Nice effort on the alignment. I have seen guys get their car's good enough to drive in for a proper alignment by using a builders level against the tyre.

Cheers

ToranaGuy

a builders level,
how so?

Using the little bubbles to help get the shims sorted, the bubble moves when you add or remove shims from the car. For toe i have personally drawn chalk lines on the tyres, then some on the ground, and given the car a little fiddle on the tie rods to get a bit of toe. Neither are very accurate, but can help to get a car good enough to drive in for a proper alignment after doing some front end work on it.

Ever driven a car that has just had the front end slapped together without any alignment? Driving a wet matress is probably more fun, and possibly quieter (tyre squeal).

Cheers

ToranaGuy

Quick update on a couple of fixes.

*****************************************************

Driving on Boxing Day there was a nice clunk coming from the front end. A quick check revealed that BOTH right hand Sway Bar D Shackle bolts were now missing.

GREAT!!!!

The next evening after the rain had stopped long enough for the ground to be mostly dry, I crawled under the car and found that both the captured nuts had stripped out. YAY!!!! NOT!!!

After implementing a variety of tools, and breaking a large screwdriver, judicious use of a large hammer and correct size small socket, I was able to remove the offending captured nuts, and install normal nuts and bolts, rectifying the problem.

It is funny how much better it handles now that both sides of the 30mm sway bar are now firmly located on the chassis.

**************************************************************

Also on Boxing Day I thought I could hear an exhaust leak when the engine was cold. On top of that, the wagon felt a bit down on power on LPG, and seemed to be bogging down while getting up it on petrol.

A quick check of all the extractor bolts found that the front half of them were all so loose I could turn them with my fingers. YIKES!!!!

A few minutes later all was tight again, and after a couple of days running around, I am happy to report that the wagon is back to it's normal spirited self on both fuels.

***************************************************************

In regards to the cracked rim, I have been able to secure a second hand replacement, and should have possession of it in early February.

***************************************************************

While fixing the sway bar, I noticed the steering rack pressure switch is the source of my power steering leak.

Can anyone advise me if this just needs to be tightened up, or is the actual switch going to need replacing?


Cheers
BenJ

depends where its leaking from ben, if its coming from the thread, a bit of thread tape will sort the issue, but if its coming from the unit like mine did the whole unit must be replaced

Any leak i've had from the power steering switch has been from the top of it & it required replacement.

Give it a good clean with some de greaser & see where it's leaking from. You might be lucky & only need some thread tape.

Cheers

ToranaGuy

I'll second that, I've replaced two of those switches from leaking internally.... I've seen them pretty cheap on ebay.... first time it happened, a mechanic charged me 120 to supply and change it.. (long time ago)...

You need to replace it Ben, they lea internaly and will only get worse. I have the half spanner needed to remove the switch, yell if you need it,

another spanner that works is a bicycle cone spanner there nice and thin. and ide replace it i have already done mine once.

OK OK. I get the hint.

I will source a replacement and swap it out.

Cheers
BenJ

its a pitty you didnt grab the one off my ea before it went to scrap!!

Why am I posting this? No reason. Just coz it got buried on a previous page and no one had commented on it.

Consider both problems solved.

hey BenJ sorry to hijack ur thread but i noticed when you got ur kmac swaybars a few people were interested and i just spotted these: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/EA-EB-XR8-ED-GT- ... 3358d3f509
roadholder brand? 30mm and 27mm? sway bars in sydney. if they were in sydney i would got em but its pick up only . might make someone you know happy haha

cheers

Another quick update.

I was on my way to our regular Friday night meet last week when the right rear power window decided to play silly buggers with me. It wouldn't work from the console switch at all, and a quick play with the door switch, while driving of course, only proved that it would go down, and not up. YAY!!!!!!

So quick door strip down in the carpark showed now obvious issues, but an inspection of the wiring found a wire had broken in the loom between the door and the door jam. It was an old repair that had broken again. I held the two ends together, and was able to wind the window back up.

The next day I re soldered the wire, applied some fresh electrical tape and the window was all good once again.

While I had the door apart, I also fixed a persistent rattle. The factory rivets that hold the window regulator on were loose. Using a hole punch and a hammer I was able to spread the rivet enough to stop the rattles.

*****************************************************************

I did pick up a good bargain today. A very clean and tidy EL Wagon Cargo Carpet for $20.

I have been using an old EA carpet, kindly donated by Racedirector (cheers mate) as the wagon did not have one at all when I bought it.

What may not be widely known is that due to the EL Cargo side panels being different to all previous models, the EL carpet is also different. I have seen a few EL Cargo carpets at wreckers in the past, but you wouldn't pay $1 for them, they were that bad.

This pic shows the old carpet.



And here is the EL one.





Much neater.

I will keep the old one to throw in the back in case I need to carry something dirty etc.

Cheers
BenJ

looks clean.. i cant believe i gave away a set of EL fabric covered side trims... CRY.. they were mint too. sigh