grant mills

While working on the rear sway bar bushings (now completed satisfactorily) the car was tilted forward where the rear was suspended about 18 inches higher than normal for a few weeks as I had to get the new bushings replaced with a larger set. On the last few days of this i noticed a pool of liquid under the front that seemed to be gas/oil. When I dropped the rear end back down, I decided to do an oil change as I could not seem to get a reading on the dip stick. when I removed the oi drain plug, I got a strong steady stream of over 10 litres of liquid, overflowing my oil pan and again covering about 10 sq.ft. of floor....So I have gas in my oil pan and I need to know the cause to fix it. Cause 1: (unlikely but I'll put it out there) the gas flowed through the fuel line into the carb and from there down into the engine. Cause 2: (most probable but it is year and half old fuel pump) The gas flowed through a failure in the bellows of the mechanical fuel pump and entered the oil that way. Given the "fun" I had replacing the last fuel pump I would prefer to get some ideas on diagnostics to determine it that is indeed the fault. Any ideas out there? grant

I had the same leak problem on my tank. After many removal and reinstall sessions, I cut off the bolts and covered the holes in the firewall. I then used a number of pads of velcro to attach the tank back in its position. while this held the tank in place, I still battles the leaks. My latest (and still working) fix was to cover the entire lower outside with a JB-weld epoxy that would stick to the plastic (plastic welding did not work, but the blame should be placed on the welder..me) I also could not justify the $100+ for a new tank.

Further on the "reassembly" process. The locally made u-bolts, while identical to the ones I removed, would not fit into the holes of the lower support bracket. The springs blocked them from going straight down and I could not get enough of angle to bypass the springs because the torque bar support flange blocked them from the leaning enough. I finally drilled out the bracket support holes to 1/2" (from 7/16") and this gave enough clearance for the passenger side to slip in...on the drivers side I had to additionally stretch the hole with the 1/2" bit until that side would drop in.....I was not going to force the threaded ends of the u-bolts to go through where I might have distorted the threads. Next: When I put the torque bars back in place, the bolt hole on the axle flange would no longer line up...the bar was 1/16" too short. After much cursing and fear about what it would take to get the bolt holes aligned, it dawned on me that the front end of the bar was attached to the frame at a lower point than the axle attachment. I put a jack under the front position (at the front of the leaf springs) and jacked up at that point. This moved the bar up at the front, pushing it farther back into the back axle flange (which did not move its position from the jacking) and aligned the holes. My larger replacement bushings for the sway bar are the post office waiting for me to pick them up in a few hours.

My '84 has a rear drums. My car is a tricked out (with every option), built as a draw prize for a major Canadian Charity ( I bought it used from 3rd owner), so if rear discs were a factory option, they would have been on it. So your rear discs are probably an after market add on.

Mike, I managed to get proper size replacement bushings . (Avanti Parts & Restorations, Inc (avantiparts.biz)) The earlier front bushings are 3/4" and will fit the 84 rear support links and a pair of Energy Suspension bushings will fit over the end points of the rear sway bar...I would not try to enlarge the rubber hole of a smaller bushing as I fear I could never centre it properly. I appreciate the warning about the front sway bars as that is my next area to tackle after I finish with the back. .Now my problem has gone to having to replace the rusted (and now broken) u-bolt that held the left bushing at the axle. The u-bolt is proving stubborn in coming off, but I am also worried about having proper support for the springs/body as I remove it. I plan to only replace that one u-bolt as I soon will need to get the leaf springs recurved (they look as if they have NO arc to them) Should I be concerned about supporting the leaf spring/body as I work on that u-bolt? (The right side nuts came off the u-bolt as I worked them slowly with a breaker bar and extension , not using the impact wrench which broke the first one) grant

I'm working on the entire suspension/steering system and am having a problem right from the start. I got a bushing kit for the rear sway bars and after fighting 40 years of rusted bolts I managed to disassemble the entire thing. It turns out the sway bar (on my 84) is the factory installed, larger, 3/4" diameter while the bushings are for the smaller 1/2" bar of previous years. As well, the retainers for the sway bar ends, are mangled (probably due to incorrectly places jacks/hoists over the years) so they also need replacing. Does anyone know of a source of the larger bushings and the end retainers that would hold them in place? I will take any information on suppliers of OEM as well as after market sources. grant mills RQB3598