I'm restoring the front end of my 64 and have removed, cleaned, and painted all components. I pressed out the ball joints carefully with a shop press. I think the lowers had never been done before, since the uppers were still riveted in. I then used a ball joint C clamp to press them back in. They went in snugly, but I can pop the one side out by hand. Once in place, it's snug. I can 't see any cracks or deformity in the hole. Now, I'm wonderig what to do. Short of replacing an otherwise perfect control arm, what are my options?

If I decide to tack the ball joint with a few welds, how do I protect the rubber boot?

Thanks.

If you do tack welds, do them from the bottom. If you do small welds, which is all you will need, the joint shouldn't get hot enough to damage the rubber boots. I assume the control arms are off the car. If so, you should be able to remove the boots just to be safe.

I'd get myself a new arm. Not reason to risk it with an inexpensive part.

I just put 3 tacks on mine and it was (and is) good for years. I don't drive it anymore but it was my daily driver for about 2 years and I never had a problem.

It was discussed not too long ago right here (http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31240). IMO, it's pretty much fail safe. If you look at how the suspension works, the weight of the car will try to pull the balljoint into the seat in the control arm, not out of it. Some people say that it could pop out if you hit a bump, but IMO, that could only happen if the wheel got hit quite forcefully from the top. Can't really see that it could happen unless the whole car is upside down, so you can rest assured that the weight of the car will keep it firmly in place.

I would still tack weld it, to keep the ball joint from wiggling in the seat when you turn or brake. A MIG will do the job without doing any damage to anything, as long as you just tack it.

You might check out the Moog "problem solver" lower ball joints. I think they are a little bigger on the OD. .010" ???
You should also measure the OD of the old ball joint and compare to the new one.
Tack welding a loose ball joint is fairly common. Not a problem if done correctly, IMHO. I did one on the 67 Camaro RS that I restored last year. Holding up fine !

Nate