rsm93z28

As a Contributing Member over at GMT Nation, I started a post over the last month covering "How to Put on Bullet-Proof Suspension Paint" that would be universally useful to anyone interested in doing so on virtually any type, model or brand of vehicle. And since I am in the process of doing a COMPLETE replacement of the Front Suspension of my 1993 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28... I chose to document the job sequentially there on the "Bulletproofing" portion and then segue over here to document and memorialize "How to R&R of the Front Suspension on the 4th Gen F-Body Carline Series".

I can't be the first member here who has documented some portion of these procedures... but my situation might provide us all with a huge opportunity to demonstrate what the difference is between the "Old and Busted" 1993 Stock Front End and Brakes when getting a Total makeover with "New Hotness" of the LS1 Braking System. If this has already been well done... Then I'll demure to the posts in existence. Please let me know if these images and procedures can be useful here at Camaroz28.com. I am known as MRRSM over at gmtnation.com:

EDIT: OKAY...gmtnation.com is back on-line again via my check on 01/15/2016 @1900 Hours

I'm not sure as to why access to gmtnation.com is inoperative at the moment... Possibly from a successful Denial Of Service Attack or some other system software issues.... But if they are not back up within the week... I will drop all of my imagery covering Part One (Bullit-Proof Suspension Paint) ...over onto my photobucket site and add the link in here. Even if I can't duplicate the inaccessible textual procedures I wrote over there... the digital images from my Photo-Bucket will testify to how things were done and in what order as well. Please keep watching this space... much more will follow on with the description and R&R of essentially the entire 4th Gen F-Body Suspension. Thanks for being patient...

http://gmtnation.com/forums/threads/...n-paint.14775/

squarehead

Wow thanks for the great detailed post over at GMT Nation. It looks like you are doing a great job. I have used the POR 15 paint on one of my old Volvos and I agree that it leaves a wonderfully slick and tough finish, better than powdercoat in my opinion.

Enjoy your Z28!

rsm93z28

Thanks @squarehead (Me Too!) You know what they say about us Norwegians...

"You can always tell a Norwegian "Square Head"... But you can't tell him MUCH..." LOL

Okay... the Final POR-15 Caliper Paint Procedures have been successfully completed and so now I will begin the second phase here at camaroz28.com as soon as the last batch of necessary components arrive. It follows on that I will memorialize each and every single step in digital imagery on my Photobucket as I don't know if the Admins here will tolerate having each post decorated with progress images of the entire '93 Z-28 Suspension R&R. You will find the latest and Final Painted Caliper Brake POR-15 images over at gmtnation.com and I'm leaving my last entry to the "Bullet-Proof Suspension Paint" post open for pics review and comments there at this link:

How to Put on Bullet-Proof Suspension Paint | GMTNation

rsm93z28

I thought I would post some of the "Critical Progress Point" images that I have as part of the original post over at gmtnation... here to make it easier to follow regarding the status of this process. I ALWAYS finish what I start... and I insist on doing work that our members here would be proud of in the manner of quality and utility. There will many more "benchmarks" between now and the time that all the hardware is assembled and installed after removing all the old suspension components:

rsm93z28

Okay... so this Photo-play will hold the subject as up-to-date for what the Front LS1 Disc Brakes look like once all the POR-15 RED & Black Coatings have been applied after rigidly following all procedures for Metal Prep. I tried installing the Stainless Steel Brake Pad Retainers/Guides...but because of the very close tolerances... I DID have to resort to carving off (an accurate noun as it concerns this adjustment) with no small amount of effort the POR-15 BLACK Coating that had solidified in all the angular turns that guides the Brake Pads reliably back and forth during on and off Brake Pedal Actuation. After this necessary "surgery".... The S/S fixtures fit inside their correct nesting locations and the Brake Pads went in like a dream.

