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Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 7:17 pm
by rocketride
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... K:MEWAX:IT

I had to work today and had the wife try to win them for me but lost out. :bang:


Jon

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 7:32 pm
by gerbsinmd
I tried to but didn't.

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 9:51 pm
by AusRs
not me ,somewhere in my garage i have a set of those ...........If i can find them anyone want to swap for a set of front signal lights (the ones in the front bar ) ?

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 10:28 pm
by gotmud7
Someone, maybe Chuck (cosvega76), was trying to get those made. A new set would have cost about $80, but it sounded like no one was interested. Mark

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 10:36 pm
by patrick1151
Dave from Dave's Vega village tried to get some made a few years back and his cost would have been at least $8 a piece.

I dont know if I can supply a full set of 8 but if someone needs some I can supply some.

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 10:41 pm
by 80 MONZTA
Oooooh, I HATE those things! First bolt came out easy as pie, one bolt needed the rubber bushing cut to split open the steel sleeve. But two bolts were hung up on the nipple section of those dang washers. Nipple section broke right off, and no way to get at them! They eventualy came out after a LOT of prying, twisting, hammering and even more swearing. Boy I wonder what kind of moron designed those!
I am thinking of just using a flat washer in there place, but the bolt will have a little bit of play inside the bushing. With the bolt tite, it wouldn't be able to move around would it?

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 11:30 pm
by my79monza
God, I was lucky when I removed the A-arms to paint them I just took the nut off which came easy and just pulled the bolts out with a pair of pliars with very little effort.
Just plain lucky I guess.
Merle

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 2:22 am
by patrick1151
I have removed 5 sets of control arms now, first 2 had to be cut out, 2nd 2 cars including 1 that had been sitting at least 5 years came out real easy and then the last set I just tried to remove, forget it and that car had been daily driven until it was written off. I couldnt even loosen some of its bolts+nuts with air tools or a snipe. And I dont have the time or energy to cut these ones out. It doesnt seem to matter with the control arms whether the cars were driven every day or not.

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:14 am
by cjbiagi
You need to have the lip to hold the bolt within the sleeve. I do not think using a flat washer will work. These are also quite thin and finding a washer in this diameter being thin enough is a challenge. I tried making these a while back and while I was successful the time involved in doing so was just not worth it.

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:38 am
by rocketride
I sold a pair of lower control arms a couple of years ago that I salvaged off of a '75 Starfire and sent the full set of ferrules with them. :bang: :bang: :bang:
Little did I know that I would need them when I rebuilt the front end on my '80 model because my new bushings didn't come with them and the old ones didn't have them, could be why the bolts came out so easy. Obviously the front end had been gone through before.
I'd be interested in a full set. I'll have to take the front end apart anyway since I forgot to put the rubber insulators on top of the springs when I reassembled the front end. :oops:

Jon

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:54 am
by res0o7eb
wow, $71.00 for 8 fancy washers. :shock:
What about two flat washers, and a sleeve for the bolt?
The sleeve would be thick so you may have to drill out the hole in the bushing.
Would this work as a substitute?
You can find this stuff at Ace Hardware, Lowe's, Home Depot, or you local hardware store. Cheap.

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:49 am
by cosvega76
res0o7eb wrote:wow, $71.00 for 8 fancy washers. :shock:
What about two flat washers, and a sleeve for the bolt?
The sleeve would be thick so you may have to drill out the hole in the bushing.
Would this work as a substitute?
You can find this stuff at Ace Hardware, Lowe's, Home Depot, or you local hardware store. Cheap.


Welcome to the world of obsolete parts on an unpopular vehicle. It's only going to get worse from here.

Good luck drilling out those sleeves in the bushing. They're usually hardened steel and will dull a drill bit quickly.

Chuck

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:34 am
by res0o7eb
res0o7eb wrote:What about two flat washers, and a sleeve for the bolt?
The sleeve would be thick so you may have to drill out the hole in the bushing.

cosvega76 wrote:Welcome to the world of obsolete parts on an unpopular vehicle. It's only going to get worse from here. Good luck drilling out those sleeves in the bushing. They're usually hardened steel and will dull a drill bit quickly.

Chuck
Huh? I appreciate the sarcasm, but is it not possible to substitute something else for these one-of-kind washers?

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:28 pm
by cjbiagi
The purpose of thesse ferrules is to allow the cam bolt to move to different positions during front end alignmnet. As a result, the hole in the frame is considerably larger than the sleeve inside the bushing. Another sleeve in the bushing would just stick through the hole in a regular washer and really not work because the sleeve needs to be captured in between the ferrules. This is totally different than the rear control arms where the sleeve is just captured between the frame or axle bracket and that's it. So the lip on the washer needs to be part of the washer to work correctly. It's really hard to explain as it seems simple enough but if you look close at the entire design you will see what I mean. Also consider that the steel sleeve inside the bushing does not rotate once everything is tightened down, so the sleeve needs to be captured between the frame and that's what the ferrules do. Can they be made? Yes, as I have done a couple. The trick is getting the correct diameter and thickness washer which needs to be thinner than most hardware type as well as a sleeve that has the correct OD to fit the bushing sleeve and the correct ID to fit the bolt. Then it has to be cut and welded together very neatly for it to fit into the bushing. A stamped one like the factory is the best solution, otherwise it took me a entire afternoon to make just one. While it first appears quite simple it is not easy to duplicate. Whoever got them for $80 or whatever got a pretty good bargain in my book.

Re: Did someone here win these ?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 6:57 pm
by 48 Fiat
I'm the one that sold these washers to a guy in New York. I put them on Ebay to try to get some extra money for my son's project Vega. I feel kinda guilty for making such good money but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. We used Energy Suspension poly bushings in our project. I removed the inner sleeve from the poly bushings and replaced it with a thick wall tube. I think it was 7/8" OD by .120 wall mild steel. It fit perfectly. As far as washers go I made them from 14 gauge sheet metal and cut them out with a holesaw then enlarged the hole to fit the bolt. Hope this helps others. Dave & Jason