Hola, everyone! Good to be back online! :-D

My son and I just got done putting in his P.S.T. Polygraphite front end system with new Eibach Pro Kit springs. Being the guy that I am, of course, everything that could go wrong did go wrong but he just didn't have the cash (~ $700 bucks) to have it done by the pros.

After the installation, he took it to the tire shop for new rubber and an alignment like he should have.

Today, he mentioned that we need to take it back apart and replace the front coil isolators (which did not come in the kit and they WERE and still ARE on the Elky) which were in a rather dilapidated state. He noticed a rather abrupt "thunk" sound when he hit a bump at about 40 MPH which he related to the replacement of the rear coil isolators after we rebuilt the read end and replaced the springs but were still waiting for the P.S.T. kit to arrive with the rear only coil isolators. I asked him about squeaking and he said there is none (yet).

My questions are

1) does anyone know a source for front coil spring isolators apart from the stock GM 15597425?

and

2) does it sound like this could be the problem or is it something else (even though the alignment folks didn't mention any problems with the work we had done)?

Thanks for any input you have! 8-)

Are you talking about the little rubber doughnuts that go between the top of the spring and the bottom of the spring cup frame. If so I think OPGI, or the El camino store have them.

I dont think that is your problem though.

Yes, that the part. So, what do you think the problem is? :?

[B] YEAR ONE

Part of the problem was a loose shock on the passenger side and the fender well hitting/rubbing the frame. The driver's side is still making a bit of noise but I too tired of it to do any more today. Thanks for the input and I'll keep you posted of any new developments.

I'd still like to hear your thoughts, 80ELCT! :-D

I installed a PST front kit as well as the Eibach Pro springs, and Edelbrock IAS Performer shocks. I had some wheel rub on the inner fender well when turning right or left. Had to trim some of the inner well off in order to alleviate the problem. Not sure if your noise is coming from the front or rear but also check the rubbing issue (I put new 15" rubber on as well).

Handles so much better than the worn out stock components.

I don't think it is a rubbing issue as it happens going straight over rough roads at at least 40 MPH. Jonathan has not mentioned any rubbing while turning and I have not noticed while riding with him.

Today, he said the rain seem to aggravate the problem when he returned home from work. Some of the bushings were quite tight on installation and I am wondering about binding causing it. It sure can be loud for binding!

We'll keep looking at it and see what we can determine. Thanks for the input. If you get any other ideas just let me know.

Hello, guys and gals! I've been busy through the holidays but I thought I would update the post with the results of our findings. I had resolved to tear down and check every part we replaced to find the source of the bumping and popping after the front end rebuild.

First, the ground work. The problem was stable for about 3 weeks and then started getting worse. Jonathan finally parked the Elky and asked me to take a look at it with him. We had several maintenance items we wanted to complete so I agreed. We started with the transmission by performing standard service. You know, replace the pickup filter and the like.

While loosening the transmission pan bolts on the drivers side, my son noticed that the cross member had a crack in it and mentioned it to me. I was on the passenger side loosening those pan bolts. "We'll check it after we get this pan off" I commented.

A few push tests convinced me that that was the source of him noises. We removed the cross member discovering that one of the frame mount bolds were in each side and the transmission mount bolts had been stripped out and never replaced.

The cross member turned out to have three cracks in it with one going 2/3 of the way account the top where the dual exhaust "notch" was cut. The notch was not done properly i.e. with a plate welded over the opening in the tube so of course the cracks must have started developing immediately!

A trip to the shop got us a repaired cross member done right and I tapped out the transmission mount holes and put a new mount in place.

Test drive indicates all is well and my son is happy to be "back in the saddle" again.

Next project is headers and exhaust as we reconfirmed that the existing job is a real hack (some of the brackets are welded to both the frame and pipe, flattened to match the FUBAR cross member and generally sloppy) as one of the flanges on the header pipe has a broken lip causing a bit of exhaust leaking.

jayatchee,

Glad to hear you found the source of your problem(s). I can certainly sympathize with your frustration. I had a similar situation with what I thought was a transmission problem that was actually a combination of several other things needing fixed.
http://elcaminocentral.com/ftopict-19662.html

As for your header flanges, I used flowmaster "ball sockets" and couldn't be happier with them.
Keep up the great work and good luck.