i'm disassembling the front end on my '76 valiant so i can rebuild/restore the k member. all that's left is the upper control arms...i've got the nuts off (two broke) but i can't get the bolts out. do i have to preload the LCA or something? i'm stuck. thanks in advance

Robot,
Before you take the bolts out, be sure you raise the LCA with a floor jack and leave it there for the duration. That relieves the spring tension off the UCA. If it's like my '76 Duster, you'll then want to separate the upper ball joint stud from the steering knuckle. That's the hardest part, unless you have that special tool (or make your own). Go ahead and tie some wire from the knuckle to the frame to prevent it from dropping and stretching the brake hose. Take off the nuts and remove the bolts. You might thread a nut on a little way to cover the end threads and drive the bolt out with a soft-blow hammer.

Good luck,
Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Sleazy trick to releasing ball joint studs and tie rod ends and such without damage or special tools. Works 85% of the time (in my experience):

One, with two hammers, rap the steering knuckle/center link/whatever the thing is with the hole in it sharply from two opposite sides perpendicular (90deg angle) to the stud. Do it simultaneously, that is the hammers meet and whack the joint sharply from two sides at the same time.

Two, thread the castle nut upside down on the stud with the edge of the nut even with the top of the stud. Smack it smartly. It should just take one good smack, if you have to wail away on it repeatedly, you'll end up screwing up the stud/nut/threads.

"DW"

_________________

If it ain't broke, fix it!

i've already got the torsion bars out and the brake lines disconnected. i'm hoping to avoid separating the ball joint from the spindle cause i figured dropping the k member with both control arms connected to the spindle would be easier. is it at all possible to remove the UCAs without disconnecting the ball joint?

Yes it is possible to pull the upper control arms without breaking them loose from the knuckle but it might not happen on a car that is rusted together. If those upper bolts haven't been out of the car since it was new then you could be in for a lot of fun. There isn't a huge amount of room to work in which is why people usually drop the other parts first. In your case, why not just unbolt the knuckle from the LCA and drop the K member with the LCA's attached. They you'll have some room to get in there and work on those upper bolts. You really should remove the upper ball joint from the upper control arm before you remove the arms from the car. Once the arms are out of the car, they become difficult to hold well enough to apply the 300 ft-lbs necessary to remove rusted in ball joints!

alrighty...i think i've gotten the hint.
i'm off to another day of wrenching. tonight i'll let ya'll know how it went. thanks for the help.