Repair-It

Can't get a good grade 5 socket head bolt locally. They seem to only come in stainless. Plenty of good hardware between TSC and Ace though.

7/16 is kind of the next size up from 10mm anyway. And according to the internet, I can use a 3/8" drill bit to prepare the hole. I am worried the holes are too crappy for even a 3/8" but maybe not. I think the bolts just came in so I just need to get that SAE tap and die set from HF (which I don't actually own - I have a good assortment of metric stuff though).

Did the bushing bolt holes and the end links today. Not too bad.

Ended up tapping 3 of the 4 holes. I knew the rear two were going to need it. In fact, I was able to just run the 7/16-20 tap into the holes as they sat which is pretty funny. It made really nice threads that way. When I removed the final 10mm bolt which was sort of stuck last time, it took some threads with it. Which is why they say you can't really R&R these bushings on the stock holes because the threads can't take it. I'd agree. That one required a 3/8" drill and was still kind of difficult to start the tap. But it also made nice threads. Here is the passenger side. Driver's side all bolted up. Notice the remaining 10mm bolt and the new bolt. The old bolt took 24 lb-ft. For the new ones, I decided on 22 lb-ft which they held just fine. Oh I forgot. The holes in the brackets needed enlarging. Except I don't have a 7/16" drill bit. What I ended up doing was running my 7/16-20 tap through the holes. The very end of the bolt wasn't threaded so it wouldn't bind. That worked perfectly. Passenger side. They should have done a fine thread from the factory. More threads to grip in the frame. I have 97 of these in a box...nice bolts. No pics of the end links. I had some trouble starting the nut. Would have been helpful if the bolt was longer. Anyway I got that all done, and tightened to 13 lb-ft (nice to have a 3/8" drive torque wrench now).

Road test revealed MUCH better handling and response. It is still not where my Caprice is but that is to be expected given there are still some differences. But as it sits, it does not have embarrassingly bad handling. The tires still give up too early but the limit seems higher than before because the tire stays more upright when cornering.