I'm working on a 68 chevelle. I am having a very bad time with getting the upper & lower control arm bushings back in. I've tried heating the arms & freezing the bushings but just don't work even with the hyd. press. I am very concernd about crushing the arms becouse as you know thay are not the strongest. Could you all out there help a back yard macanic solve this problem. bud

take it to a shop and let them do it for you with their bushing press and just make sure that you use something else to support the arm so it dosent deform it..I'm working on a 68 chevelle. I am having a very bad time with getting the upper & lower control arm bushings back in. I've tried heating the arms & freezing the bushings but just don't work even with the hyd. press. I am very concernd about crushing the arms becouse as you know thay are not the strongest. Could you all out there help a back yard macanic solve this problem. bud

I just did mine and the task was pretty easily accomplished with an el cheapo ball joint press (c clamp type) from Harbor Freight. I made sure the control arm holes were sanded out (I'd used POR15 and got it in the holes) and lubed the bushings/holes. They went in pretty easily.

I cut some heavy (1.5 inch) angle iron in a length equal to the inner spacing between the ears of the upper and the lower arms. The piece is then placed between the ears when pressing in the bushings. This kept them from "pinching" when the bushings were pressed in. If you're having problems, take th earms, bushings and the iron spacers to a machine shop. They'll do it cheap.

For the lower A-Arms use the Ball Joint press. You can borrow one from AutoZone that's pretty nice. If the part is painted cover the pieces of the press with some duct tape. Place sockets along side the hole between the ears to prevent them from bending (and they will very easily).

Knowing how easy it is to bend the ears on both uppers and lowers, I would do whatever I could do to do it myself very carefully. If you have a machine shop that you really, really trust, bring it there.

First of all, of the 15 or so machine shops that I know of in our area, not a single one, including me, does control arm bushings on a regular basis. I dont care how many presses and fixtures you have made, they are a pain in the donkey ! Same goes with U-joints.
Because of that fact, when we do get dumb enough to decide to do some, usually for a real good customer, I absolutely assure you they will not be "cheap" by any means. The last set we did we charged $30 per bushing and cussed the entire time. The worst ones are the control arms that are all painted or powder coated and the owner expects you to do it without a scratch :( I am getting ready to do the ones on my Wife's Riviera and I do not look forward to it a single bit !
Just my opinion,

A suspension shop would be a better bet than a machine shop. Suspension shops better know how and should be doing it on fairly regular basis. If not you went to the wrong shop. Had mine done at a suspension place, $10 to R&R a bushing or ball joint. So $30 for the lca and $20 for a uca, although I did the uppers myself.

Thanks to all of your input. With these ideas of how to do it. I believe i can now do it with more confidence.
Bud

Now that the lower ones are done. Lets get to the upper control arms. Again becouse of how thay are made they wont fit into the press propally to press out does anybody have any ideas on how to do the upper ones besides taking them to a shop? I really dont trust just anybody.If you all know what im talking about?

Take a drill and drill holes thru the rubber around the bushing until you can get the rubber out. I've seen people light the rubber on fire and burn it out. That's a mess and takes forever unless you have a cutting torch set up and can really put the mongo to it . Once that's done take a chisel and beat the bushing inward some which will break it loose from the control arm. At that point you can knock it out. You gotta whack the crap out of it. It's not that big a deal.

I clamped the arm in a vise and used an air chisel with a bull point on it. Popped each one out, no problem. That's how you would do it if the arm was still on the car and you were just replacing the bushings. I even had one front end mechanic tell me he used to touch the shells of the new bushings to a grinding wheel to make them easier to install. Don't know if I'd do that but these old guys usually know their stuff. They've changed a thousand of these things ON THE CAR without using a press.