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Thread: Rust-Bucket Rebuild (9G Galant Front Suspension)

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  1. #1

    Rust-Bucket Rebuild (9G Galant Front Suspension)

    My 2004 Galant and I have a love-hate relationship. I started this build with
    the highest of hopes, but now it has been roughly a year and a half and I am ready
    to just get it done now. I have photo-documented most of the work I've done, and
    I will update this thread in chunks when I have spare time so as to not overwhelm
    everyone.

    The "rust-bucket rebuild" (aka RBR) started after I successfully finished the
    rear-end wheel bearings and rear brakes. Previous to that I replaced the entire
    exhaust from manifold to muffler. I don't have all the pictures from those projects,
    but I will try to post what I can at some point. A little careless mistake I made
    back then is what prompted the RBR. When I ordered the rear wheel bearings, I was
    too busy comparing prices looking for the best deal, and I accidentally ordered
    the wheel bearings for the front. Instead of just getting my money back, I thought
    I had gotten such a good deal either way that I might as well save them and do the
    front later. I ordered the new wheel bearings for the rear and kept the fronts
    on the shelf. I drove around with my brand spanking new rear slotted, drilled, coated,
    super-cool brakes for a few months and loved not hearing that gawd-awful noise
    created by the bad rear bearings. I also ended up having to rebuild the parking
    brakes in order to pass inspection, and they worked great as well. I was taking a
    lot of pride in my handy-work and ultimately got bored. I thought I'd take those
    front wheel bearings off the shelf and start a new project.


    So the original plan, was to replace the front wheel bearings, maybe rebuild the
    brakes and give the front the same treatment I gave the rear. This is how it
    always starts isn't it? I am becoming all too familiar with DIYs getting out of
    hand... lol. The 9G I own was originally driven around the Chicago area, so it had
    a lot of rust damage on the undercarriage. When replacing the exhaust and rear
    brakes, it was much harder of a task because of the rust problem. I had to do more
    painting to protect new parts, and I had to replace pretty much all the hardware
    because it would break during removal. Let's just say that the rust problem on
    the front suspension was more of a problem than I anticipated. Once I started
    removing parts on the front suspension, I quickly expanded the project to include
    replacing more parts. Eventually, I was pre-ordering pretty much everything to
    rebuild the front suspension. It was a war on rust, and I was going to win this war!


    Up until this point, my experience working on cars did not include suspension work.
    I previously owned a 4x4 and had done all the research to lift it, but never pulled
    the trigger. So, I had a little bit of precursor knowledge, but no real experience.
    I welcome any feedback that anyone can provide. I take a lot of pride in being a
    self-taught mechanic, but on the other hand I know being self-taught can get your-self
    into trouble. I want to eventually break some of this content up into DIYs, or if
    anyone else wants to use my photos for threads, you have my permission. I am here
    to learn, share, educate, and collaborate.










    DISCLAIMER: I have been lurking these forums, the late galantforums.net, and
    the 4G eclipse forums for a few years now and have been absorbing as much information
    as possible in my spare time. I have taken a recent hiatus on the project, so forgive
    me if I do not give credit where it is due for certain part suggestions, steps, or
    techniques used as I have forgotten the location where I acquired some of this knowledge.
    I will gladly edit posts and give your previous post or diy credit because all I
    know about working on this car (minus a few things) were discovered on sites like this.

  2. #2

    Removing that Pesky Axle Nut

    I ended up removing the front wheels before realizing it would have been much easier with the car on the ground and the wheels chocked. I ended up discovering a method from a youtube video, where one can simply use a screwdriver wedged into the fins of the rotor to prevent front wheel movement when trying to remove the axle nut with the wheels already off. I used a tire tool of some sort in the photos below. Oh, and use pliers. I guess I felt like a caveman that day... lol


































    Last edited by z_thompsonpa; 01-15-2017 at 02:49 AM

  3. #3
    Moderator mko's Avatar
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    Welcome to the forums!

    Keep on with the good work! We all started there, knowing nothing about these cars and not wanting shops to work on them to save some money. I love the 9g Galants but Id only own a Ralliart tho. Just my preference. I remember back in the day, my first job was to replace the rear drum brakes and then the front brakes to my galant and then shit went out of hand lol.
    God created turbo lag to give the v8's a brief moment of hope.



    Build Thread

  4. #4

    Removing Brake Parts

    Here are the photos for removing the brake caliper, rotor, and hose. I tried to show the photos of broken hardware during removal. I also tried to snap a photo of the socket size used before each step.


































































  5. #5

    Thanks!

    Quote Originally Posted by mko View Post
    Welcome to the forums!

    Keep on with the good work! We all started there, knowing nothing about these cars and not wanting shops to work on them to save some money. I love the 9g Galants but Id only own a Ralliart tho. Just my preference. I remember back in the day, my first job was to replace the rear drum brakes and then the front brakes to my galant and then shit went out of hand lol.

    Thanks for the words of encouragement! My 9g is not a RalliArt, unfortunately. I didn't find out about those until I owned the car already. The 9g galants are kind of a dying breed. I am starting to see more and more in the junkyards around here. There isn't much information on the 9g galants on the internet as far as performance upgrades, etc... I have been able to get a lot of information on the 4g eclipse forums that has pertained to the 9g galant. I am hoping some of the knowledge I have can help others. I have a few surprises to follow...

  6. #6

    Removing the Spindle and Control Arm












































































  7. #7
    In the photos towards the end of the previous post, I am removing the large control arm bushing while retaining the pressed outer metal ring. This is done when installing the Energy Suspension poly-bushings. This method was taken from the 4g eclipse forums and is relatively well known. In retrospect, the control arms were the hardest part of the rebuild. In fact, I am still posed with the problem of pressing the large control arm bushing. In the Energy Suspension kit, the small control arm bushing has two-halves, so it is pretty easy to install once you have the old bushing removed. The ball joint was easy once I overcame a small hurdle. The ball joint presses that you can rent from your local auto parts store do not include a fixture that is the right diameter for the 9G Galant's ball joint. I had to scour the hardware store to find something that would work, but I am sure with a little more effort you could find the proper fitting.

    I made a great deal of progress this past weekend, and I think with 2-3 more photo posts, I should have the thread caught up to the current state of the rebuild.

  8. #8

    Removing Ball Joint and Bushing from Control Arm





































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