No updates for the past few days, but I can't blame this on Eagle this time. After removing the coil, I set about getting the ball joints, tie rod, and control arm bushings taken care of. This all moved along fairly smoothly, until I reached what I'd presumed was the last step on this path: the lower ball joint.
Turns out I was approaching a new learning opportunity. See, servicing the lower control arm/ball joint requires removing the rotor and hub, which are cast as a single part. This means the wheel bearings gotta go as well. When I started to read this process in the service manual, my face probably changed to a subdivision living room shade of off-white because my mind immediately jumped to the same process as it applies to the Eagle (you can find the process online. To sum it up: not fun).
Luckily, despite the integration of components I'd prefer to be separate into a single assembly, AMC did a really good job of making the whole shebang really serviceable. I think this is the first time I've encountered a pleasant surprise like this. It also worked to my benefit, since I found that the bearings that felt fine were actually far from it and needed replacing. Better to learn that in the garage than in the middle of the desert somewhere, right?
So here's our lower control arm bushing. Totally ruined. Good thing I decided against cutting corners on this mess. I'll say one thing about this bushing, the ones in the upper arm, and the one in the spring coil seat: burn the fuckers down. Get a torch and burn them all out. The accidental driveway did that I had are an optional practice, but they really help to keep you on your toes.
Lastly, look who's back! Unfortunately, the planetary gearing upgrades I had discussed with the shop wouldn't fit, but it's got the valve body upgrades and new everything from stem to stern. I'm not sure whether I'm going to put it back in right away. Probably going to wrap up the front end first. Note the AMC-ish blue on the torque converter. So far, I'm pretty pleased with the work done (George's Transmission on Aurora in Seattle), and amazed that they got it done on the Friday following the Wednesday afternoon when I'd dropped it off.
Despite having taken an 18 hour nap, I'll probably tuck in for another 6 or so, then we're back at it. Later I'll get some pictures of the hub, knuckle, etc assembly for any who may be interested.
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