Alexander Bilan wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:
>  AB> check out the aftermarket (poly)urethane suppliers.
> 
> Where would I find such?
 AB> The local speed shops would be the place to start. Any store 
 AB> really that is either into selling engine hop-up parts and 
 AB> accessories, truck/van customization shops, and car customizing 
 AB> shops.  Suppliers such as Energy Suspension, Performance 
 AB> Suspension Technology (PST), and whoever else. 
Hmm,  I don't know of places that cover that stuff specifically around here,  
but there is one speed shop and one 4WD place I can check out.
>  AB> Prices should be on par with stock rubber dealer parts.
> 
> Euw.  I was hoping for considerably less expensive,  the dealer wants
> close to a hundred bucks a set for these,  and there are four 
> sets of them!
 AB> The aftermarket would consider a set, all 4 corners of the 
 AB> K-frame as a set. It won't end up costing you 400 bucks if that 
 AB> is your concern. I think you mentioned the dealer price was 80 
 AB> bucks a corner.
Only for the lower ones!  Then 14-something each for the uppers.  I don't 
want to put that much money into this car.
> Aside from the industrial suppliers that some have recommended,  I have
> no idea what I'm looking for in the area here...
 AB>  We don't either really. =)   This will be the chance for all 
 AB> those Mopar or no car fanatics to speak up with some exact 
 AB> specs. =) They should be ashamed if a Chevy man has to tell 
 AB> them what their k-frame bushings look like. ;)    What I can 
 AB> tell you is that the k-frame is bolted to the front frame rails 
 AB> at 4 points utilizing a rubber bushing as a sandwhich to absorb 
 AB> some vibration and noise. But you knew that anyway. =) If they 
 AB> have metal inserts, I don't know. They might not. If they do, 
 AB> consider using steel pipe of appropriate I.D. as a substitute.  
 AB> Its not used so much as a structural member, but as a big 
 AB> washer to protect the bushing. In my opinion, not absolutely 
 AB> necessary if your rolling your own bushing. 
 AB> Shape may not matter much. 
The (apparent) shape is considerably different from one set to another,  so 
there's probably some wear in there.
 AB> The body bushings on my Nova amount to not much more than 
 AB> hockey pucks, except they have a step milled in them. FWIW, 
 AB> until I got the poly units, I did use a hockey puck in place of 
 AB> one bushing which was entirely rotted away.  I suspect the puck 
 AB> route would work for you to. 
Hmm.
 AB> As a possible source for poly hockey pucks, get a body bushing 
 AB> kit for an early 70's nova. That will get you 6 pairs of pucks. 
 AB> You can always double them up if you need extra thickness.  
 AB> Their is a catch. The first set I bought in 1989 did not have 
 AB> steel inserts. A set I bought for another car about 93/94 did 
 AB> have steel inserts.  Both where from Energy Suspension and had 
 AB> the same part number.  Again, you may find a speed shop which 
 AB> is willing to help you find substitutes if the real thing 
 AB> doesnt exist.  and their is a ridge contoured on them to match 
 AB> the holes in the subframe, but thats a minor point.  They cost 
 AB> less than 60 Canadian dollars (Energy Suspension) for the set, 
 AB> so US, its probably well under 50 USD.  
That sounds a whole lot more reasonable than what I've been looking at!
 AB> Ideally, you need a reference bushing so you know what to look 
 AB> for.  If the speed shops fail to turn up a urethane component 
 AB> for your application consider going back to the dealer and see 
 AB> if they have one in stock, or are willing to get one to the 
 AB> dealership so you can look at and know what they are supposed 
 AB> to look like.
I didn't even ask,  after they quoted me that price,  whether or not they had 
one in stock...
 AB> As for poly-urethane. Its available in just about any color, 
 AB> doesn't matter as you can't see them anyway, and road grime 
 AB> will give them a black look anyway. The non-black units look 
 AB> like jelly beans, except much harder.  It comes in various 
 AB> hardnesses, but I wouldn't worry about that, as long as its 
 AB> tougher than the rubber its replacing.
That won't be that hard to do,  in the state that the current bushings are 
in...
 AB> It is very durable stuff, and the ones on my Nova are fairly 
 AB> hard as well, which makes them easy to cut/file to fit. So if 
 AB> you can find an industrial supplier of chuncks, or hockey pucks 
 AB> of (poly)urethane get some fairly hard ones and you should be 
 AB> able to make your own bushing.  Certainly better than no 
 AB> bushing.
Yeah.  I'm bugged by the fact that I've got some rather *nasty* tire wear on 
one of the front ones,  sorta like what you'd see with a bad ball joint,  but 
there isn't any problem with the ball joints or anything else in the moving 
parts there.  Handling stinks,  too,  and I'm not looking forward to winter 
driving with this like it is.
 AB> You probably will need to visit the fastener store also (note, 
 AB> FASTENER, not hardware, you want REAL grade 5 bolts to hold 
 AB> things together, not some cheap imitation bolt you find at a 
 AB> normal hardware store) as the bolts may be rather worn away 
 AB> also.  And maybe large flat washers to.  
There is a hardware store around the area that does carry the heavier-grade 
stuff,  I needed one bolt for some engine work that I was doing where the 
original had gotten chewed up,  and they had just what I needed.  I haven't 
checked the condition of the bolts because I don't want to take this apart 
until I'm ready to fix it,  if that's possible.
 AB> A liberal soaking of Liquid Wrench (Yellow Can, not the blue 
 AB> with teflon) every day for a few days before the work WILL be 
 AB> benificial.  
Yeah,  I've gotta dig mine out and start using it...
ttyl
email: roy.j.tellason%tanstaaf@frackit.com 
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