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  1. #1

    Default SVO Front Suspension Restoration

    Last Winter I removed and completely went through the rear end and suspension on my SVO. This Winter I took on the front suspension.

    I started this project in October, basically at the end of the show season and I am working hard to get it completed before the upcoming MCA National in St. Augustine next month.

    Here are a couple of before pictures. I envy those of you with non-undercoated cars. My car originally sold new in Chicago and was daily driven up until 1996. Many of the SVO front suspension components are "natural" bare metal, so the environment was not good for these parts.

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    The tear down begins... I won't bore you with all the details here as it has been discussed numerous times before and well documented in the Ford Shop Manuals.

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    Last edited by bluemax; 03-19-2016 at 08:01 AM.
    86 SVO 2R Comp Prep
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  2. #2

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    I have read many different "methods" for removing and installing front coil springs. Some of these border on just plain dangerous. The method that I used is very simple and once I got the feel for rod and plate placement took about 30 minutes. I used the OTC 7045 that compresses through the center of the spring. Attached is a "mock up" picture of how I inserted the threaded rod through the LCA and through the center of the spring. I essentially compressed the spring into the pocket of the LCA, swung the LCA and spring down and then removed the tension on the spring and removed. The LCA can then be removed. Installation is the same in reverse order.

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    86 SVO 2R Comp Prep
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  3. #3

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    My original intent was to restore all of the various parts and pieces, unfortunately once I got everything disassembled, the rust and wear was worse than I had thought.

    The RH spring bottom coil was actually broken and was "stuck" in the LCA. Apparently it had rusted to the point where it was weak enough to fail. Talking with Kendal, this is not uncommon.

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    The RH front strut was also blown... now I know why it drove like crap.

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    86 SVO 2R Comp Prep
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  4. #4

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    So now I am staring at an unassembled front suspension. The fender liners looks nice, but all of the under coating sprayed everywhere looks terrible. So this is where the project goes way beyond scope.

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    I decided to remove the undercoating. I used simple "bug and tar" remover and popcicle sticks to carefully scrape away the stuff exposing the original paint and primer. I took a razor blade and cut a bevel on the end of the popcicle stick. After awhile the bevel would become dull and I would cut another one on the same stick. I used the wood sticks because they would not damage the paint. The method worked well, but I did go through a lot of popcicle sticks!

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    86 SVO 2R Comp Prep
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  5. #5

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    While the "stuff" comes off fairly easily, it was a lot of man hours.

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    So then I decided that the only way to make the inner fenders look good would be to remove the "onion heads" and fender liners, so off they came and the stripping continued.

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  6. #6
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    Lot's of work there! You know it's getting serious when the Popsicle sticks and razor blades come out!

    So is what you were left with here in the last pic factory correct? With that much e-coat/primer showing?
    '85 GT

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by qikgts View Post
    So is what you were left with here in the last pic factory correct? With that much e-coat/primer showing?
    Short answer, no. If you look in my previous post when I started removing the under coating, you can see that the top coat (2R in this case) covered the k-member and inner fender. In the process of removing the undercoating, the thinner coating of paint was removed (by the bug & tar remover) leaving the e-coat gray primer. The heavier top coat was not affected by the chemical.
    86 SVO 2R Comp Prep
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  8. #8
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    10-4.
    '85 GT

  9. #9

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    Once all of the undercoating was removed, or as much as I wanted to deal with at this time, I was left with a few spots of surface rust that needed to be sanded and epoxy primed. I used PPG DP40 for the primer which is a gray-green. It is as close as I could get to the oem e-coat gray without custom mixing and since it would be covered with a top coat, I didn't worry too much about it. I then sprayed the area with PPG DCC 2R and reinstalled the fender liners.

    In the attached pictures you can see that I also reinstalled the "onion heads". We will discuss those further when we go through the various parts restoration.

    The brake line to brake hose mounting brackets, attached to the frame rail, were installed at the factory prior to prime and paint. So this was duplicated during the restoration.

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    Last edited by bluemax; 03-19-2016 at 12:26 PM.
    86 SVO 2R Comp Prep
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  10. #10
    FEP Super Member PaceFever79's Avatar
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    Wow that looks great! Big improvement.

