Coilover install - did I screw up my strut bearing?

I'm in the middle of an Ohlin's installation and suspension refresh. About 4 hours in and the front is mostly disassembled. Tuning fork and LCA rubber was very much at end of life (1999 C2, 88k miles). Just dropped the front drivers side strut and the strut ball bearing (right below the top hat) came off the car in 2 pieces - see pic. I'm reusing the stock top mounts. Prior owner had top mounts, strut bearings, and washers replaced in late 2018 (8k miles ago) at the dealership with genuine parts. Figured I'd inspect and reuse those parts. Haven't dropped the passenger side yet.. Is this bearing supposed to be a 2-part assembly, or is this one toast? Even if it's supposed to be in 2 parts, the race was exposed to a less than clean environment, so would need to be cleaned and re-greased, I assume? If it is normal for this bearing to come apart, any suggestions on grease to use after cleaning?

That's normal...Clean it up and re grease it and it should be fine. I've done this without problems...

Let us know how the car feels after you�re done with the install. Suspension is next on my list.

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Okay cool, thanks dporto. I'm pleasantly surprised at that. The slippery slope is in full effect. I have new brake pads to do "while I'm in there" - found the rotors have a pretty healthy lip, so gonna add that. And apparently new caliper pins, springs, etc as one retaining pin is dead seized in the caliper. moving up to the big hammer shortly. The fun never stops. And I'll give my impressions when done...which may not be anytime soon at this rate.

It has to be awesome when you are done, because it's Christmas! Slippery slope is not a bad thing. It can be motivational! Are you planning any significant ride height changes? The standard Ohlins setup is supposed to be 25mm lower than stock. I'm waiting for delivery of new top mounts to start my Ohlins install. Can't wait!

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Go easy on that pin! Soak it good with PB's/Kroil/ETC... Heat with heat gun (not torch). And, if beating on it be careful not to mushroom the pin or hit the caliper... In case you don't already know it you'll quickly learn that aluminum and steel make strange bedfellows (or sticky mating surfaces)... Most of all take your time - once you break the initial bond it'll come apart pretty easily.

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Yes, it can be motivational - I'm just not going to add up the expenses. I'd rather just enjoy the car and not worry whether I'm putting "too much" into it. It's all worth it on the canyon drives. And I am looking for ~ 1" drop, MAYBE 1.5" front and back. I'm prepared to add adjustable rear toe links and front sway bar drop links if needed, but would rather not go so low that I have to go too far beyond that.

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Finally got it out! It initially moved about 1/2" but would go no further. I did soak it with PB and was eventually able to drive it backward just about 1mm, and worked it back and forth several times up to the initial point of resistance and work in the PB. Then I resorted to a bigger hammer and finally got it past the stuck point. Whew.

Good^^^ What can happen if the oxidation gets too heavy/deep is that the aluminum will start to crumble around the steel. As you have time, it's a good idea to address as many of these dissimilar metal connections as possible - there are many on the suspension. A major one on the C4/Turbo platform is the wheel carrier to strut bolt (M12) - one of these took me close to a week to remove (working on it for about 1/2 hr - 1 hr over 4 or 5 days). Most of these connections use micro encapsulated bolts, but if they've been removed previously and not coated with anti-seize the results can be frustrating. When re-assembling use anti-seize! Good Luck

Good advice, I'll break out the anti-seize. I've been surprised at the amount of corrosion on the suspension bolts in this car - figured it was because the car lived in the Northeast for several years, but the dissimilar metals corrosion makes sense. That may be as much or more of a contributor than the weather/salt/etc of the Northeast.

Road salt is a big factor as well! Added to the aluminum/steel interface its pretty brutal. My car was originally a Midwest car and now it's a Northeast car - the worst of both worlds... everything rusts/rots. You really have to stay on top of it. If you haven't yet, remove the plastic/rubber pieces that are just in front of the rear wheels, as well as the rear inner wheel well liners and clean out the "gutter" at the bottom of the wheel arch (where it meets the rocker panel). This is a notorious place where road dirt/salt builds up and sits and stays wet for long periods of time (the top of the plastic inner wheel arch is open and allows dirt, salt and moisture to run down into the bottom of the gutter area). There's a drain hole, but so much junk builds up that it gets clogged in a very short period of time... Good luck

One more thing added to the list - I'll clean out the "gutter" while I'm doing the rear suspension. Front went pretty well except for the brake pin issue on the drivers side - just waiting for brake parts to be delivered to wrap up the front and then on to the back. Thanks for the heads up on the gutter area

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I finished the suspension last week and realized I never addressed this. I installed the Ohlins at their recommended ride height and was surprised that it looked just about right as it was. But after looking at it for a week I decided to drop the front very slightly (3 revolutions of the lower ring - just under 1/4"). I failed to measure ride height before install so can't say how much lower it is now. Pic below is after this small adjustment to lower the front. I'm waiting to get into a specialist alignment shop and he's slammed, so may be another week or so until it's drivable. I did take it around the block right after install and about pooped myself - the rear toe was WAY in on both sides and the back was trying to crab all over the road - that was a short drive. Was too focused on keeping it on the road to evaluate the ride yet. Spent a couple hours getting it much closer with the string method. Haven't taken it back out since then, but the rear toe looks much better, so should be able to drive it to the alignment now...