Bushed

Excluding the sway bar bushings, every joint and bushing on my 83 944 was original. That means it is 26 years old and had covered 140,000 or so miles. 

As you can see from the picture of the one rear of control arm bushing they needed to be replaced. Removing the manual rack was easy. Four bolts holding in the two brackets and one that pinches the intermediate shaft to the rack. Pop the tie rods with a fork. It was off in five minutes.

I was able to just undo the sway bar ends from the control and pivot it up to the front and out of the way. Saving me about 15 minutes of removal.

The control arm bolts all came off very easily. And I had the control arm out to work on. The first thing I noticed was that the ball joints were riveted in. Meaning they were original. I had to drill out the rivets to prepare the arms for the new ball joints that I will bolt on.

Now, the hard part of the job and the one that has you questioning yourself why you didn't spend the $50 for two new control arms. I decided I am wasteful enough and need to get better about not going the easy way all the time. I eat more of my leftovers. I repair rather than replace.

The rear control arm bushing was tough. I hacksawed off a flat side revealing the metal center. I then dremeled a channel in the metal tube, careful not to cut into the arm, and then pried off the bushing. The front was a bit easier. I drilled in four parts between the control arm and the metal tube center. I then place a screwdriver through the metal center. Clamped the arm to the workbench. And gave it a wack. It came right out. No sweat.

Pressing in the bushings with a vice took about twenty minutes. 

Can't wait to button it all back up.