Days 9/10
Clean, clean, and clean. I know I just did this 20,000 miles ago.....but it needed to be done....oil seepage, blown header gaskets, blown header pipes(!), and just plain road grime....
Found one of my lower a-arm Uni-bal booties will need replacing again. One was getting hard and had cracked, other one was soft and supple, yet I replaced them at the same time! Go figure.... That is a job that doesn't need to be done now, and can be done easily with the car up in the air and one bolt..... I hope!
So I cleaned off the frame as best I could with some solvent based cleaner. Here is the after shot.
It will need some paint on the top rails where the headers were REALLY close. I do need to lower the frame mounts back to stock, but it is good to know that they can be lifted too!
Here are two shots of the cracked shock mount after I got the sway bar and everything else out of the way. Looks a bit worse than first expected. It actually started tearing the metal that would be directly under the sway bar mount!
Rear view looking forward:
Front view looking backwards:
Recommendations to date have consisted of removing the old brackets, replacing the top section of the frame with some 1/8" stock and then welding it all back up again....
After looking at the different thicknesses of the steel, this would seem logical. .125" is only a few thousandths thicker than the original steel used.
Steve
PANTERA INTERNATIONAL
A DE TOMASO CAR CLUB
Presents the De Tomaso Forums
The On-Line Meeting Place for De Tomaso Owners and Enthusiasts From Around the World
Clicking on the banner will take you to the sponsor's website.