A while back, perhaps Januaryish, I thought that I had sent this info out
to one of youse, but my grey matter, AND my out file are failing me....
The Goose used Heim spherical ball ends at most pivot points on the
suspension. They are greasable with a special tapered fitting, patience,
and articulated arms like no one has..... to say that this is an easy job
is just plain lying. It's ugly! If yours are like mine, the original
grease now resembles something short of hardened epoxy! It took me a
couple of weeks of dinking around, to get an old end that I have from my
car, clean enuf that the little check ball would actually move!
Now that my engine is out, I'd like to service my foremost rear ball ends,
at the bulkhead..... not looking forward to it at all.... but it WILL be done!
Regarding the actual ball ends is good and bad news. Good news is that
these ARE available from most bearing dealers dealing with HEIM products.
Bad news is that they are made in Switzerland and supplied from there....
and they reflect the cost accordingly!!!
Here are the partnumbers and quantities best as I can recall..... (If you
are the person that I sent this info to, please drop me back a copy if you
can!)
If you have the Mangusta parts book, you will see these partnumbers in
there too.
SMG-16 Qty 2: Front inner tie rod ends. aprox $50 each
SMG-18 Qty 12: Used everywhere!!! Upper front a-arm joints (2 each). Rear
trailing arms (four each side) aprox $70 each.
SMG-22 Qty 2: Lower rear a-arm inner frame mount (1 each).
Rubber booties: Can't remember the exact numbers, but they are available
for aprox $13 each.... one size may be cheaper, but I think you need
predominantly the more expensive one..... you didn't think you would get
off easy now did you!
DeTomaso factory prices are very close to these listed.(If you buy direct
from the factory.... US dealer prices will vary!) If you get some sort of
jobber discount at bearing places, you can probably do better.
There is a website for HEIM, at: www.rbcbearings.com. You can't see the
section on ball-ends as it is "being created" but you can find a
distributor near you using your zipcode! They will be able to supply the
boot numbers and pricing too!
So, don't let anyone tell you that parts for a Goose are hard to get.....
perhaps hard to install! But not hard to find!
Hope this helps. If I ever get the exact numbers again, I'll send the list
to myself a couple of times....
Steve
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