickdown cable to make the shift "map" lower and it seems to have helped substatially (the PO installed a new cable just before I purchased the car). A two minute adjustment and now it doesn't rev so high and the shifts are a lot less harsh. Good stuff and I recommend anyone do it if they are having high shift points and harsh shifting.
The gland nut tool from ipdusa.com worked OK but was hard to manipulate inside the coil as I couldn't get the nut off the top of the strut until I did the heat/blaster stuff. I actually used a cold drift punch and hammer to do most of the gland nut removal after getting it broken loose with the gland nut tool. A C shaped spanner wrench would also do this job very well, I guess.
So, for what it's worth, that's the experience. I'm crossing my fingers on the alignment, as I realize that it's only toe-in that can truly be adjusted by the normal shop tech, but maybe I'll be lucky and get on that understands sometimes you have to think outside the manual to make things happen. Thanks to all who have submitted their troubles/fixes and to the 700/900 FAQ. Happy Brickin' !
Oopala
1989 765ti Black Bomber
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1989 760 Turbo Intercooler wagon: "The Black Bomber"
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