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Re: well..... Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email] (#32) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:24:25 In Reply to: Re: well....., Cark, Thu, 14 Jun 2012 03:40:26 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
The ABS ring fits around the CV - it is not attached to the hub. Just put your '85 axles through the '94 wheel bearings and you are done. The front is the easy part - as you noted, just disconnect your knuckles at the axle nut, hard brake line, ball joints, and tie rod end and replace with the same part from the '94. It's a couple hours work, not a big deal. Your hard brake lines will mate with the '94 flex lines, your tie rod into the knuckle, etc.
You will probably want to fish out your handbrake cables. If you're nice, you'll remove them intact so maybe someone else can use the cables. If you're not, you can cut them. In any case, you'll need to remove the center console and all that to get them out of the cabin.
The rear is the bitch. You cannot use your '85 brake lines - you need to source brake lines from an '88-'89 900, which as you can imagine is no small task as there aren't a lot of cars to choose from. The '88'-89 hard lines will mate to your '85 rear flex lines and the '94 axle, although you will need to engineer a way to retain them to the axle (not a big deal). As Landjet said, you need to drill holes in the rear seat to accommodate the hand brake cables.
Making the handbrake work will require parts from an '88-'90 (maybe '91?) 900. The floorpan changed in '91 or '92, so AFAIK you cannot use the handbrake bracket from the '94 in your '85 unless you want to do a fair amount of fabrication. You need the bracket from that '88-'90 floorpan. You can remove it with a socket wrench and a Dremel - installation requires welding. My '85 (with '90 axles) is still hand-brake-less for that reason. :)
If you can swing it financially, I would strongly recommend buying a set of stainless steel braided brake lines for an '88-'89 900 from somewhere. Now is a great time to do that swap. Also, I'd contact Landjet directly and see if he still has some of his adjustable rear suspension bits. Now is a great time to do that install, and it will make installing those Super Aeros so, so much nicer. Be on the lookout for torn CV boots, worn balljoints and bushings and wrecked fasteners and replace as necessary. You never get a better chance to deal with this stuff than now, and spending an extra $100 or $200 to do this stuff now costs virtually no additional time versus having to tear it all apart again later.
FWIW, I have done this swap about a half a dozen times at this point. Handbrake aside, this is less than a day's worth of work. It's not difficult as everything bolts right in. Just be sure the car is safely supported - you can do one end at a time. You will want a 2x4 and a stable jack to support the rear axle, and IME it's much easier to remove the rear axle with the trailing links (unbolt at the body) rather than remove the axle from the trailing links - HOWEVER that means you have to deal with the rear springs. The alternative is to support the trailing links with jacks or wood to keep the springs contained, and just remove the rear axle itself. Don't forget to support the front a-arms to keep the springs in place, and don't forget to mind the rear springs when dropping the rear axle if you're taking the trailing links with.
Having impact tools for removal is far from necessary, but really, really nice, especially on the rear axle. I'd also STRONGLY encourage buying or renting a real ball joint removal tool for the front tie rods versus prying or the two hammer trick. Harbor Freight sells a good-enough one for less than $20 that is 100% worth the price of admission. The picture below is of an OTC 6297.
posted by 12.195.130...
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