I wouldn't worry about the knuckles, unless you can see they are broken or wrong. Make sure the links are 9.86 inches, not 12 inches.

Looking at you pix, I can see you are going to be looking at rotors and pads very soon. You may be looking for hub/bearings while you are in there. Depending on resources.

 

Thanks guys,
The parts list I posted is basically a wish list over time. I'm going to start small wallet wise. LCA's and sway bar bushings first. As long as I don't find a cracked knuckle or anything else that is a safety concern, I will only change out those parts and see how it does. The car has 88K on the clock and I know in time I will need all of the parts, among other things.
How does the twin scroll turbo on these things hold up? Car runs great, the 5 speed is a little tough to shift, especially when cold. I'm hoping that is just a linkage issue. It's not that bad, just takes a little more effort than I'm used to.

 

donbrew, just noticed you're in Fredericksburg, VA. I'm in Williamsburg, VA and bought the car in Stafford from a little hole in the wall joint called Car Legends. Nice folks but they saw me comin'.

 

The turbo should hold up fine. Of course, there have been some that failed. Don't know if it was poor maintenance(oil or coolant change intervals), and/or hard driving with a tune, and/or just defects.

The shifter has adjustable rods under the center console. I adjusted mine, and it was much better, but still not perfect. It felt like if there was just a bit more pedal travel, it would be good. I had the master cylinder replaced and all is good now. That was at about the miles you now have. But mess with the adjustment first, here is a post with some instruction. https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/hhr-...87/#post343162

 

Maybe save up for some serious brakes, like this little kit from ZZP

Ecotec Parts ZZP 14.5 inch Front Brake Kit

 

LOL, yeah convince my wife: her, " do the current brakes stop you", me "yes", her "then why do you need new brakes", me "yes dear".
LOL not really. Pretty cool, in time looks like a great set up. Dollar watching at present.

 

Thanks man, I'll give that a shot.

 

FWIW, I like RockAuto and gmpartsdirect.com ...sometimes a few parts can be found from other sources for cheaper, but these are ending up as my go-to places. (just last month I replaced my struts, mounts, shocks, endlinks, etc - saving LCA's til it's less noticeable to budget)


Welcome to the site - you've found an excellent community with extremely relevant assistance provided by lots of very experienced folks. I'm not sure that I would still have mine if it weren't for the support I get here!

 

Thanks JSK, I just ordered both LCA's, brake rotors, and sway bar bushings for starters from GMPartsGiant.com. We'll see how well this tightens things up. I'm going to replace all of it with OEM stock parts eventually, I plan on keeping this buggy for a while, I kinda like it!

 

Scott buy the MOOG sway bar links they are much better than the GM ones.
Again the link length is 10" not 12"
Moog Sway Bar Link Kit K750012: Advance Auto Parts

The one part you should change out before you install the LCA is the rear bushing made by MOOG (problem solver). Ask Ole Blue about what happens in time with the OEM.
I looked up one for my SS and it say's it doesn't fit. Looks like it's only made for the FE1 and FE3 stamp steel arms.
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/m...792/10649217-P

It would be nice to know the ID of a replacement bushing vs the problem solver part.

EDIT: Just looked up the stock replacement rear LCA bushing by MOOG p/n K6698 on the Advance Auto web site. That number fit's all LCA stamp steel or Aluminuim. So why would it state that the K200792 bushing not fit the FE5 arm?