I had to Dummy Up some cardboard inserts in order to hold the Brake Pads in place as the new S/S inserts that popped into place with no "Razor-Blade Editing" are quite "springy". I have not heard a peep out of any of the 700 + "Observers" looking in my progress on gmtnation... Perhaaps because the topic is not specific dnough to the gmt360 vehicles.Time will tell... but if it occurs to anyone here to offer any comments, suggestions (No... not THAT... I'm sure I'm going THERE already anyway...) or constructive criticism... I am all ears (and eyes...of course). Anyways... I think that these latest photo line ups of the Finished Front and Rear Brake Caliper and Brackets should be sufficient to show "what happens at the end of the movie"... and prove that it can be done.

Next, I will have to work on the Emergency Brake Hardware and since my AC-Delco Front and Rear Brake Discs arrived today, I will be able to demonstrate the R&R of the New Drum and HW as well as show how to adjust the thing in a very unusual way... since the HW is OFF the car... I can simply assemble the E-Brakes and slip one inside of an inverted Rear Brake Disc that is sprayed down first squeaky clean and do a breakdown step-by step on how to adjust the damned thing... so the New Drum will STOP when the E-Brake handle is Yanked on... but NOT "Drag and Hiss" and cause my gas mileage to die because it winds up too close to the inner race of the "Drum Innards" of the Rear Disc.

Currently... there is a developing thread on this very subject... and since the OP has expressed an interest in how all of this works...and since for all intents and purposes practically everything is "GM Generic" on the design of the E-Brake System... when the time comes, I will post the results of this portion of the job there on GMT Nation over at this link in support of his specific concerns:

http://gmtnation.com/forums/threads....7/#post-482896

rsm93z28

Good Morrow... One and All...

Please consider what follows as a sort of Text & Visual "How to Re-Build the 1998-2002 Chevrolet Camaro-Firebird LS1 Emergency Brakes: Class-101" as its doubtful that the ways and means for preparing how to tear this assembly down and re-building it correctly versus paying nearly $200 Per Wheel Brand for New E-Brake Hardware has ever been done to the scale of the included minutiae. As such the "Follow-The-Steps-In-The-Imagery" method of learning consists of 75 Separate Photos... I had to park these images on my Photobucket.

If you are intent upon doing this properly... Try to obtain AC-Delco or Delphi components when and where possible. It will be necessary to submerge the entire set into a pan with enough of a powerful De-Greasing agent that it will dissolve perhaps as much as 20 years of dirt and corruption. But prior to dropping the assembly into the pan... you must first remove the "C" Drum by unfastening the Spring Clamp holding the inner race of the Black Metal Inner Hollow Drum Bracket at the top of the unit. Then ...watch your hands and fingers carefully here... while pushing the "C" Drum downward, observe that it will easily slide down and free from the two contact ends off of the Lever Pins Pads at the bottom of the unit. Don't re-use this "C" Drum and instead, it should be discarded in a responsible manner as it represents a present danger from Mesothelioma Lung Disease should the Old E-Brake Dust on it become dislodged and inhaled.

After soaking the E-Brake assembly for a while, unscrew or undo any other components attached to the Hot-Dipped- Zinc-to Cast-Iron base and then begin scrubbing the base and components either in a heated Ultra-Sonic Machine such as the Umaxx or obtain some large Brass Bristled Brushes and some Green Scotch-Brite along with some Dawn Dish Soap. Diligently scrub each and every part free of all dirt, crud, corrosion and rust and then rinse each item individually in Very Hot water and pat dry them with paper towels while they are still warm.

You will use up quite a few Paper Towels during this job, so keep the roll handy. Start by working on the base to clean out every last crevice of old grease, dirt and rust after removing the "Tin Shield" and setting it aside. Use a screw driver wrapped in a dry paper Towel to dig and probe around inside the heavy cast cylinder and remove any debris or junk lodged therein. After you have ensured that all your hardware is spanking clean, begin by slipping the drop-forged Emergency Brake Cable Armature into the body of the cylinder. When you later re-install the Machine Screws with the Combination Hex and #2 Phillips features into the ancillary attachments... put a drop of Red Thread Locker on them and snug them tight.