  11. #11

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    While the undercoating removal process was going on I started detailing the various parts and pieces for reassembly. Basically I would clean on cold days and prime and paint on the warm ones throughout the Winter months.

    The SVO lower control arms (LCA) are "natural" or bare metal from the factory. The Ford service parts are painted black. This was done to protect them while they sat on the warehouse/dealership shelves. I do occasionally drive this car so I wanted to restore them to a factory appearance, yet protect them. As with the rear end I opted to epoxy prime and paint the parts.

    The LCA's are actually a made of several parts; both cast and stamped steel. I epoxy primed with PPG DP90 and duplicated the different colors with Eastwood Detail Gray and a custom mix of Detail Gray and Spray Gray.

    The first two pictures compare the original parts to the NOS part

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    This is a picture of the repainted parts.

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    86 SVO 2R Comp Prep
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  12. #12

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    The Koni struts were shot, however they were not original pieces. The original owner had them replaced by Koni under warranty so they did not have the proper E5ZX part number or date code stamped on the housings. I had acquired a mint original set from Greg Hess years ago when he replaced the ones on his low mileage 9L with a NOS set.

    I sent these off to Koni and had them rebuilt back to original factory specs. They looked great from Koni, but the wrong shade of Koni orange. They use Duplicolor Chevy orange engine paint. Note the newer style Koni decal.

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    I stripped, epoxy primed, and repainted PPG ALK 2002 Vermillion, which is very close to the oem color. The Koni "triangle" decal is still available from Koni. This picture compares the original struts to the restored pieces.

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  13. #13
    FEP Super Member JTurbo's Avatar
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    Love the attention to detail. Great job!!!
    1979 Indy Pace Car Mustang 302 / 5spd
    1982 Mustang GT T-Top 302 / 4spd
    1986 SVO Mustang - 1C

  14. #14
    FEP Member 1986Saleen's Avatar
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    Love it! Looks great!
    1986 Saleen #145
    now 50k miles - still 98% original.

    I'm all for helping the helpless, but I don't give a rat's ass about the clueless anymore.

    Previous: 79 Cobra, 82 GT, 83 GT, 85 Twister, 85.5 SVO, 86 GT, 87 GT, 91 Saleen, etc....

  15. #15
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    Nice work, you should get gold easy at the MCA show.
    Kendal

  16. #16
    FEP Super Member Gemini1999's Avatar
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    This is such a good thread...

    The results are terrific!
    Bryan

    1983 Mustang GLX Convertible

  17. #17
    FEP Super Member Ken P's Avatar
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    Congratulations. That is a lot of hard work for sure.
    86 LX Coupe 4E
    84 SVO Watkins Glen Pace Car 1E
    85 SVO Hertz 4E
    85.5 SVO 2R orig owner
    86 SVO 7B
    66 Fastback
    55 Willys Jeep Overland Wagon

  18. #18

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    Thank you for all of the compliments... Kendal has been a great help throughout this project as I will admit, this is my first time to tear into the front suspension.
    86 SVO 2R Comp Prep
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    86 SVO 7B Comp Prep

  19. #19

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    I had removed the upper strut mounts (onion heads) during the undercoating removal process in order to properly clean and repaint the upper strut tower. As with most everything else, the plastic dust shields were covered in undercoating and had to be cleaned.

    I went ahead and removed the plastic shields so I could blast, epoxy prime, and paint the mount. I used Eastwoods Underhood Black Satin which produces a very smooth semi-gloss color. The bug and tar remover does a good job, but "dulls" the plastic, so I had to prep and repaint those as well. I used SEM 38353 plastic prep and SEM 15993 Semi-Gloss Black. I did not have to use an adhesion promoter.

    The camber adjusting plates are gray phosphate coated. A neat trick I learned long ago to determine original hardware/part finishes is upon removal, to look on the underside where the hardware/part is not exposed to the elements, paint, etc. This is the underside of mine before restoring, you can see the original finish.

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    I bead blasted and used gray zinc phosphate and oil on the plates, mounting nuts, and speed nuts for the wire loom retainer (they will be reinstalled after the front end alignment).

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    86 SVO 2R Comp Prep
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  20. #20

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    Next is the front coil springs...

