Finishing the suspension work

(05/08/03) I reassembled the front suspension after getting it all painted with silver POR-15. It went together very easily. I bolted the upper and lower control arms to the frame, set the Eibach spring in place and jacked the lower control arm up as I held the spindle in place. As soon as it was close enough, I put the castellated nuts on the ball joints and it was assembled.

Then I added the newly-refinished brake calipers with their new hoses, painted the hub and screwed on the new open-ended zinc-plate lug nuts.

Here you can see the KYB shock absorber (boy are they stiff!) and the P-S-T swaybar endlink bushings.

This shows the polygraphite swaybar bushing along with the rest of the steering components.

The driver's side view showing the assembled components. Btw, I had to use a small floor jack to compress the shocks enough to get them bolted into the lower control arm. Like I said, they're real stiff.

The view from inside. I left the inner fender in its natural plastic color on this side. I can always tell the rice-boys that it's carbon fiber.

I've still got a hell of a wiring mess to straighten out.

Here's the left side with the steering box and column.

(05/11/03) After tightening everything up and cleaning up the wheels and tires, I was able to set the Monte back on its feet for the first time in about 8 months. It was time for a celebration, so I polished off almost a six-pack of Coca-Cola! :)

Next page: Reinstalling the motor.

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