Thread: 53 Is back from the Body Shop

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Here we go, rack #3. Pulled the old rack out and decided that with that out of the way it would be a good time to cut out my cobble jobbed motor mounts out and put in the right ones ( this was something that happened when I first put the 5.3 in. It was measuring error ) then I put the new rack back in. I adjusted the toe in and for some reason thought I should check my sway bar pre-load, turns out it had a lot pressure on it so I also adjusted that back to neutral load ( tell me if thats wrong ). I started it up to back it out and I was blown away how quiet and smooth it was inside the cab with the new mounts in, that was until my A/C kicked in. Turns out the motor dropped just enough for the A/C clutch to rub on the inner fender so I pried that back but still had a terrible A/C noise. Turns out the whole bracket was resting on the inner fender, it sounded like the compressor was in the cab with a mega phone. I've come the the point on this Rita where an easy fix is a good fix. I cut the offending inner fender section out with a cut off wheel and screwed a rubber flap over the hole in it's place. Everything was a lot more screwing around that this paragraph describes but as of right now Rita has never driven this good or been so quiet and smooth in the cab. I kinda laugh at the " show truck " I was going to build 25 yrs ago, looking at the bottom of it now, I shouldn't need the fence ropes and the undercarriage mirrors LOL. Most of the oil leak stuff you see is from the leaking rack and pinions.

Nice job! IMHO, yours is more of a show truck than 90% out there, and in my opinion a driver is more fun than a shower any way.
ENJOY!

Originally Posted by 36 sedan

Nice job! IMHO, yours is more of a show truck than 90% out there, and in my opinion a driver is more fun than a shower any way.
ENJOY!

Thanks!, The odometer just hit 9,200 miles so that's a little over 3,000 mi a year we've been putting on it, that's with a 6-month driving window that we're given here in the Midwest. I do enjoy driving them a lot more than sitting at shows. Hopefully I'm done working on it for a while again.

When I built my v8 miata I blasted and painted the front and rear subframe suspension, the pictures from then look so pretty underneath. I was recently under there, it had been a long time, and it was sad to see it looking to dirty. The 5.0 leaks oil in spite of how careful I was to use the best gaskets and seal everything. It's a driver, what good are they just sitting on display. Show cars are like animals in a zoo, it just makes me sad.

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

I do enjoy driving them a lot more than sitting at shows. Hopefully I'm done working on it for a while again.

Me too, Seth, but I'm not really driving mine as much as I should! I'm about done with the big weekend shows other than locals.

On your sway bar, I'd say you did it just right, setting it to neutral as a base. If it had tension that means it was lifting one side or the other a bit, or at least pre-loading the suspension on one side compared to the other.

Originally Posted by rspears

Me too, Seth, but I'm not really driving mine as much as I should! I'm about done with the big weekend shows other than locals.

The Street Rod Nationals at the fairgrounds is scheduled for Oct. 16-18. If they're still requiring masks they can count me out.

I drive mine any time any where. This was coming back from show in Chicago.

I'll probably try to go to the cruise to the woods in fort Dodge Iowa this year. Mainly I like the drive down there, and it's pretty awesome watching hundreds of hot rods roll in at once.

Originally Posted by cffisher

I drive mine any time any where. This was coming back from show in Chicago.

That is COOL! (pun intended)

Seth, nice repairs!!! I feel your pain as far as how the bottom side of Rita looks now. But, if you are enjoying it, and you all are happy with it, who cares if it isn't perfectly shiny underneath. I almost didn't take my orange truck to good guys this year because all the shine is gone off the frame and it is starting to get rust in the rockers etc. The driving it 2 winters is catching up and using it as a truck is showing here and there. I decided who cares, it is what it is. But it does bother me it isn't as nice as it was. Guess I'll have to cut it in half and add 2 doors. Then make it shiny again.

I have TCI tubular A arms with urethane bushings that I'm constantly fighting squeaks and snapping noises. From what I understand putting rubber bushings in would fix everything that is bothering me. Speedway sells rubber bushings for their tube A arms, are most tube A arms the same size where the bushing would fit the TCI arms? Hard to know for sure without taking them apart and measuring but thought I'd ask first.

I've used urethane bushings for years without a squeak, click or noise of any kind.

However, there's a secret to using urethane bushings, it's silicone grease, lots and lots of it.
The mistake most everyone makes is thinking they twist like rubber bushings, but that's not how urethane bushings work, they work like bearings and rotate not twist. The grease lets them rotate easily and prevents the squeaks and noises. It's imperative that urethane bushings get greased liberally all over them, inside and out.

Use the silicone grease that's made for urethane bushings and it won't collect dirt.

Originally Posted by 36 sedan

I've used urethane bushings for years without a squeak, click or noise of any kind.

However, there's a secret to using urethane bushings, it's silicone grease, lots and lots of it.
The mistake most everyone makes is thinking they twist like rubber bushings, but that's not how urethane bushings work, they work like bearings and rotate not twist. The grease lets them rotate easily and prevents the squeaks and noises. It's imperative that urethane bushings get greased liberally all over them, inside and out.

Use the silicone grease that's made for urethane bushings and it won't collect dirt.

I've used silicone grease and it seemed good for awhile, I finally put in grease zerks and that helped a lot. TCI must have had a problem with them because not long ago they changed from a graphite impregnated bushing to a urethane bushing with grease grooves in it.I could try them too but I like the idea of rubber better. If you google squeaking MII bushings you'll be reading reading all day long.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, wished I'd bought a lottery ticket.

I'd bet the combination of silicone grease, or just a lot of grease, and gravel road dust plays a role in the squeaks. I've heard guys complain about poly body mounts squeaking but I told them maybe they should tighten their bolts?