I recently bought a 68' chevelle malibu. Like anybody elese i wanted to see what kind of power it really had. During the drive i hit a pothole and lost one of the bushings in the upper a-arm. I have bought a new set, but i can not figure out how to get the bolts out that hold the arm to the frame. I was told that they were splined and to be very careful when removing them. Can anybody help me with this problem.

They are indeed splined, you can't turn them. You have to just push them out.

I had a heck of a time getting them out on my '69. Had to make a clamp and really put some pressure on the bolts then smack them with a hammer to shock them out.

Try a C-clamp and lots of penatrating oil.

Tim.

I know this is a silly question. Did you remove the coil before attempting the removal the spline bolts?

Glenn

I was tearing down the whole front end, so, yeah. smile.gif

If you leave weight on the suspension, you won't need to. Put a low jackstand or a solid block under the shock( or beteen the shock and ball joint, careful for your grease zerk). Once the upper arm is off the frame, the spindle and brakes are gonna be free to move around so don't leave the car sitting on the tire.

That seems safe to me but I haven't done it. Stop and think it through before doing what I say. smile.gif


EDIT: Actually, I don't know if you can really get the bolts out without being able to lift the arm up. You'll have to seperate the ball joint for that. That'll leave you with the floating spindel/brakes anyway. I don't remember, for sure, though.

Tim.

I just finished rebuilding the front susp. on my 72. Use a 6" c-clamp and socket larger than than bolt head. once ball joints are loose lift a-arm and place socket over bolt head,place one end of c-clamp on engine side of bolt and other on socket and start tightening clamp. It only took about 2-3 turns to break it loose. The splines at bolt head are only about 2-3 mm long. I protected the threaded end of the bolt with a piece of carpet. (it helps if you let liquid wrench work overnight).

Just did this last week. Actually much easier than I thought. Put jack under lower arm. Break loose uper ball joint with good whack with a hammer. Spring won't fly out it is held by lower ball joint and shock. Do the C- clamp thing. They came out so easy I thought I must have broken something. Took twenty minutes to get the arm off. I have a 67 and on drivers side the steering rod is in the way and on passenger side the headers are in the way. A shop can press in new bushings for about $15.

Good luck.