There is only one way this item will insert, so be patient and look at the re-assembly images attached here for guidance. After that, install the new Weather Boot onto the base with the thin tin hold down oval ring with the two end screws as this rubber item will hold the armature essentially right where it needs to be for the ease of the rest of the build. The rest of this How-To is all visual....Please...Look at the pre-assembly layouts and lubrication imagery and simply do what you see in the photos as they are a good guide to ensure that everything goes back correctly as follows. The last few images here show how the lever Armature actuates the "C" Drum by uniformly expanding it outwards to make contact with the smooth inner race of the Rear Disc Brake to stop or hold the vehicle from moving by means of internal friction:

The next installment will show this E-Brake Unit being manually pre-set with Vernier Calipers and adjusted with the use of a flat-bladed screwdriver. Then the E-Brake assembly will be inserted into Rear Brake Disc bench mounted in a large vice and "image-documented" in the like manner as follows:

http://s557.photobucket.com/user/60d...?sort=2&page=1

rsm93z28

Okay... I've performed the process of taking the Basic measurements of the relationship between the Outside Diameter of the Emergency Brake Drum "C" Pad and the Inside Diameter of the Inner Race of a Brand New AC-Delco LS-1 Rear Brake Disc at two separate locations on both and arrived at the following:

Inside Rear Brake Disc Emergency Brake Drum Dimension: (Two Samples...90 Degrees apart)
189.45 mm and 189.76 mm

Outside Emergency Brake Drum "C" Pad Dimension: (Two Samples ....90 Degrees apart)
189.30 mm and 189.189.31 mm

Very snug in this instance as the Test Items are all NEW. Nonetheless... These dimensions will vary wildly due to variations in manufacture and the fact that the entire brake assembly is NOT manufactured as ONE UNIT. The other aspect of this is that the actuation by cable lever appears linear because one central cable actuates two other cables to pull on two levers to make the E-Brakes function.... but the effect upon the pad and drum is more akin to blowing up one balloon section inside of another rigid balloon acting by the expansion of its VOLUME inside the race of the Rear Brake Disc... so technically...these baseline measurement do not mean much.

Consequently, I chose to make some Linear Measurements of the the position of the Lever Armature-to-Base distances in order to determine its change of position from static... to the point where the "C" Drum expands and finally makes contact with the inner race. Just as the differences between the above listed measurements were very minimal... I found that with Brand New Hardware and with the Adjustment "Star" Lock Screw being set to "Zero"... the resting dimension of the inside top of the curve in the lever where the cable makes contact was 29 mm in height.

Conversely, when the lever was actuated to its stopping point as though it were being made to move by lifting the Parking Brake Handle... the Action Dimension expanded to a height of 32 mm. This 3 mm difference may not seem like much, but it is sufficient to keep the Brand New Hardware interface from being neither too loose to have any effect if the E-Brake handle were yanked up under the Driver's Right Armpit for Emergency Stop... nor so tight as to allow the "C" Drum to put a substantial drag and an uninvited "bite" on the inner race of the rear Brake Disc E-Brake Drum.

The last thing to understand is that the E-Brake Adjuster is inaccessible when the two components are mated together and so any follow-up adjustments must of necessity be done with the Rear Brake Disc removed for a Trial and Error method to bring their relationship back in line with what you see here for a baseline...with the added wear complicating things. Therefore, it is recommended that a light coating of anti-seize compound be applied between the 5 Stud Outer Hub Flange and the inner contact area of the Disc Brake surfaces on all Four Wheels.

I have updated my Photobucket with the images that will further elucidate the matter:

http://s557.photobucket.com/user/60d...?sort=3&page=1

rsm93z28

Okay... More progress this evening with the arrival of my New Front Hubs from Jegs Auto for right at $85.00 a Pair with Free S&H. Considering that I am heading towards 7 Decades as a new reality in my life time line...I am not going to get all wound up over dropping $260 per wheel for hubs from AC-Delco that are ALSO "Made in China" ...when I am living on a fixed income and I could not give a Tinker's Damn if the ABS works as we don't have problems with having to deal with "Black Ice" down here on the Gulf Coast of Florida. However... I did pop for the AC-Delco Brake Discs and Ceramic Pads though because I got them at a very fine bargain price, front to back.

