Current IFS Set-up - Sanity Check?

[Rodster]

Can someone give me a confirmation the ball joints are correct in the latest/current crop of Coupe parts?

This is hard to describe in words - so just look at the pictures....

Driver side:
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Passenger side:
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I followed the manual and have the "solid" side of the upper A-arm towards the front of the car.

But this creates a different-looking upper A-arm - look closely - see how the wedge shaped ball joint mount plate has an angle on the top? They are different - mirror images of each other. But I think this simply means there is a "left" and a "right" version. The ball joint shaft itself is nearly vertical, since the wedge shape on the top goes one way, and goes the other way on the bottom plate - meaning that it is now straight or nearly zero degrees, the 2 angles cancel out each other.

Also - in this picture - how does the boot fit over the steering arm - tie rod joint? This does not look right - is the boot too small, or can I heat it with a heat gun and stretch it over the joint?

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A sanity check would be good before I torque the bolts to specs.

Thanks,
Wayne

[CHOTIS BILL]

The drivers side looks correct but the passenger side needs to be turned upside down. Someone wrote that the manual wasn’t updated to reflect the correct assembly of the new parts

Bill Lomenick

[Jeff Kleiner]

As Bill said they have gone to a different arm with an angled ball joint plate and hence the manual is no longer current. Your driver's side is correct, passenger side is not. You'll need to disassemble it, install the ball joint from the other direction and reassemble with the solid link to the rear. You also need to assure that the grease fittings on the crossbar clevises are all pointing up.

Jeff

[Rodster]

Any hints on how to dis-assemble the ball joint and the mounting plate? It is really stuck on and has blue Lok-tite on it. The main problem has been leverage and grip. Can I use a torch and heat it up? Or would my industrial strength hot air gun be better? I have been thinking of a better way / easiest way to do this.....thanks....

[michael everson]

Put the top of the ball joint in a vise and use the whole arm as leverage to get it out.
Mike

[Jeff Kleiner]

What Mike said! Use the control arm as the wrench.

Jeff

[Rodster]

Thanks guys. I also took a look at the Permatex site for info on dis-assembly of thread-locker blue goop. Heat is the answer, and I can use my heat gun, rather than a torch, to do this..... will be doing this over the weekend. Hopefuly all the heat work will warm up the garage... We'll see what happens.

[Rodster]

Here's an update on this, with pictures. I managed to dis-assemble the suspension enough to get the ball joint and the upper control arm off. I left the mounting components on the chassis, and have just the triangular part. However, no success in using the vise and using the arm for leverage. Next, I slipped a piece of pipe on the arm, extending the leverage - but it pops out of my vise. I need to get a bigger vise with better grip. Arg.

Meanwhile, I did some more sheet aluminum fitting and found some LEDs I will use to light up the trunk section. . . more details are posted on my WordPress blog site,
http://wayneyoshida-kh6wz.com/


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Sigh..... Good news this morning, my new 302 and T5z is shipping next week! Now I just have to get the chassis ready for the engine and trans!

[Rodster]

Update on this -- with the help of Spider Larry, I got the ball joint removed from the upper control arm. I re-assembled the IFS and all is well. Pictures later - before and after may help other builders....

FIXED! Once again - thanks to Spider Larry and Bill and Jeff..... Pictures and details are posted on my Wordpress site..... (http://wayneyoshida-kh6wz.com/)

-wayne