I forgot to mention, when I had the door panels off, I couldn't get the door pull "knobs" off... On my 142 they were relatively easy to remove, basically just pull up. These ones I felt like I was going to pull the door of the hinges and got no where. So they're still blue. It'd look better black...
Earlier this week I removed the rear Bilstein HDs and the rear springs. I chopped a smidge more off the rear springs, and made them even, as opposed to one being slightly taller than the other. Then I reinstalled the springs with little 1/4" or so spacers from a 745 above the upper seats. In place of the HDs I put in the Koni Sports on their softest setting. Man, are these things stiff. Up until yesterday it seemed as if they never really compressed unless going over larger bumps. Most of the shock absorbtion was being done by the tires. I felt everything, the car bounces over bumps much like an over damped or over sprung/underdamped car... It felt good, when the road was smooth. My car lost lots of it smooth cruiser feel. I took it on the back roads, and it felt GREAT, much better than the Bilsteins, when the road was mostly smooth. I think the Konis would work better on a wagon, but are too stiff on compression for my application. Yesterday though, I didn't notice it as much. I think they're getting a little better, but that could just be me getting used to them. With 4 guys in the car though, it felt good, and I had trouble bringing the rear out as much as I'd have liked. Needs more LSD and power......... For the price, I should've tried out Bilstein HD front Surburban shocks first. They'd be shorter too. That was the thing that I wasn't expecting, the Konis were, if anything, a couple of mm LONGER than the HDs!
Did the oil change on friday night, along with installed a couple Poly accessory bushings for my alternator. I have some more to do the AC and PS, but the alternator was most important to get done.
Then I "fabbed" up some alloy tubing lower braces. Sadly, I didn't have the best of material to work with, so they're not quite up to the task. They look good, but they're only 3/4" diameter, and really thin walled, so they do flex. I may just go for something that's basically the same as the IPD crap I had on there. Maybe in alloy. Maybe not. Maybe some other material. Who knows. Someday.