Happy birthday to me- finally got the last shock installed!
My birthday was on Tuesday, and the weather was gorgeous. Uncharacteristic of
Seattle in March, really. It approached 70° F, with beautiful sunshine. I was scheduled to work at home on some report revisions. But with snow on the ground as recently as 5 days before, I really needed to be outside. I also really needed to get the last shock absorber installed on the 900. I took it for a brief drive to the grocery store with mismatched front shocks, and the handling was scary. The two sides of the car’s nose were battling with each other, and vehicle controllability was the only loser. I quickly returned home with a goal of replacing the shock. So on Tuesday morning I opened up the garage doors and backed the 900 in. I jacked up the front, inserted jack stands, removed the driver-side front wheel, and loosened the bottom shock bolt. No problem. The lower shock bushing wasn’t as toasted as the passenger-side one had been. 
Next I removed the bolt securing the coolant reservoir, and fought to get the reservoir out of it’s location so I could access the upper shock mounting bolts. The manual made it seem like they’d be actually accessible with the reservoir out of the way. That wasn’t the case. They’re still under the entire brake reservoir/manifold/ABS assembly. I couldn’t get my hand down there. I could foresee a challenge installing the upper bolts. 
Can you see it? The bolt is way down there, at about 7:00 position from the round orb which is the brake accumulator.
Next I applied soap to the lower mounting bushing of the new shock, which I’d already set at its firmest damping setting. I ended up using a C-clamp to press the shock into place. After wiping off the excess soap, I put LubroMoly 508 on the lower mount threads and tightened the bolt. After a bit more actual work, I went out to begin securing the upper mounts. I managed to “ring toss” the bushing and upper washer onto the shock shaft, but I couldn’t get the nuts on.
After dinner, I was able to take the car for a spin. The handling is vastly improved. I’ve made an appointment for Friday morning to get an alignment as well, then I should be set for the beginning of Autocross season, which I think starts in May. I should have had an alignment last year, but figured I’d wait until the new shocks were in. I’d like to take the car on a trip to Portland this spring to show it off to my friends down there, we’ll see. That’s quite a bit farther afield than I tend to travel in the 900…
Next I removed the bolt securing the coolant reservoir, and fought to get the reservoir out of it’s location so I could access the upper shock mounting bolts. The manual made it seem like they’d be actually accessible with the reservoir out of the way. That wasn’t the case. They’re still under the entire brake reservoir/manifold/ABS assembly. I couldn’t get my hand down there. I could foresee a challenge installing the upper bolts. Can you see it? The bolt is way down there, at about 7:00 position from the round orb which is the brake accumulator.
Then I went to lunch with Ani for my birthday. We at outside at Suni’s, a burger and pizza place near our house. I had the “brunch burger”, a cheeseburger with bacon and a fried egg. YUM! What a birthday treat. I can’t believe we dined outside in Shoreline in March. It was great. After lunch, I went to Sears and got a short hack-saw like Jim had mentioned for sawing the shock absorber. I also got a deep socket (17 mm) for securing the upper shock bolts, since no other type of wrench was going to get down in that hole. Returning home, the new hacksaw made quick work of the upper shock mount. When I finally had sawed through the shock, the compressed upper bushing released, which caused the upper mount assembly to spring up about 8 inches and lodge under the brake lines.
Next I applied soap to the lower mounting bushing of the new shock, which I’d already set at its firmest damping setting. I ended up using a C-clamp to press the shock into place. After wiping off the excess soap, I put LubroMoly 508 on the lower mount threads and tightened the bolt. After a bit more actual work, I went out to begin securing the upper mounts. I managed to “ring toss” the bushing and upper washer onto the shock shaft, but I couldn’t get the nuts on.
My dad arrived pretty soon, bringing over birthday dinner. I enlisted his help, and he suggested using plumber’s putty to hold the nut into the socket (a short socket, not the deep one) to get the nut started. That worked, so we tightened the first nut then repeated for the second. I couldn’t get a wrench down there to tighten the two nuts against one another, so it is what it is. My dad was pretty funny. He was wearing a white shirt and I don’t think he’d anticipated helping me work on the 900 (easy, since I’d never mentioned to him that I was working on it). I think he was a bit frustrated that pretty much every tool I own was arrayed on the floor around the wheel well, so he kept stepping on or kicking wrenches, sockets, pliers, etc. I meant to ask him where I learned my organizational skills, but never got around to it.
After dinner, I was able to take the car for a spin. The handling is vastly improved. I’ve made an appointment for Friday morning to get an alignment as well, then I should be set for the beginning of Autocross season, which I think starts in May. I should have had an alignment last year, but figured I’d wait until the new shocks were in. I’d like to take the car on a trip to Portland this spring to show it off to my friends down there, we’ll see. That’s quite a bit farther afield than I tend to travel in the 900…
So what is the next upgrade? Are you going to fix the transmission? Roll cage? Some sort of heavier-duty strut-braces or anti-sway bars or springs? Free-er flowing exhaust? New radio? Oh boy, I'm excited!!! (Comment this)
I know how it feels. I felt so excited when finally i finish installing my edelbrock shocks. For the first time drove it after the upgrade, the cost and efforts are worth it. (Comment this)