Thanks for the advice, Evan. It has newer rotors and fresh calipers and
bearings. The calipers were seizing shortly after I bought it last
summer. so I replaced all that.(it basically sat for the last nine
years). By the end of the summer I should have the front end rebuilt,
fresh shocks, lowering springs all around and a custom wood panel
interior. I'll post pics when I'm done.

Roger

On Mar 4, 2006, at 9:44 AM, Evan Mac Donald wrote:

> Yup, now would be a good time for this, and also maybe to think about
> an easy brake upgrade, too. Grab a set of spindles, rotors and
> calipers from an '86 or later van, and put them in. It all bolts right
> up, no cutting, welding, or explosives needed. You will notice the
> difference. And, if you do all this stuff all at once, you can save
> money on alignments. Do it once, get one alignment. Open the front end
> up severeal times, need several alignments.
>
>   There have been those who have said to leave the lower ball joints
> alone - no one has ever had a failure of that part. Milage, usage, age
> of the van, and YOUR comfort-with-old-parts level will help decide
> that.
>
>   Oh, and don't forget new wheel bearings while THOSE are off, too.
>
> Roger Van Till <rvantill@SBCGLOBAL.NET> wrote:
>   I'm planning on pulling apart the front suspension on my 81 to put
> new
> lowered springs on and replace control arm bushings.
> Should I go ahead and replace ball joints and tie rod ends while I'm in
> it deep?
> I believe everything down there is original and 25 years old.
> All words of wisdom will be appreciated.
>
>
> Roger Van Till
> '89 Westy "The Moose Lounge"
> '86 GL "Sugaree"
> '81 L "CoJack"
> www.busesbythebeach.com
> http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/rainfly.htm
>