Hey guys, just wanted to make sure i was doing things right before i go and replace these things. I am swapping from an SBC to a BBC so the springs are getting changed. Now if i am right you need to jack the car up in the air and take the wheel off, but they put a jack stand or something under the spindle so it doesn't come flying out later on. Then you disconnect the upper control arm from the top of the spindle and lower the spindle and lower control arm assembly till the spring comes out. Now in doing this you need a spring compressor or something like that so the springs dont come flying out and hurt things correct? Just want to make sure i am on the right track in all of this.

Oh yeah, and i am sure you have to disconnect the shocks in there somewhere. Any help is welcome!

Daniel

When we did our '70, I'm going from memory, but it was something like this:

1) Jack up car onto a jackstand

2) Loosen the castle nut on the spindle, but not all the way to the point of being off - leave it partially on still with a few threads left.

3) Take a BFH and tap/strike/beat the spindle until the spring compression forces it off. This will happen with a very large BANG and cause you to jump.
The nut being loosened allows movement but keeps it contained.

4) Take your floor jack and raise the LCA until the force is off the castle nut, remove the castle nut and then slowly lower the arm until the sping is expanded.


There's a good section here about this process as well - I have it saved somewhere too. I followed it pretty much verbatim and it worked fine. Just know that there is a LOT of force on that spring and a heavy chain thru the spring and around the jack isn't a bad idea at all. This is also NOT a job that should be done with open beers. Save them for later - these springs are very capable of removing large sections of your body!

The replacement is pretty much the opposite process, just without the BFH...

http://216.178.81.108/forums/showthread.php?t=386527&highlight=coil+spring+install

this how i did mine. worked great.

david

Take the shock out first...