I want to say a few words about "Fastener Prep" as it might seem like more trouble than it is worth to spend so much time trying to resurrect fasteners that in all likelihood as seems the case here... the suspension parts acting as the donor vehicle probably came from the area of Hurricane Katrina and were under brackish water for many years before being salvaged and parted out. And ordinarily I would agree that working on such parts would seem counter-intuitive... except that nothing is further from the truth.

Unless you have Brand New Suspension Fasteners of a Grade 10.9 Quality growing on the trees in your back yard... you should NOT throw away the ones that look like they are in no condition... to be re-conditioned. I am posting a link to a good PDF Resource on this matter and if you check my Photobucket, you will have a chance to examine some "Katrina Hardware" that I basically just dropped into the bottom of the "Evapo-Rust" De-Rusting Chemical bath for a week or two and then cleaned the carbon residue that forms on them after the Rust dissolved away and used some more "Elbow Grease" and a S/S Fine Wire Brush to clean the threads, shanks and heads of all (8) Bolts ready for these new hubs.

Here is the link to the Fastener Data PDF:
http://www.m-d.co.za/images/M&DTechnicalData.pdf

It followed on this evening that I also wanted to shoot some "Cheesecake" shots of the assemblage of the LS1 POR-15 prepped Right Front Knuckle-Spindle with the New Hub, the POR-15* Dual Caliper Brake Assembly with Pads and the New AC-Delco Brake Disc to demonstrate what all this hardware looks like and how it all will appear... just so... behind the Camaro Super-Sport Rims... if I can ever get enough of this project completed to finally bolt everything onto the vehicle. Not to worry... this project will move ahead, even "...if it upsets Governor Skelator"!

Next in line is to prepare the new upper and lower A-Frames-Ball Joints with Zerk Fittings and a healthy dosing of Redline High Pressure Grease...and I do believe I have some Brand New OEM Mounting Bolts and Nuts to make that assembly happen soon under the car. I also need to put together the two new Front "Struts and Springs" (More precisely... these are NOT Struts but the purists among us demand that these be called by their proper, albeit laboriously long name of Short-Long Arm Coil Over Shock Suspension Units or SLAs for short... with the new ancillary hardware as well. I think these latest assembled parts and pieces shown in my Photobucket link (and now in the next post) will prove that they all play well together: (Of course I have to say "Thanks Prof. Werner Heisenberg... for your "Uncertainty Principle" screwing up my opportunity of showing this work this early in the morning...because Photobucket is DOWN right now...)

http://s557.photobucket.com/user/60d...?sort=3&page=1

rsm93z28

I have grown impatient with the Photobucket "Murphy" and so I will add them here as related to Entry #8:

rsm93z28

The Zerk Grease Fittings that dot the landscape of those suspensions fortunate enough to have them, occupy an obscure place there as the only gateway for the nourishing High Pressure Grease to enter...and ensure the smooth, uninterrupted and reliable performance of the Ball Joints and Idler Arms. These and other suspension parts transmit the instructions of the Driver in command of the Front Wheels...and in return, send the signals of that moment by moment performance back through the suspension components, into the steering wheel held in the Driver's Hands.

If their function is either absent or ignored... the Silicone and Plain Rubber Boots of even the Best in the Top Tier of Suspension Components may fail when Rain, Road Grit and the Loss of Lubrication invite the harsh wear and tear that comes when Ball Joints Rust...and Metal on Metal Friction causes their premature breakdown. When that happens, the sensation can be unnerving, as the Driver can never be certain of the reliability of his Steering Wheel inputs and can never relax once the damage is so extreme that he must of need, constantly compensate for a failing front end with Herky-Jerky Steering.

Most of the time... the neglect will come simply because so few owners will take the time, a decent Grease Gun and a few Hand Rags and get underneath their vehicles and search out, wipe down and refresh their Ball Joints and Idler Arm Bearings with a decent dollop of HPG (High Pressure Grease). The process is greatly assisted if the end-user is in possession of the right tools and lubricant fitted for this very purpose.Naturally... Good Sense will tell you to elevate the vehicle on reliable and sturdy Jack Stands before crawling under the vehicle.

