164 poly bushings..

[Alfa Romeo Search and Rescue Society <alfabill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi folks,
	I spent this evening in the carport, man against synthetic bushing.
	I won.
	The Superflex bushings were a new challenge to install. I started at
Home Depot, for a propane torch, and when home, proceeded to amuse the
neighbors, who were already amused by my Alfa up on jackstands in the
carport, with no front end in it. 	
	The only easy way to remove these old rubber bushings, for a novice, is
to burn them out. Boy does that stuff: 1)burn great 2) stink enough to
bring the neighbor kid over, 300 feet away, 'cuz he smelled it. It took
about 30 minutes to get both a-arms rubber free. I then scraped the
residue out with a razor knife, for the rear holder. The fronts were
same, except for a metal sleeve in the a-arm.
	Cold chisel took care of the sleeve, which must be removed to install
the new bush.	
	Rear bush went in pretty easy...line it up and step on it with your
foot. All class here, folks. No press needed. Pops in with a nice
"thwack".
	Fronts were a bit tougher, but by inserting a screwdriver for leverage,
throught the center hole, it can be started and then tapped with a
hammer to position. I then inserted the center bar, which was cooked out
of the old bushing. I used my Makita grinder to round the points on the
one end and lubed it up to ease insertion into the bushing. (?) No
sweat. 
	I used a great lubricant to make everything slide in nice. Should be
permanent as well. Fit is excellent, looks better than factory.
	Total cost for parts:
	bushing kit, $40 including post from UK
	propane $3
	amusement for neighbors, priceless.
This saves about $175 compared to new parts, but may be a bit over the
head of non handy 
car buffs. 

Next: clutch, cv boot, strut bellows, o2 sensor, brakes, I love this
car.
	
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Bill Harkell
Tampa Florida
'91 Alfa 168 B
http://pw2.netcom.com/~alfabill/welcome.htm

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