No, just the upright/knuckle assembly. The shock is a seperate unit.
To remove the upright:
1) Remove the axle nut. Do this before you take the wheel off. May require a breaker bar or impact wrench if the car has been sitting. Have a helper stand on the brake pedal to keep the wheel from turning. Once you have the axle nut off,
2) Remove the brake caliper (2 bolts).
3) Remove the upper pinch bolt that holds the shock to the upright and slide the shock out.
4) Unbolt the tie rod and ball joints.
5) Slide the upright w/hub off the axle.
Installation is the opposite of removal. You will have to reset your front toe if you swap axles due to variations in the castings. Torque the axle nut to 134ft-lbs. Don't use the technique that the VW guys do...just torque it to factory specs.
I can swap one out in about 20-30 minutes without rushing, but I've done it a few times, plus I always apply anti-sieze to everything when I put it back together to make it easier to service the next time.
I got two uprights from the boneyard for about $40 each. New hubs & bearings will run you about $125- $150 per side + labor, but you can spread that cost out over 12 races. If you have access to an arbor press, you can install the new hubs & bearings yourself and save on labor. It's pretty easy. Just follow the shop manual.
It can get a lot more expensive if you break one at speed. Not to mention the savings in your laundry bill for your underwear....if you get my drift
There are two common types of rear sway bar design. The most common (but cheapest) mounts the bar to the rear beam axle and then has adjutable links that connect to either the rear trailing arms, or to the chassis. The second type mounts the bar to the chassis and has links that connect to the axle. Both types use a simple traditional 'U' shaped sway bar. The adjustable type (if it has it) will consist of a series of holes on both 'arms' of the sway bar for fixed increments, or it will have a sort of sliding clamp arrangement for infinite adjustment. The adjustments for both types is the same....if you move the links towards the end of the bar you will soften the rear bar effect and reduce oversteer. If you move the links away from the ends, you will stiffen the rear bar effect and increase oversteer.
Yes, FWD is similar to a mid-engined car like an X1/9. Don't lift abruptly. You can breath off the throttle to tighten your line. On a track with a very tight corner you can sometimes throttle steer by lifting to help rotate the car, but once the car starts to rotate, punch the gas and hang on. One of the nice things about driving an ITC Honda is that they don't have much power, so the throttle is pretty much an on/off switch. The key to going fast is momentum and smoothness. If you scrub off speed, it takes forever to gather that speed back up...sort of like a Formula Vee.
The main difference between the Honda and your old Fiat is brake bias. The rear brakes on the Honda's don't work very hard and it isn't uncommon to get several seasons out of a set of rear shoes, where as your Fiat had better weight distribution so the rear brakes actually did some work on the car.
BTW - If the car was run with some success down there by the previous owner, chances are it already has all of the 'go fast' parts installed. The best thing you can invest in is seat time, seat time, and more seat time. Best of all, you've got a decent group of guys down there in SEDiv to run with and also give you some support/advice.
[This message has been edited by Greg Gauper (edited December 09, 2004).]