These are the Four Important Things necessary to make the Mechanics' life easier and smooth out sketchy steering problems:

(1) LU-MAX Model LX_1152 Heavy Duty DeLuxe Pistol Grip Grease Gun w/ 18" Hose.

(2) Redline CV-2 Synthetic High Performance "Extreme Pressure Grease".

(3) Mechanics' Shop Rags.

(4) Flattened Cardboard via BIG Cardboard Box.

The Process is simple: Lay down the cardboard in a manner that allows you the ease of sliding around on your back under the vehicle and not be restricted by the friction from the driveway or in ordinary dirt. The Bigger the Box the Better. Then take a Clean Rag and after locating the Zerk Fitting positions, wipe each fitting down thoroughly so when you attach the end of the Grease Gun Hose Fitting... you don't contaminate the innards with sand, dirt and grit from the adjacent filthy areas. A Good Flashlight comes in handy here.

Loosen the knurled nose-cone of the Hose End Fitting and stick it over the Zerk Fitting as far down as it will go.... then lightly finger tighten the end of the hose fitting. Start pumping in the grease until you can see the residue coming out near the top or around the boot. At that point, stop pumping, or the grease will collect into heavy blobs that will either get all over everything or drop down on top of you. If the Zerk Fittings have Nipple Caps, wipe off any new excess grease and pop the caps back on the nose or nipple ends of each Zerk Fitting. Follow the recommended cycle for re-greasing the front end in your service and maintenance manual and use these materials for best results.

The attached images show a "Clean Install" Brand New LS-1 Lower Suspension Component for my 1993 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28:


Attached Files:

rsm93z28

Okay... It is time to get serious about what needs to happen after I drop out the “Old and Busted” Stock 1993 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28 Front End with 23 Years of wear and tear and about 98,000 Miles behind it and then bolt on all the “New Hotness”. Unlike many earlier generations of the F-Body Carline Series that used eccentric Nut and Bolt combinations to tweak the Caster and Camber alignment adjustments... The Fourth Generation Camaro and Firebird cars have to rely upon what can only be described as the FATTEST TURNBUCKLE AROUND.

This tool is much BIGGER and HEAVIER than it looks in the photos and supports extremely fine left and right hand threaded elbows that seat in and lock to act as a “Push and Pull” triangulate action via the rotation of a Central Barrel Nut to twist and adjust the two separate positions between the K-Member (Cross-Member) and the Lower Suspension Arm, There are three separate contact points: There is (1) common insert point on the Lower Control Arm for the Tool + (1) on the Cross-Member for adjusting Caster + another (1) on the Cross-Member for adjusting Camber. This PDF has better details and images to show you:


OTC-7480 CASTER-CAMBER TOOL INSTRUCTIONAL PDF
https://www.otctools.com/sites/default/files/105984.pdf


“This Tool would make the adjusting easy, but I did these cars for years without the special tool. I just used a pry bar to move the lower control arm any direction which was needed to correct the caster /camber. If you jack up the car to the point where the front tires are only just touching the pad/street/turn plate or whatever the control arm is easy to move...”



Of course, being able to make all these arcane adjustments means absolutely nothing if you cannot establish a baseline from which to work and precise gauges to measure changes that will bring the Front Suspension under control. Standard Carpentry “Bubble” Gauge tools will NOT fit the bill, as every time subtle inputs from the tool adjustments hit “The Bubble”... the only responses you can get from looking at the result on Cheap Carpenter Levels will just confuse you. Enter the hero...

