Those nuts look really good with those wheels, Do you have a big bar? They are good for those hard to undo nuts...

Ahhhhhhhh left handed thread. That would make sense. Inners were right handed and both outer ones were pretty stuck. I'll try it tomorrow afternoon and might have to cancel the order I just put in

Edit: the different thread would make it easy to adjust allignment... I was wondering how you would do that without unbolting the outer from the strut.

I'll need new nuts though as these ones are screwed!

Yeah wheel bolts make a huge difference over the rusty old ones. They match the centre caps too which I like.

I've bought a set of fender mirrors yesterday so they should be here in a few weeks. Nice with the Aussie dollar so high against the US!

new tie rod ends at both ends (ie inner and outer) are still a good idea. Sorry, bit tired, hope that makes sense.

basically the best thing to to is take the tie rod outer off the ackerman arm (bit that bolts to the bottom of the strut), then take the tie rod inner off the steering arm/drag link put the whole lot on your workbench and disassemble, marking on the tie rod where the tie rod ends were (helps with a wheel alignment), remove old tie rods, put new ones on, reassemble everything, tighten tie rod nuts up to the tie rod, put the whole assembly back in your car and use new split pins with the castlelated nut.

_________________
occasional blog: http://ewokracing.tumblr.com

Brought to you by me as I browse Geocities webpages using Netscape Navigator while listening to Jam & Spoon.

I did get new inner and outer ones. That nut I was having issues with did turn out to be left handed thread. (I had the order in for the twin threaded bar that goes between the tie rod ends)

I did one side to make sure it all fit and steering would turn. I'll pull the whole thing out when I get the chance to do both sides properly.
The new inner tie rods are about 15mm longer than the old ones so the allignment wont be terribly good once it is back together

the bar with the thread at each end is the actual tie rod itself.

_________________
occasional blog: http://ewokracing.tumblr.com

Brought to you by me as I browse Geocities webpages using Netscape Navigator while listening to Jam & Spoon.

Pulled apart the steering bits

New shiny bits

Super bogan allignment tool. Step one: cable tie a piece of wood to the hub on each side

Step 2. Stickytape a measuring tape on the front and back of the wood. Aim the steering wheel straight and allign one side to something parallel, e.g. chassis rails.
Step 3:Measure distance between fronts and backs of the wood. Adjust toe in/toe out on the other side

All straight .. well kinda. Good enough to last till I can get a proper one done

Yeah I knew that... I said it up there ^ somewhere. Just everyone I tried to explain it to didnt understand what I was talking about when I said "tie rod".

Most importantly now is that the steering is done. Not sure what to do next because most things are done!

Do a nice steering wheel or Manual conversion

Drive it and enjoy it! You've worked hard for this moment.

_________________
-Cam
1988 Mazda RX7
1980 Toyota Celica
a bunch of cool other cars I'm not allowed to list

^ what this man said.

maybe paint your tie rod ends so they don't get surface rust like mine?

_________________
occasional blog: http://ewokracing.tumblr.com

Brought to you by me as I browse Geocities webpages using Netscape Navigator while listening to Jam & Spoon.

The tie rod ends have already been painted silver as far as I can tell, so they should be ok

New idea came through today... Run the parkers through the front headlights and get some all orange parkers... JDM and USDM style. Thats if I can find a set somewhere?

Got a parcel yesterday from Thailand...
Sticky taped on for a look. They are at a funny angle because I took the bottoms off so I wouldnt wreck the paint.

Commitment time.. maybe I'll try to get a spare guard and try it with them first?

Yeah the stalks look like they need a bit more angle? Well they would look better that way anyway. You could try hot glueing them in the position you want as that just peels off if it doesnt look right and it holds better.

Just man up and do it. You won't be sorry.

Although they look like they are a ball joint at the top, they only rotate around, so if I tilt them over a bit the mirrors arent parallel to the body. Going to see if I can customize them a bit to fit better

Today I tried some pinstripes.
Before

During

After. I trimmed them to curve approximately with the lip which I think looks the best. I quite like them so I'll give it another go and get them a bit straighter
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Fixed the mirrors. They now rotate left and right as well as up and down.

First one had a burr around the edge of the pivoting ball joint and was stuck. Did a bit of filing and she is sweet now.
-It now can pivot this way, before it could only go on the other axis

Second one was just tightened up way too tight. Loosened it off and it works sweet

Now they came looking like this. I assume they intended the metal bit to go on top of the front guard but I reckon it would look crap. It would also require 2 big holes to be drilled.


I am procuring a hot glue gun tomorrow to see how it will look on the car either way


So now the question is:

Mount it using the plastic base bit. The base is curved to fit flush with the metal bit and isnt flat. Also the fit to the stalk is not very good. This would involve drilling 2 holes into the front guard.
Or I could I sand the bottom flat so it will sit flush with the guard and just drill a single 8mm hole.

Or mount it flush with the stalk, which would be one 8mm hole..

Second option, but try on a scrap piece of metal first as it may rotate.

Actually, no. The metal bit goes underneath the guard.

When installed properly from the outside you only see the mirror and the plastic "gasket".

That was the other option. However that would involve drilling 2 big holes. The gasket thing is more curved than the guard so thats a bit of a pain.

These were kinda cheap so I'm not really keen on hacking up the guards.

I'll have some pics up this week to explain my ramblings

I totally understand the ramblings.

Yes, to do it "correctly" does require drilling some fairly serious holes.