Rebuilding a hk front end.

[rog]

Hi all, just wondering what is the best way to go about rebuilding a hk front end? There are kits available on ebay, but is the the best/most economical way to go? Or is it better to purchase parts individually? More than likely using hj stubs/discs/callipers too. Will end up with blank rotors for redrill down the track, but remember a post by Jeffa that it was better to rebuild the front before setting up, as parts can sag/move about when worn. Thanks for looking, please way in with knowledge & thoughts, cheers!

[Oldcol]

Best thing to do is strip and check everything as you go. While it might seem a great idea to just use new repro everything, some of it is shit, no other word for it. And you might be chucking away good original parts that will still outlast said shit by decades. If you're lucky enough to have an HK front end, get the stubs off and springs out and check the upper and lower inners for wear, if they seem pretty good but not quite 100%, you can undo the pivot bushes and swap them around and usually get a real good result. Ball joints, hard to check them off the car, so unless they look like new, you're stuck with replacement stuff. Or....check out Ebay for genuine NOS , or same at swap meets if you're not in a mad hurry.... they still turn up and that's what I've been doing for years, ever since there were a rash of failures in replacement junk. BJ's are the same from mid HD right through to WB series, so that gives you a fair spread of models to search for.

[monte]

I just rebuilt the HK in my new project ,got most of the stuff from Rare Spares ,the metal bushes seemed good quality and fit ,the Ball joints came from 2 different suppliers as I didnt want the shit made in china ,Don Bentley on here had a problem with one of his new bottom ball joints on his rod that just stripped the thread and the car fell on the road so be careful Rog what you buy ,the top ones dont matter so much but the bottom ones are pretty important .If you have a HK disc front end you can use the stubs as they are the same as HQ ect ,.the other thing is the later disc caliper as in WB ect are pretty large and the TAC want me to take a slice of the top control arm so they dont hit on full lock going over a bump ,like if you are not going to lower the front end it would not be a problem but I have about 50mm from the rubber stopper .They are a great front end as I have one in my rod that is on the road and the ride and handling are awesome,just let the steering go at 100kph and it goes as straight as a bullet ,only problem I find is with the Shortened Commodore rack there is 4.5 turns from lock to lock ,would love to put some electric power steering column in it ,hope this helps

[rog]

Cheers Gents, great advice. Will start stripping it next week to see what it needs. Is a hk front, but someone changed one of the top arms to a later ht/hg.. found a replacement hk arm, which got me thinking about rebuilding. Would like to wrap it up in a couple of weeks, so I can start setting up chassis etc.

[YellowUte]

Btt