spec camry: a build thread

so, after two hours of aggrevation with a blowtorch, drill, chisel, prybar, benchvise, hacksaw, hammer, and mt. dew, the old front lower control arm bushings are out.

that was a serious PITA.

tomorrow night i hope to get the control arms cleaned up and the new poly bushings pressed in. wish me luck......

michael

I approve. I used to have the same Camry in the same colour. It was the most comfortable car I've ever driven. It lasted though both my brother and sister learning how to drive as well as year of being driven by my mom which is enough to kill almost anything. I can't say I miss mine, it was rough by the time I got rid of it.

short version: its back on all 4 and moving under its own power again.

long version:

i had bought some spare control arms when i was down at pull-a-part due to rust problems that i encountered in the rear. so i decided to rebuild them and put those on, scrapping my shot origonals.

putting poly bushings in these arms was a royla PITA. if someone local to me had been willing to touch them, o would have paid the man to do the bushings for me this time.

to get the rears (big ones) in, i cut a 3,5 inch hole i a 1X6, and used another 1X6 without a hole. made a sadwhich of benchvise, holeless, bushing, control arm, and holed. yjey went in with a fight, but nothing too terrible.

the fronts on the other hand were a serious fight. wound up pressing in the bushings, the re-tapering re-radiusing, and polishing the pins before pressing them in with a 16 ton shop press. the first time i tried, i tore a big ol hole in one of the bushings, necessitation ordering another whole kit for wone dang bushing. gotta say that pissed me off pretty good.

also found that the guy that did the struts when my parents still owned the car welded the nuts for the end links to the struts and end links. so i wound up cutting them off, and buying end links.

got it all done, trimmed a half coil up front, and reassembled it with new struts, the hawk pads, and freshly scrubbed rotors.

on the test drive, i realized that my alignemnt is all out of whack, so once i get some more miles on it o get ecerything settled in and seated, as well as another torque spec check, ill be doing alignment.

question: has anyone slotted the strut tower holes to adjust the camber on these cars? i see absolutely no provision for caster or camber adjustments. just toe. im used to RWD double a-arm suspensions, so please help me out here.

also got a pair od free tires for testing urposes on the 16's. size is 215/55/16. i havent decided if i want to go wider yet or not, as these are about square on the 6.5 wheel. but i also want more rubber on the ground, such as a 225/50 16. thoughts?

also picked up a strut tower bar from a wrecked 2000 solara yoday for the awe-inspiring price of free. fits ok )no pic of installed), though contacts the hood insulation of the drivers side. well see if the insulation compresses over the next few days or not. dont like it puching on the hood the way it is.

better picture of the fog lisghts. and yes, i know theyre crooked, and recessed too far into the bumper. ill fix that when i have it on my lift doing the alignmnet.

the next phase of this project, after i finally figure out what tire size im putting on the non-bent wheels, is to do some much needed interior work.

the front seats in this car are worn out. the drivers side has no foam left in the seat bottom antmore. theyve never been that comfortable, and have only gotton worse.

so ive been looking as seats from various makes and models.

when i was down at pull-a-part last weekend, i sat on a couple of solata seats. they were remarkably comfy, even being mostly trashed. they also appeared to be a bolt in.

lo and behold, i found a guy parting out a 2000 solara on craigslist, 20 miles from the central office at work,. i had to go up there today anyway to drop off a file, so i called him. worked out a screaming deal on the seats, and pulled them out.

the car had ~35K on it when the owner rolled it a few times. the seats are filthy, but in good shape, and have the lumbar support i wanted, as well as a tiliting seat base. i also bought the back seat in hopes that it will fit the camry so my front and rear seats will match. im not holding my breath on that one.

so when these are done getting cleaned up and serviced, ill be swapping them into the camry. ill decide then how i want to do my interior. i know it will be having some, if not all, of the colors changed. probably will also add a pillar pod with oil pressure and volts gauges, as well as some brushed aluminum looking accents on the dash and console, maybe the doors. probably tintedm too.

i will post better pictures when its not dark out and i get the time to take them. same with the new stance.

michael

Crash bolts from O'Reilley's for the camber adjustment.

sorry to fall off the face of the earth, guys. been awfully busy with both jobs. reassembling a datsun 280z, building a custom efi setup for a mopar smallblock, and getting a 60 vette out of long term storage and back on the road.

anyway, ive got about 1000 miles on the new setup. i aligned it tp .5 negative camber front, 0 rear, o toe front, 1/8 toe in rear. drives pretty good, but no turn in and still a lot of body roll. no junkyard options for bigger sway bars that ive been able to find.

decided on nexen tires, 215/55/16. ride good, great in the rain, wear good. decent stick with em, too.

also got the solara seats clraned and installed. fronts required a wiring pigtail change. rear fell into place, but ill need to build some filler panels on the sides. The solara seats have a lot more bostering, and are far more comfortable than the origonal seats. i do have a problem with the tilting base on the drivers side, though, it rocks on the screwjack assembly. theres a little play at the shaft at the motor, which translates to about 1/2 to 1 inch of movement upon acceleration or braking.

the hawk pads are great. the first stop of the morning is a little harder on the leg, but after you get just a hint of heat in them, the grip great. good initial bite, and very linear cornering.

the ride with the trimmed coils and poly bushings is pleasantly firm. not bouncy or harsh. just what i expected. unfortunately, the front has not settled any more. if you remember, i only cut 1/2 coil. i think im going to pick up a spare set of 4cyl stock springs, and cut a full coil. see where that gets me in relation to the rear. still have another 1.6 inches to go to match the front and rear fender lip heights.

heres pics.

thants it for tonight. more work when i get some more parts, and a bit more free time.

Hey does this have the log or tubular style exhaust manifold?

log with cat. why? i still have to pass an OBD2 inspection here in NC. its got two cats, and i truly believe that the front cat is a lottle stopped up. been eye-humping the OBX longtubes on ebay, but cant make up my mind if its worth it.

any ideas?

Dusterbd13 wrote: question: has anyone slotted the strut tower holes to adjust the camber on these cars? i see absolutely no provision for caster or camber adjustments. just toe. im used to RWD double a-arm suspensions, so please help me out here.

Rather than slot the strut tops you can slot one of the holes in the strut lower mount. Either slot the upper slot in, or the lower strut out and get -ve camber from the bottom, far better than cutting the unibody.