Joe's Racing Magnetic Caster-Camber Gauge from Amazon:

“Our 8 degree vials give you the room so that the bubble is clear to read and won't cause errant readings due to the bubble running into the end of the vial. Make sure your front-end is set accurately with a JOES Caster Camber Gauge. Machined from billet 6061-T6 aluminum with a magnetic adapter to attach to your hub. JOES includes a billet gauge with durable laser etched numbers that last a lifetime. Our powerful rod style magnets sit straight - Competing models use a disk that easily collect chips affecting your measurements negatively. Please compare - and you will quickly see you get more with JOES! “

Street Toe Settings for the F-Body Carline Series are usually correct at (0) so I will begin to get it in the ballpark by stringing two “Snap Line” Cotton strings between two Jack stands (Left and Right sides) and “Straight Line Align” the Rear Wheels after CHOCKING BOTH THE FRONT AND BACK CONTACTS OF BOTH REAR WHEELS.

When It comes time to actually perform all of these necessary Safety Arrangements and Specialty Tool Adjustments, I will document the procedures and memorialize everything in Step-By-Step digital imagery. Other Members with more experience and expertise with comments, tips, suggestions, corrections or criticism are welcome to jump in and help out here.

EDIT:

Okay... I've decided to skip trying a "Home Made" Fix on this job because I have more than one vehicle (including two GMTs) that I want to align correctly and using these Heavy Duty Rand Wheel Alignment Tables in conjunction with the Joe's Racing Caster-Camber Tool will speed up getting the Z-28 back on the road with the correct adjustments done in a timely manner. After that... I will Get Back on the Horse and return to "The $85,000.00 GM 4.2L Engine Head R&R" Project... But I need DD transportation right now... and these plates were priced right at $199.00 Plus S&H on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rand-Wheel-Alignment-Turntables-Plates-Turn-Tables-Pads-Car-Turnplates-Caster/172067473757?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D35314%26meid%3D514ba611575743178e561558afeb8531%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D2%26sd%3D351561320456

Injuneer

Why did you post a picture of a British coin?

Your excessive links to commercial sites are triggering the "Robot Check" feature.

rsm93z28

Thanks for the corrections... I am usually as detailed as I can be and seek to point to where people can find the involved tools and parts, etc..... However in future... I will refrain from doing so. Since I am going with the RAND Wheel Alignment Tables... I have deleted everything else that was apparently superfluous. The rare Irish coin was just an example of what an "Elusive Spondulix" is... also not essential...and now...deleted.

rsm93z28

This is just an update on either the arrival of...or the preparation of three (3) Specialty Tools required (amongst many others) to help get past the "Hard Candy" of disassembly, re-assembly and alignment in order to finally arrive at the tasty, soft center of the better safety and performance of having the LS-1 Suspension and Brakes Upgrade installed on the 1993 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28.

I have a beef with the OTC people in the general idea that instead of producing One Standard SAE Thread Pitch and Count for ONE FIVE POUND SLIDE-HAMMER... they have around five different versions of the damned things and you have to do some research to figure out which of their versions of the Slide-Hammers that abound will fit inside of the Rear Axle Bearing Pullers they produce. The other issue is that since it has taken over a month to arrive here... I think they take a suspiciously long amount of time to get the damned things shipped ...and that makes me think that they do not stock these tools stateside and so these must of needs come special order by way of the "Slow-Boat-From-Taiwan" side of the world. Hell... You'd think they were casting them and co-machining them out of Solid Gold...as they charge an Arm and a Leg for these things. (See the below link for updated tools images and boxing images)

I also wanted to cover some necessary clean up and prep work I think is the order of the day whenever it becomes necessary to purchase Used Dealership Kent-Moore Specialty Tools. The majority of the "Used One and Done Tools" that we encounter on eBay or Amazon were in all likelihood purchased in As-Is condition from either dealerships that have gone out of business... or as Obsolete Sell-Offs that are no longer needed in their Service Bays. As such... they will arrive at your door in the same condition they were just before the poor Mechanics got their Pink Slips... covered in Black Grease, Dirt, Rust and "Mung"...and though made to last under those conditions... they are all in need of a good going over and tidying up before you should consider putting them back to work on your private vehicles.

