Small job -- broken wheel stud

* yes, another wheel stud jammed and had to be broken off. That's three on the car since we had the tires replaced and the shop installed the Gorilla safety lug nuts ... ugh. Fortunately not a whole lot of work on these cars:
- jack up rear of car and remove wheel
- remove brake caliper and caliper bracket. Leave rotor on.
- use 2 lb sledge hammer to knock stud out of hub. 3-4 medium hits, was easy
- to install the new stud I drilled a 1/2" hole in a piece of plywood, placed it over the stud and then screwed on the lug nut to pull the stud through. The wood compressed to match the conical shape of the lug nut that but that created enough pressure to pull the stud through.


Annoying job -- oil leak under tranny / rear main seal area

* This time I knew to remove the shift cable cover, then the flywheel cover comes right off. 6 bolts in total for both covers. Clear view of the flywheel. Unfortunately there is virtually no gap between the flywheel and the engine so I could not get a peek at the rear main seal. and the lip of the oil pan is right up in there. The flywheel itself looked pretty dry, and there was no oil sitting in the bottom of the tranny. So, based on that fact that the oil pan is wet all around all sides, I'm starting to side with this being an oil pan drip. Not ready to tackle this yet ... at least until I get the suspension noises figured out.

Another annoying one -- suspension noises.

* using a rubber mallet and a stethoscope I banged on the rear suspension in several places looking for the rattle noise. The only place I heard any sort of loose metal noise was in the shock/spring area, but I could not get it consistently. The top strut mounts have new rubber on them and the top nuts are tight -- so I'm beginning to suspect the Koni STR.T shocks I purchased just two years ago have gone bad. I still have to spend more time chasing this one down before I pull apart the shocks once again ... :|

 

I put a new power steering pump on mine. Wee fun

 

I watched the ice form on my ride... haven't drove it in a month

 

Well I spent yesterday cleaning snow, sleet and ice of the three daily drivers - 97, 01 and 07.

 

I swapped out the Koni STR.T shocks over the weekend, installed a set of Sensen that I picked up for under $100, to keep the car running while I return the Koni's for repair/replacement under the lifetime warranty.

Fyi the Sensen, for however inexpensive they are, seem to be working well for their spec. They are definitely not as stiff as the Koni and they feel like they are being overpowered by the Eibach Pro Kit springs I have on the car. The car is a bit "springy" over bumps, waddles a bit, generally not as sold as the Koni. But they work without complaint. And the Koni rear had issues -- I think the gas leaked out and left them noisy and without compression damping. So I'll get to live with the Sensen for a few weeks and get to know them a little better.

 

Did the "clunk" go away? I saw your post and tried the video but the video wouldn't load for me

 

Some of the noises went away -- the suspension feels smoother and quieter than before -- even with the less damping ... but unfortunately there's still quite a bit of noise back there. I think I have at least a few different issues back there.

I distinctly hear the noise on the left or right side depending on which rear tire hits a sharp bump in the road.

The next things for me to look at:

* This weekend I will likely pull off the rear bumper to see what that solves. if I hit the top of the bumper with my fist I hear a pretty prominent jiggle.

* There is something loose in the left rear door latch ... when I shut the door I hear it jiggle around a bit. I'll have to pull the door panel and fish around in there. Maybe the door lock/unlock rod is loose? Is there anything else in the door lock assembly itself that has a screw that can come loose?

* There are some cables in the trunk lid and some looseness in the rear deck cover, that I can temporarily silence with foam and tape.

* Otherwise, is there anything else under the suspension, or in between the inside and outside quarter panels, that would be loose and jiggle around? I've banged a lot around there with a rubber mallet and it all feels and sounds really solid.

I sure hope I find the source of this. When I do I should be able to write up a complete how-to guide on eliminating rear-end noise

 

Picked up the faces of my new wheels from getting powdercoated. First step to getting them on the car.

Now to repair and clean all the lips and barrels.




And a before picture for reference lol

 

If you don't mind.....what did that cost?

 

The place I go to charges $220 for powdercoating a set of wheels.

I'll be spending another $300 or so in repairing the outer lips and inner barrels of the wheels. So $500ish for a complete restoration.

All in all, I'll have about $1200 invested.....$500 in refinishing, $400 for the wheels, and $300 for a brand new set of center caps.