[Shotimes] Misc related to subframe bushings

[Ron Porter]

Much of this probably falls into the "Duh" file, but anyway...

Had the dubious pleasure of swapping subframe bushings between the two cars
last weekend. The aluminum SFBs were in the green '95 that's being sold, and
they were swapped with the stock rubber bushings in the blue '94.

The AL SFBs are about a year old, and I got the regular AL (not the
anodized) from Jomar. More corrosion than I expected (which made removing a
couple of them an interesting experience!). I cleaned them up with some
coarse sandpaper, and slopped them up with grease (better than nothing, I
guess!), we'll see how they hold up. I would definitely recommend coating
them, although the Jomar SFBs are quite a tight fit into the subframe and
into each other, so not sure that painting would be beneficial, and
powdercoating might be iffy (but could be worth a try).

The '94 had what appeared to be original rubber SFBs. Not in TOO bad a shape
(they didn't disintegrate like the original '95 rubber bushings, nor the
ones on Ryan Staley's '91). Obviously the collars that have those four
little !#$%^& bolts in the front subframe are toast!! It's been said before,
but in a northern climate with snow/slush/salt, I feel that it would be a
good idea to replace the SFBs every 4-5 years or so on cars that are daily
drivers. Even putting in new factory rubber SFBs should keep the front end a
lot tighter.

Ron Porter