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Time for a spruce up, help/opinions needed

nzv8farmer

Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
Messages
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Location
Hyden, WA
Members Ride
SV6 04 VZ
Hey guys,

Our 04 acclaim wagon is coming up to 200k in the next 3 or 4 months and I think it's time to give it a bit or a working over and tidy up/upgrade a few things. We have had it since the mid 140ks and have only had an oil pressure sensor fail so apart form the regular servicing it's done well hauling the family around the countryside, most things that have issues were done before we brought it, water pump, heater tap as well as regularly serviced with all invoices.

The things I plan to do are;
Normal oil and oil filter
Check/replace air-filter- we live up dirt roads and fine dusts blocks these quickly
Transmission- wouldn't be technically due but as I'm unsure of the oil used and the look of oil, changing it anyway
Spark plugs-will have done 65,000km at service, HOW LONG DO YOU NORMALLY GO BETWEEN CHANGES?
Anti freeze + new radiator cap and check/replace hoses
Accessory belt + idler bearings- the bearings are cheap enough

Fuel filter? Was done 20,000km ago.

The things I'm thinking of replacing/upgrading are,

Brakes- wanting to improve the performance and take some of the squishyness away, am thinking of getting DBA T2 slotted rotors for the front and performance pads all around, replacing the master cylinder and changing the brake hoses to braided lines at each wheel with new fluid right through. I'd love to change the callipers as well but money won't allow that so I think by doing that I will achieve most of what I'm wanting and callipers can be easily added in later.

Suspension bushes- there are a couple bushes I know are due to be replaced, they aren't flogged out or affecting the car, but you can tell the rubber is getting brittle and worn and will go quickly if left too long. So I'm planning to replace bushings right through, this is the part in the most unsure/decided about, there is a lot of opinions and options out there, and I'm asking for more here to help me swing either way. I want to retain the softer ride for the family on long trips, we regularly drive 4-5 hours to get to the city as well as 2 hours for weekend sport so don't want it to be too harsh, but I know the new bushed will firm things up which is ok. I have 3 options that I can figure best,

Option 1 is a full kit from Nolathane which looks to be the cheapest at around $450 on eBay but I suspect they are older kits which have been known to have some issues, if they fail, just replace with parts from another brand. Also heard complaints about firm rides but others say they love them.

Option 2 is 2 kits from Super Pro, one for the front end and one for the back, which will cost more at around $700-800 for the lot but they have a few bushes that the Nolathane one doesn't like sway bar mount bushes and sway bar connector rods. for another $100 you can get a kit which includes all the ball joints for the front end, steering arms and caster joint ( think that's the correct term, at the bottom of control arm). Is probably my preferred option but trying to decide if the extra cost worth it when the other kits are reduced in price so much more.

Option 3 is to try and piece together the exact combination of rubber bushes and urethane that will achieve the best ride, this could be the one that is the most difficult to get right and could either be great or a complete failure, and there are probably some that might not be worth changing like the strut top bearing/bush.

So thoughts, ideas and opinions would be great thanks, i have access to a full workshop, bar a hoist (it's on the wish list) so that makes working on the car a bit easier.

Cheers James
 
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