You don't really need a lathe to modify the diameters of these types of parts. A simple wide belt/large diameter disc sander works just fine.
Another trick if you don't have a lathe is to mark where the OD needs to be, freeze it, then stick the part on a drill at slow speed and apply a sander to it. DIY lathe...
Good for you Dave.................you can always use black shoe polish to turn them color if you don't like the Red.
Polyurethane doesn't sand too well(even when frozen, but does cut almost like steel when frozen), and changing the sanding belt 10 times during the process would take forever....................IMHO
Again, this would take forever to sand off 3/8" on 16 bushing. Polyurethane is really tuff stuff and when you freeze it overnight it cuts like steel...on a lathe. Plus I'm not sure how much sandpaper you'd have to use on 16 bushings.........................it would be a LOT!
Depends on the grit of the sanding equipment. But god I hate grinding anything made out the stuff (depending on the exact blend it can be incredibly nasty). Sometimes you do what you have to when your boss is standing over your shoulder giving you hell about why this machine has been down for 2 days already and hes losing $50,000 dollars a day. So yea it's not exactly the greatest thing to have to do. but can be done, also you don't have to sand it down or grind it, you can use knives and such as well. There are lots of things that can be done to trim down a poly bushing a bit. Plus you don't have to freeze it overnight, you can freeze it to different temperatures and get a different hardness. One of the reasons that poly is so good for this type of application is the way it interacts across temperature thresholds. I would also like to point out that any sort of trimming like this on any kind of Polyurethane bushing is going to highly shorten it's work life because typically the outer surface has a different molecular bonding than it does internally. So unless you properly treat the outer layer after doing so you pretty much ruined it anyway. I'm not gonna get into some of the other methods I've seen used to reduce the OD on various types of bushings, but by far the most interesting involved 2 drills and a hole saw. If you think finding parts for 40 year old cars is a pain, try finding parts for Industrial equipment that was considered old and outdated in the 80s.
Was only trying to help by simplifying it for you. In the scheme of things.. that job is a piece of cake to do in minutes with no freezer required. :Handshake I can tell you for a fact that it sands FAR better than rubber does and the material removal goes pretty fast too. I know this because I've done both(along with many other far "tougher to work with" materials).. and it's all in the grit that you use at each stage of removal. Of course it helps to use an abrasive cleaning stick to help unclog the sandpaper.. but 36-50 grit doesn't clog too badly in the first place. If it needs to be pretty?(not that it applies here).. use smoother finish grits and rub it down with Acetone to shine it back up(Acetone attacks and melts the surface of plastics and rubbers to make it shiny again and then evaporates before attacking the material too deeply). My various belt sanders have just about seen it all from the inside out of a cars various components.. and I've even broken out the portable belt sander on ocassion too. With some machinist dye(or even a sharpie) and a steady hand.. that one works especially great to mill down the bottom ends of an intake manifold when the heads have been excessively milled. Point is.. why precisely machine something that is such a non-critically precise component such as a leaf spring eye bushing. Sand it to uniformly to slightly larger than the springs eye.. freeze it.. slightly heat the springs eye if needed.. and just tap it in place after a small amount of grease has been applied to the bore. Done deal.. easy peazy.
I got mine from ESPO in 2003 (they are black). I had to grind them down (used a bench grinder) in small increments until they fit snug in the spring eyelet. I don't know what the O.D. was, but I seriously doubt they were 3/8" bigger than the original size. I had to remove a small amount of material. Last summer, I removed them and installed new rubber ones from AutoKrafters.
For the Mavericks ladder bar suspension it is very critical, especially on launch. I need near zero defection on both the front spring bushing and especially at the rear hangers. The worst thing would be to have the rear of the spring walk laterally when you release the trans brake @5000rpm......with 544lbft of torque trying to tear everything apart and also remember that I'm working with a 35 year old chassis design and I need every advantage I can grab onto if I want to turn a 1.2sec 60' time.
I see your point and can appreciate having someone tell you get it done any way possible, and when I was your age I probably would have done it. Now that I'm as old as dirt I would rather work with as little physical activity as possible.................at least on the race car..................so it was cheaper in my mind to have it done by someone else rather than me spending hours doing the work...........over and over and over............again. When I made my first hot rod frame I spent 40 hours of drilling and grinding............just to put Oval holes in the boxing plates and X member. When I did this again I had someone make punch dies.......................and then had them do the punching...................Remember............I'm old and cranky and just don't like doing the detail stuff I used to.
I believe you may be over thinking its precision in the scheme of things relating to antiquated leaf spring bushings... ladder bars or not. Because if that's the case?.. IMHO you probably shouldn't be looking at any type of bushing with deflection at all. Delrin or AL would be much better in that respect. All that I meant was that the bolt just needs to be damned close to center(BTW.. if you mic it right now.. the sleeve isn't flawlessly centered in the bushing from the factory since not many worry about a .005 change in ride height from one side to the other).. and also have a slight interference fit. In the end.. it's just a bushing.. and running it on a CNC machine right down to the .0001 ten thou of an inch off center.. won't make the car any more stable/faster than if it were off center by a mere .005 thou whether it's got 600 horsepower or 1,000 horsepower. Anywho.. I was just trying to share some personal experience and other competent builders improvisation. But after all.. it's your car, your cash, and your piece of mind. This type of "hair splittery" stuff often has a placebo effect in that if you think it's better?.. it surely is.
I installed mine about 20+ years ago before they made em for Mavericks. Used early Mustang pieces and turned them down in a lathe. Slathered on some silicone grease to keep them from squeeking and they've been on ever since. And yes, they are red.
these are the bushings wccc offers: http://www2.cougarpartscatalog.com/polybushings.html they are black! i see a stamped 2005 on them, and comparing it to the 2005RG part number mustangsunlimited uses, this strongly reminds me of the part number terminology used by Energy Suspension. Anybody want to give them a call on this part no?