    The RH front was broken so I had to go to my parts bin and use a pair of low mileage springs that I picked up years ago. Again, for the SVO, these parts were "natural" bare metal from the factory. I bead blasted, epoxy primed, and used Eastwoods Cast Gray. I used this color because the springs tend to be a darker color than other cast parts (i.e. spindle) due to the heat treating process.

    I cleaned up the original inner insulators, install NOS upper and lower insulators (E1SZ-5415-A and E25Y-5415-B) and they were ready for install.

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    86 SVO 2R Comp Prep
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  21. #21

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    I was able to clean up and reuse my original spindles. As with the other suspension pieces, the spindles were "natural" bare metal from the factory as well. I bead blasted, epoxy primed, and painted them a custom mix of Eastwood Cast Gray and Detail gray, same color as the LCA's.

    The LCA to K-member bolts, and Strut mounting nuts and bolts are Black Manganese Phosphate and oil. The nuts for the LCA to K-member are clear zinc plated.

    Time to start putting all the parts and pieces back together.

    This picture shows how I mounted the spring into the LCA pocket, inserted the spring compressor, and placed on my floor jack.

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    Next step is to slowly compress the spring and then raise up into the upper spring pocket on the strut tower.

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    Then slowly release the tension on the spring compressor and slowly lower the jack until you can remove the spring compressor. Keep the jack under the LCA until the strut and spindle are installed.

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  22. #22
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    I love this. I learn so much in these threads and they give me alot of ideas. Plus I know the pain of undercoating!

    Can you show or explain the phosphate and oil part a little more? I know David used a product for his hood latch but I'm gathering you are doing this another way?

    Also is that the original red paint still under the wheel arches or was that touched up too?

    Keep it up, I want to spend some time on my SVO soon!
    Quote Originally Posted by Travis T View Post
    I think this is my favorite car on the site right now.
    Quote Originally Posted by BLUECRAPI
    This is the best thread on the internet.
    Darran
    1982-1C (Black) GT T-Top:http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...he-Road-Thread
    1986-9L (Oxford White) SVO: http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...d-did-1986-SVO
    1979 (85:Tangerine) Coupe (my son's): http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...gerine-Machine
    1979 (3F:Light Medium Blue) Coupe (one day to be my other son's!) http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...um-Blue-Bomber!

  23. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by 82GTforME View Post
    I love this. I learn so much in these threads and they give me alot of ideas. Plus I know the pain of undercoating!

    Can you show or explain the phosphate and oil part a little more? I know David used a product for his hood latch but I'm gathering you are doing this another way?

    Also is that the original red paint still under the wheel arches or was that touched up too?

    Keep it up, I want to spend some time on my SVO soon!
    I use the same products that David used. The Gray Zinc and Black Manganese phosphate solutions are from Palmetto Enterprises. The products come with detailed instructions, very simple to do. I find it easier to use the phosphate and oil on the hardware; 1) you don't have to worry about removing any paint on the threads when you run the bolt through the nut or from using a wrench, and 2) it is just like it came from the factory. I would post a link to their website, but it is blocked by my Corporate security guys.

    Not sure I understand your question about the paint under the wheel arches. If you notice in the very first post, the inner fenders were sprayed with undercoating. All of that was removed (the plastic fender liners had been cleaned up years ago), areas fixed where required, and resprayed body color.

    Hope that helps!
    86 SVO 2R Comp Prep
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    86 SVO 7B Comp Prep

  24. #24
    FEP Senior Member rodster's Avatar
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    Great job and write up! Thanks for taking the time and sharing. I will be tackling the front suspension on my 84 shortly so good timing. I'm guessing the hardest part of the job was eating all of those Popsicle's.

    Undercoating, what's that? My car is a NY car which would typically get undercoated, go figure. Should make my job easier.

    Good luck at the Nationals, you should be proud of your work.

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  25. #25
    FEP Super Member roush235's Avatar
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    Great work Matt. And great pics with lots of detail and good explanations. It is fun to learn new techniques. The quality of your work is simply outstanding. You need to re-post your rear suspension results to illustrate how terrifically it also turned out.

    Looking forward to seeing you and your car at St. Augustine in a few weeks.
    Bob in Lebanon, TN
    79 original owner six cylinder coupe
    MCA Gold Card judge for 3rd Generation cars

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