This is especially true when the tools in question have any kind of precision threaded aspects built into their designs. Well... such is the very case where the Kent-Moore J-38658 F-Body Caster-Camber Adjustment Tool is concerned because it is fashioned like a huge Turnbuckle with a long Barrel Nut in the center and both Left and Right Handed threaded elbows on its ends, I purchased this tool off eBay for around $45.00 and when it arrived, I decided that since I could not move the center Hex Barrel Nut easily... it just made good sense to take it completely apart, scrub it up with hot, soapy water and a Scotch-Brite Pad and then after cleaning the threads on all three sub-components, apply some Redline CV-2 High Pressure Grease lightly on all the threads and then see how it behaved after all three pieces are screwed back together. Naturally... I do not want to have to worry about this issue of smooth actuation when it comes time to insert the two ends in between the Lower Arm and the K-Member positions and make the fine Caster-Camber micro-adjustments needed to align the suspension correctly.

The last of these unique items to be used very soon that have finally arrived are the RAND Front End Wheel Alignment Plates. THIS paired set of items is very remarkable. They are extremely heavy and are very nicely built for the purposes intended. They weigh around 60-75 Lbs each and are made out of two pancake like layers of powder-coated 3/8" Plate Steel that have Ball Bearings sandwiched in between. The large rectangular Chrome Handle with the two safety locking pins hold the upper flat round red plates still while the vehicle is jacked airborne a mere two (2") inches to allow their correct placement after centering the steering wheel. After the vehicle is lowered, the two chain-linked pins are pulled up and out, then the wheels can move independently of each other. The plates have up to 30 degrees of radial turn capability at 15 degrees left and right per wheel to allow for accurate Camber and Caster readings and adjustments. Toe-In or Out adjustments are a breeze since there is virtually no friction to interfere with the motion of turning both tie rods. Since the 4th Gen F-Body Carline Series relies upon the "Thrustline" basis for aligning the front wheels to the non-adjustable rear wheel alignments... the "Taut String Method" will work well in establishing either the factory settings for Toe-In or using a "ZERO" setting as many F-Body suspension tuners recommend. (See the below link for Top-To-Bottom images of this unique, $199.00 Tool)

The last images included today are some of the OEM Factory Fasteners that will be used during the LS-1 Suspension change-out... right along with some additional Energy Suspension and Prothane suspension components to add to the performance and handling characteristics of the vehicle. Next in the series will be the assembly of the two Front SLA Units hardware and a look at the Specialty Spring Compressor Tool and how to safely prepare and handle it in a proper manner as well to ensure that the Left Side parts know what the Right Side parts are doing so their sub-assembly orientations are correct.

http://s557.photobucket.com/user/60d...?sort=3&page=1

rsm93z28

This is just an update on the arrival of and photo-play included of the Dorman (GM OEM Quality) “C” Clips Rear Axle Retention Locks. Judging from the Copper Plating they applied, it appears that having these done up in metal cladding over the forged steel will assist in having them mate to the Differential Axle retention grooves and allow for less axial slop as well.

I suspect that the rounding of the edges on one side versus the sharper edges on the opposite side is an artifact of the Drop-Forging being “cookie-cut” and slam hardened at the same time as they are being manufactured from white hot steel. Also... by the rounded appearance of the clip ends, it tells me that the clips must need the freedom to roll around in both directions and orbit inside the groove of the axles; probably due to gyroscopic precession as the Camaro 3.23 Gear Ratio would translate at say... 1,800 RPM down to 577 RPM on each axle... making the clips orbit a great deal within each groove as the axles spinning speed goes up and down the RPM scale. It is a kind of a durable, clever and very simple design that won't jam or easily wear out. Very cool... but should still be changed out once the Differential Cover is unbolted and removed for the purpose of removing the axles for any reasons.

This is a superb video that describes "How a GM Limited-Slip Differential Works" that will never be done better:


Gyroscopic Precession:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession

Below is a Link to some Early Model historical Descriptions of GM Differentials. There is some interesting info on a wide range and years of passenger vehicles, including 82-98 F-Body Carline Series Vehicles and GM light trucks up to 1998 concerning the use of the various differentials that employ the use of “C” Clips for Axle Retention:

OLDSmobility.com - The 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass and 442 Resource - GM 10-bolt Differential Technical Information