Prince Valorum's 95 626 Build Thread

Short shifters aren't for computers, they're for cars. Now get that thing installed already! :D
 
MEGA POST COMMENCE!

Here are some pics from the other night.

Boy, it sure feels baller to have to drive up on blocks of wood to fit the jack under my car. A low profile jack would make life easier, but then I wouldn't have anything to complain about...
IMG_9520.jpg


:( Cancer near driver side rear subframe mount
IMG_9522.jpg


New rear brake lines next to the old garbage
IMG_9523.jpg


Heck yeah, sky jacker!
IMG_9524.jpg


5 ton jack stands really go high, these are all the way up, too, haha. They're positioned on the sub frame mounting bolts. I actually have enough room to sit under the rear in a hunched position!
IMG_9526.jpg


Test fitting the new endlinks and sway bar. It's basically the best way to do it. (stash) At the time, I wasn't happy with how the endlink was positioned in relation to the sway bar, as it wasn't perpendicular exactly, but I think it looks fine now.
IMG_9527.jpg


Examining how much room I have for spacers/washers, should I need to try to straighten things out for the endlinks. I don't think that'll be necessary at this point, though.
IMG_9528.jpg


The included bolt came with a fancy nylock nut that I didn't want to wear out, so I found some other hardware in the workshop.
IMG_9530.jpg


Passenger side, closer to being mocked up
IMG_9531.jpg


Driver's side with bolts, looks like it might have some wonky angle there, it's hard to tell what is a good thing to base the perspective off of
IMG_9532.jpg


Beefing up the passenger side sway bar bracket mock up
IMG_9533.jpg


Driver's side, with the wheel jacked all the way up to normal position (load bearing). It looks like the angles are better.
IMG_9534.jpg


I just think this is a cool picture. I've never seen anything like this before, but it so clearly illustrates what a sway bar does. As the driver's side is loaded, it forces the passenger side down. Now, if it were still connected to the sway bar bracket like it should be (it broke the zip ties, lul), it would push up on the passenger side suspension and attempt to load that side, also. In effect it would increase the spring rates in the rear while cornering forces are applied. I'm very visual, so this was a cool moment for me.
IMG_9535.jpg


Carnage
IMG_9536.jpg


An example of just how far the bar moved
IMG_9537.jpg


New bushing and bracket next to the old
IMG_9541.jpg


Hmmm, it looks like the bendy end parts of the Contour bar are shorter than the 626 one, as it's pulling the endlinks forward too much. I'll be sure to position the new mounts so that that won't happen in the future.
IMG_9545.jpg


Aftermath
IMG_9546.jpg


Attacking with vengeance, these are the old sway bar bracket mounts
IMG_9548.jpg


No more!
IMG_9549.jpg


One of these is not like the others...
IMG_9552.jpg


Another of the old crap
IMG_9553.jpg


End that snapped off, there wasn't enough room to get in there and do anything about it. (unamused)
IMG_9554.jpg


I thought the nut was round, but it turns out it was square. It's welded in there, and even after trying to squeeze a wrench in there, I couldn't get it fully seated on the nut, and even without seating it, the sides were touching and I couldn't try to turn it. My buddy suggested I should just put a wrench on it and snap the welds... Easier said than done.
IMG_9556.jpg
 
Nice to see some progress Wes. To bad about the zip ties, maybe triple them before you road test. Haha. Keep it up.
 
Yeah, I miss having a sway bar so much I considered test driving it with the zip ties... But didn't because it was so much effort to get it jacked up, lol.
 
That's a lot of cancer under there that you have to take care of. Any future plans on cleaning that off putting a coating on there?
 
Eh, not really at this point. Since I've got my truck now, the 626 shouldn't see any more winters. Figures, as just last year I bought snow tires for the 626. If things are compromised structurally, obviously I'll fix them, but at this point, some big boy go fast bits are soooo overdue... :D Now, to undercoat my truck like I planned...

And wooo! to Yuengling finally being available in Ohio! Had my first tall of it on draft today at Ray's!
 
Go fast goodies before taking care of that rust? You wanna make the car go faster so it's harder on the brakes to make it stop lol.
 
Lol it's only blown a brake line once... I'll be replacing the brake lines and fuel lines during the swap to make it all safe. I'm not taking it on the track before that.

If the frame seems squishy, seems like a perfect excuse for a roll cage, eh? :D
 
rust is lighter than carbon fiber!
 
I wonder if the sway bar being too 'short' is because you do not have the suspension loaded while you are trying to install it all..
 
**** the rust. Who cares. As long as it's safe on the street/track then it's not hurting anything. That's how I feel about my P5. It's going to be one ugly ass track car. :)
 
I wonder if the sway bar being too 'short' is because you do not have the suspension loaded while you are trying to install it all..

I was wondering that, too. It was hard for me to get any kind of accurate idea since it wasn't in the exact right spot on the sway bar mounts. That's why I jacked up the wheel, but without some kind of 3d overlay of where it was before, it's pretty hard to tell how that changed the angles and position.

I'm sure I'll get pretty ocd and make lots of models before I finally weld the stuff on. I need to secure a place to power my welder, anyway. My buddy's garage that we're building lost power the other day for some reason. Only one light comes on, and it's really dim, so I'm not sure what the situation is.

I mean I'd love to have a spotless car, totally 100% rust free, no dings, perfect paint and interior, but then my ocd wouldn't let me drive it. It would sit in the garage and just be perfect. And that wouldn't be much fun. It still pains me to abuse it how I do, but I enjoy driving it, so I guess that's what it comes down to. :\
 
Shifter install has been nothing short of infuriating. It wouldn't have been bad if I could follow directions...
 
So behind on updating... Anyway the studio has power again. Apparently the lines going into the meter on the outside of the building got damaged or something, but it's working now that a dude from the electric company looked at it. So after I got off work, the day was spent gluing metal, tearing down part of a tree with the Yota, and putting new plug wires on my friend's E28 to fix a bog issue.

IMG_9673.jpg


IMG_9675.jpg


Yesss, that weld is so pretty! Ignore the others! It was practice!
IMG_9676.jpg
 

Similar Threads and Articles

Back