Hello All,
Just thought I'd pass on my recent experiences with restoring lower control arms. I'm sure some and or all of this info may be floating around somewhere, but maybe not quite like this. I've learned some valuable lessons that you may find interesting, obvious, helpful or downright laughable. No matter which way you slice it, these things suck. I knew that going in, but still, they really are a major pain. As far as I can tell, they offer no performance advantage save for connecting the torsion bars, ball joints and K frame together. You would only notice them if they were broken.
Having done this twice now, my main bit of advice would be to use a shop press when possible. Most of the of the work I did to my LCAs was done with a press. There are tools out there that I endorse using if a press is not available, but the press is the way to go. Makes quick work and requires very little effort. However, the one caveat to the press is that it can cause damage if not used right. I'll elaborate further down.
Assuming you've removed the pins and are ready to get the bushing out, take some time to think about an approach that will do the least damage. An air chisel is not easily controlled and can ruin the bushing cylinder in no time at all. I regretfully used an air chisel with a rather dull bit to try and vibrate/push the bushing lip in but ended up chewing up the top of the bushing cylinder pretty bad. I dressed the bit, but it just did more damage when it was sharp. This turned out to be no small thing because the damage made it difficult to get the new bushings in later, even with a press. Hand tools might have been a better bet - if you can get a sharp edge under the bushing lip and hammer or push it towards the center of the cylinder, then maybe use the chisel to fold it over, that might be the way to go. I'd also advise against using a Sawzall to try and cut the bushing shell because the outer shell is thin and you can end up cuttting into the cylinder, like I did. Not good!
The bushings eventually came out, but the inner shell needed to come off the base of the pivot. This can be accomplished with a hammer and chisel, working around the shell every 90º. Slides right off after a few blows if the divots are well placed and deep enough. The tough part for me was keeping the pivot in the vice squarely, since hitting it with a hammer tended to make it wanna jump out of the vice. The vice I was using had those little dimple pads to better grip the item being held. I cranked it in there pretty good to keep it from moving but it ended up making impressions of the dimples in the pivot! Use a rag at least, a block of wood or just a vice without the grip dimples. I used a file to knock down the damage and smoothed it a little more with crocus cloth.
Then, I took the arms to get sandblasted. Gives them a nice finish to paint over. However, the problem with blasting is that the abrasive material gets into the area where the bushing cylinder rotates and the little arm that stops the LCA from over rotating can freeze up. It took many blows with a plastic mallet and a healthy coat of WD40 on the nice clean arms to free them up. Not a biggie, but a little frustrating. Into the parts washer to get the sandy oil off and we're ready to continue.
Next was the pivots and bushings. Hindsight is 20/20 they say and that definitely applies here. Put the bushings in the arm first! It will require less work and will allow you a much more even and balanced surface when pressing them in. I mistakenly put the pivot pins in the bushings first. I was all excited - man those went in easy. I failed to realize how difficult it would be to get the combination bushing/pivot into the arm as a unit. I ended up having to find a pipe to fit around the pivot but just wide enough to cover the bushing lip. Here's where things got a little difficult. Since the bushing cylinders were so chewed up, it was difficult to get the bushings in straight. I had to keep setting up the press to get it right. One of them actually became slightly cocked in the bore and was a real bear to get it down right. I had to set the pipe off-center to get the lip to seat properly. All this added up to the lip becoming completely mangled and bent. Not a pretty sight, but it's in without any damage that would render it non usable. The other one went in without much hassle. I guess that's the way it goes sometimes.
A few small points: I was tempted to buy new everything for the project, but I decided to re-use some parts. I found stuff online called Rust Solve which actually works OK. The T-bar adjusters were covered with surface rust but cleaned up to like-new after being submerged in the solvent overnight. Same with the pivot pins.
After the sandblasting, there was still some oxidation on the control arm surface. The guys that did the blasting had said they went a little less aggressive because the sand was too abrasive and would have caused pitting and thus places for rust to form. So I plan to use some rust converter, which turns oxidation into a black primer type of substance that can be painted over.
I also considered using those AR Engr. LCA stiffening plates. I do have them on my other car, but they require welding which was not easily accessible. I reasoned that early cars like Scott Harvey's Valiant and Bob Tullius' Trans-Am Dart likely didn't have this mod, so it's prolly OK to roll the dice without 'em. Heck, those guys were rocking drum brakes!
As far as the difficult work, it's done. What's left is prime with zinc-type primer, paint, put in the new bumpers and refinished hardware and install it in the car.
Steve Dulcich did basically the same thing in this article, but naturally makes it look easy:
http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/tips ... to_01.html
He also put the pivots in the bushings first. Perhaps the pipe he was using was just right, unlike the one I had which was barely useful.
I'm aiming for a complete front-end rebuild/disk brake conversion for my '65 Valiant 100 in the next few weeks and this is the starting point. I've got most of what I need so the car won't be down for too long. I'm trying to take pics as I do this stuff, hopefully I can come up with a cohesive article when I'm finished.
Greg
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