alollich
New Member
I thought I would give an update on all my changes that I made. I have put about a 1000 miles on the car and am pleased with most everything.
The biggest change in terms of feel would have to be the lower control arms and p/s rack. Mine had a 145k on it and was well worn. The car honestly feels like a brand new car. The aluminum subframe bushings do transmitt some vibration through the car but not much. I am already used to them. Turn in is wonderful and the car control is excellent. I have read in the past some people complain about a vibration in the whole car from the steering system once the aluminum bushings are installed. My car vibrated terribly at any speed or standing still. I bled and flushed the system several time and after about a 100 miles it was completly gone. My assumption would be that it takes that long to bleed all the air out of the system when starting with new parts. I am going to install a inline filter in the future.
The clutch is a little different story. The old one was the orignal 9.75 w/145k on it so it was in bad shape. The disk still had material on it but the fingers bit the dust. I replaced it with a Ram heavy duty unit. Basically it is a 6 puck fibertuff disk with a stock diaphragm. I chose the ram because of price and availability. I used the aluminun shaft bushings and the pedal feel is great. Easy to depress, but not to easy. The two problems I have with the clutch is its high engagment and chatter. It seems like the Centerforce clutch in the fact that you only have to push the clutch in about 2 inches to fully disengage it. The chatter I expected with the fibertuff material, but it is excessive. I put a 1000 miles on it to break it in and it really grabs now when you abuse it a little, but everyday driving can be a PITA. I have to rev it fairly good the get away without much chatter. How much chatter do you guys have after break in?
I changed rod bearings as well, but the originals with 145k were in really good shape so i have not noticed any difference there. I also replace the rod shifter bushing and that made quite a difference as well. The old ones were not that worn, but the new ones really tightened the shifter up.
If you are going to change some of the items I did I would highly recommend if possible to wait and do them all at once. It makes everything easier to get to and takes less time.
The biggest change in terms of feel would have to be the lower control arms and p/s rack. Mine had a 145k on it and was well worn. The car honestly feels like a brand new car. The aluminum subframe bushings do transmitt some vibration through the car but not much. I am already used to them. Turn in is wonderful and the car control is excellent. I have read in the past some people complain about a vibration in the whole car from the steering system once the aluminum bushings are installed. My car vibrated terribly at any speed or standing still. I bled and flushed the system several time and after about a 100 miles it was completly gone. My assumption would be that it takes that long to bleed all the air out of the system when starting with new parts. I am going to install a inline filter in the future.
The clutch is a little different story. The old one was the orignal 9.75 w/145k on it so it was in bad shape. The disk still had material on it but the fingers bit the dust. I replaced it with a Ram heavy duty unit. Basically it is a 6 puck fibertuff disk with a stock diaphragm. I chose the ram because of price and availability. I used the aluminun shaft bushings and the pedal feel is great. Easy to depress, but not to easy. The two problems I have with the clutch is its high engagment and chatter. It seems like the Centerforce clutch in the fact that you only have to push the clutch in about 2 inches to fully disengage it. The chatter I expected with the fibertuff material, but it is excessive. I put a 1000 miles on it to break it in and it really grabs now when you abuse it a little, but everyday driving can be a PITA. I have to rev it fairly good the get away without much chatter. How much chatter do you guys have after break in?
I changed rod bearings as well, but the originals with 145k were in really good shape so i have not noticed any difference there. I also replace the rod shifter bushing and that made quite a difference as well. The old ones were not that worn, but the new ones really tightened the shifter up.
If you are going to change some of the items I did I would highly recommend if possible to wait and do them all at once. It makes everything easier to get to and takes less time.
