WOW!!!!!!!!!

That's all I can say. I started with the rear passenger side last evening. Those screws that hold the strut to the wheel hub are SO EFFING HARD to unscrew. I sprayed them with as much WD 40 as I could and let them sit there overnight. I will have to try tonight when I get home.

In the meantime, I stopped by at the Pep-Boys store and the mechanic there tells me he uses a friggin blow torch to ease up the metal on the screw and the rust on it so that they can unscrew stuff. And I am talking red-hot hot. I am definitely not gonna do that myself. I am also planning on getting an extension for the wrench so that I can have more torque. What else do you guys suggest. ANY suggestion is better at this point, leaving of course the option of having it done by a professional. That would be my last resort.

Colin, you were so right about the spring compressors man!

 

no need to bust out the torch. all you need is a friend and 2 good open ended wrenches, one being an adjustable box wrench type, the other being the size that fits on the nut on top of the strut (i want to say 19mm but don't quote me on that)

if you look closely you will see two flat spots on the end of the spline (not the correct term but hey it works) that the nuts threads on to. take the adjustable wrench and clamp it down tight on to that. have your friend hang on to that for dear life while you work at the nut in the upper strut mount with the other open ended wrench.

if it is really giving you more trouble than that, get yourself some pb blaster.

it's a little tricky to get the right angle and force on everything without having the strut turn all over the place, but once you break it it will thread off easily.

one thing to keep in mind when you re assemble it, there are "guide holes" in the upper and lower spring perch that need to be lined up so that the spring seats properly. it will make sense when you go to put them back together. i believe there are 4 in the top and two in the bottom spring perch. only one set of these really need to be lined up top to bottom, since the spring perches are slightly eccentric it will be fairly easy to tell.

here is a pretty picture for illustrations sake. do you have a copy of the manual?

 

Thanks for that justin, but it looks like you are talking about section 3 in that illustration. I am talking of the screws in section 9. I haven't even got to section 3 yet. My plan was to loosen them all up first, and then start removing them as necessary. I have a whole new strut assembly with a coil and a new mount for all 4 sides to replace the old stuff, so I will not need to remove the center bolt on the strut mount. If things dont work tonight, i'll try the pb blaster per your suggestion. I do have the hanes manual for the car and have been using it for some time now.

 

oh i didn't realize you meant the two eccentric bolts where the bottom of the strut meets the knuckle. yeah those can be a ***** of a pain in the ***.

similar technique applies though. get some beers, a good friend, some pb blaster, and a very long breaker bar.

soak the nut down with pb blaster, get a wrench on the head of the bolt and have your friend hang on for dear life while you give that nut on the other end what for with a socket and breaker bar.

you may want to cover your fender with something. i have a small dent in mine from where the breaker bar hit it after the nut broke loose, so covering it with a heavy clothes or towel is a good idea.

also, when you take the bolts out, note which bolt goes in what hole and what direction they face. one of those bolts is an eccentric bolt that you can use to gain an extra degree or so of negative camber if you flip it the other way. you may or may not want to do this, it's your call, but it is important that they go back in the correct way in the correct hole.

-edit-

i didn't realize there was a haynes manual for our cars. if you're going to be at the next meet, remind me the day before to burn you a copy of the evo manual i have. it's been very valuable to me. it may not match exactley in many cases since you have an X, but it should at least be able to give you a basic idea of how things go together or come apart.

 

I guess you dint know i was not working on the EVO. I was working on my DD camry. I am kinda treating it as my testing ground before moving on to bigger things on the EVO. I have the full mitsu manual for the EVO and a hanes one for the dancing toyota.

 

ah now that i read back a few posts i do see that. sorry i am a bit slow sometimes.

the same logic applies though. i've actually found that the evo is one of the easier cars to work on.

i have two cardinal rules when working on cars.

1.) PB Blaster is your best friend
2.) With enough leverage you can move ANYTHING

 

fixed...lol

 

hey, breaking counts as a type of movement.

 

A few others to add:

3.) if it wont come off with pb blaster or pry bar - get a sawzaw
4.) if it moves and shouldn't I suggest duct tape, shoe goo, or welding.

 

I have three quarts of the Penzoil Synchromesh and 1 quart of the MT90. There's yours if you want them.

 

The best thing you can do is purchase the longest breaker bar you can. 1/2'' drive. Then buy a set of extensions and even a wobler or two. If that doesn't work, the largest wratchet they make is a 3/4'' drive and it is a beast. That thing will loosen suspension bridge bolts. Without the proper tools, even the most mundane tasks can seem overwhelming. I used to struggle taking lug nuts off because I didn't have the right tools. Well, actually... I still do because dumbasses put the 250 ft-lb impact gun on the lugs and go to town. My 1/2'' drive torque wrench was clicking literally, I **** you not, at 200 ft-lbs one time on my lug nuts on my VIII. This is why I now request hand torquing my wheels to spec - 80 ft-lbs. I even broke a 3/8'' extension on lug nuts. That's some serious torque!

 

has anyone adjusted thier clutch pedal? I saw there is a post with instructions and it sounds pretty simple. I was just wondering if anyone has done it and if it was effective.

 

There was a time when I kept the 6 mm and 10 mm or whatever size wrenches in the glove box. I would adjust it before work, during lunch, after work, etc... That's when I was having all sorts of problems. It's very easy yes. What are you trying to accomplish by doing so?

Remember clockwise brings the pedal up! Counter brings it down. And don't forget to tighten the nut back on the end.

In all honesty, the clutch should only be adjusted if it's out of spec. There are certain measurements - free play, clevis pin play, distance between clutch pedal and stopper, and overall clutch pedal height.

If you're on an aftermarket clutch though, most likely you could try bringing the pedal UP a half turn at a time. No more than one full turn at a time.

Man am I glad this feature is gone with the X's!

 

and your meet date looks okay to me.

September 20th NEXT Meet

 

pedal is engaging further up than I like...it used to be pretty close to the floor but now it is engaged about 2/3 of the way up....I just want to get it down a little lower than it is now