I have begun rebuild - I think that I may be getting in over my head. The shop manual states to support the front ent by the K member, is this necessary? I have it supported by the frame rails behind the front wheel wheels.

Geoff

_________________
Geo
1964 Dodge Dart GT
Ebay Purchase - $1569.00
Rebuilt transmission - $1700.00
PST Brake and suspension rebuild/shocks - $600
Fact that I have a long way to go - Priceless
This is begining to hurt!

I should be okay, just check and make sure that you can still remove the torsion bars easily.

Is it on jackstands or blocks?

_________________
82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

Jack stands. Should I go ahead and replace the pitman arm and idler arm also. If memory serves me correctly, the pitman arm should be a huge pain to remove. Do I need a special tool for the upper balljoint or the strut arm? They appear to have non-standard nuts and things on them.

Thanks for the help.

Geoff

_________________
Geo
1964 Dodge Dart GT
Ebay Purchase - $1569.00
Rebuilt transmission - $1700.00
PST Brake and suspension rebuild/shocks - $600
Fact that I have a long way to go - Priceless
This is begining to hurt!

The upper balljoints require a special socket to remove them. You need to first take the control arms out of the car and place them in a vice as they are VERY tight. When you start them make sure that you don't crossthread, it is really easy to do and it ruins the control arm. It takes a special puller to remove the pitman arm also. Removing the torsion bars, that takes a special tool also (don't use vice-grips).

You can probably rent these at your local Advance Auto or Autozone.

Be sure to come back if you have anymore questions. It is really not as bad as it seems.

_________________
82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

Be careful with the vise - there's some important geometry in the upper control arms, and they're only stamped steel. It's easy to crush or bend them in a big vise.

Unless the arms are already out, I'd rather use the car to hold it while putting the whammy on that balljoint. Much more secure than any vise in my garage. Oh, and use PB Blaster or your favorite penetrating/creeping oil ahead of time.

If the arms are out, you might try using a round bar through the bushings. Better yet, a larger bar through the holes where the bushings used to be. Then clamp the bar in a vice.

Why am I thinking about that commercial for the cordless drills, where the drill flips the car during a tire change?

_________________
"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

Oh My, I think I am over my head. I will let you know if I need a tow truck. I will have to order inner tie rod ends, pitman arm and idler arm to complete the install. While I'm waiting for them, I am continuing the disassembly. Yipes!

_________________
Geo
1964 Dodge Dart GT
Ebay Purchase - $1569.00
Rebuilt transmission - $1700.00
PST Brake and suspension rebuild/shocks - $600
Fact that I have a long way to go - Priceless
This is begining to hurt!

It's not that bad really. Just take your time and make lots of notes and photograph everything from every angle. If you don't have the Factory Service Manual get one.

_________________
David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

One step at a time. It looks imposing because there's so much to do. If this bunch can't get you through (their shop rate is certainly a bargain ) then just bury the vehicle in your yard and pretend it was never here. No!, just kidding... Some of the sharpest Mopar minds in the country ( and hemisphere for that matter) are on the other end of this little box, so before you smoosh your fingers or hit yourself in the jaw, check in, ask questions. The only stupid questions are those that don't get asked. Shucks, you might find a fellow Dart owner right around the corner. Hey, it's possible! RICK

_________________
If you can't be good, at least be colorful

Where Oh Where Does One Track Down Such A Golden Book?

We (a couple of complete novices) just completed our complete front end rebuild on the 72 Dart. It's unbelievable how much better it rides! Here are a couple of things that stand out:

FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL...FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL...FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL. Couldn't have done it without it. Spent about a week reading and rereading while looking at the front end. It took a week before we really understood what was going on under there. The first couple of days were filled with comments like, "what the heck is a torsion bar and how come there aren't any springs under there".

Be VERY organized. We're not naturally hyper organized but we were paranoid we would screw it up and forget what went where. We laid out all the big parts in relative order next to the car. All the small parts, we bagged and labeled. We put left side parts on the left, right on the right, etc. Things that seem simple now were almost overwhelming so it helped to have things like the old tie-rod assemblies laid out and all we had to do was duplicate it with the new parts screwed in the same distance.

The guys here recommended http://www.espo.com and we can now recommend them. Good folks. We splurged and got the tool kit and although it was expensive, it was $ well spent. We don't have an extensive tool collection, so I don't think we could have done it without them.

The guys also recommended doing the complete front end job since we would have almost everything apart anyway. Good advice.

Leave the upper control arms in the car while removing the upper ball joints. Also, put them in first before installing ball joints.

We bought a small cold chisel to get the lower control arm bushing sleeves out. That's how the FSM said. That was a lot of work!

I have a small (12 ton) inexpensive hydralic press at work (totally unrelated to automotive work). It really came in handy as we were able to do all the pressing work ourselves.

Pressure wash as much as you can before starting.

Get a professional alignment. We thought our eyeball job was close. It wasn't.

If the three of us rookies can do it, anyone can.

_________________
'72 Dart w/supersix, Grandfather, Father & Son project

Yes I spent 18 years making my living under an alignment rack, which makes that sort of work come easy to me, but I can also say that if you can buy rent or borrow the few special tools that car takes, its really not that "bad" of a job to do. Too bad youre not closer; I'd trade; I'd do your front end rebuild if youd finish removing the dash to get to the heater box in my 97 Ram 1500. OOh, talk about a PITA... and I dont see anything special about the core, but there must be as the cheapest I could find it was $100! I dont remember too many heater cores that cost much over $35 in the not too distant past.

The original hard copies appear with some frequency on Ebay and most of them are available on CD-Rom from various sources. Here's one.

http://www.moparmanuals.com/mopar/main/home.asp

_________________
David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Good luck Reddart64,

I am about to do a complete front end rebuild myself, and like yourself, I am "Dreading" the ordeal. I am tired of putting new tires on the car every 3 months.... hehe. Anywho, good luck, hopefully by March or April, I will have it done. I will continue to read these posts, You guys obviously know your stuff!! Need to keep this old convertible on the roads for cruise nights!!



Cheers

Condy

aka 64canadianvertible

What type of tool do I need to remove the upper control arm ball joints? Are they pressed in or is it screwed in, I can't tell by looking at the replacement one.

Thanks,
Geoff

_________________
Geo
1964 Dodge Dart GT
Ebay Purchase - $1569.00
Rebuilt transmission - $1700.00
PST Brake and suspension rebuild/shocks - $600
Fact that I have a long way to go - Priceless
This is begining to hurt!

They Are Threaded. (Weird Looking Eh?) You Will Need To Purchase/Rent The Proper Socket.

Search The phrase: Balljoint Socket