Well, I have my complete front end kit from PST and I'm pretty much ready to start digging in. The only component I don't actually have is the centerlink, but the local O'Reillys has one in stock and I should be able to pick it up on Tuesday, which is the day that I'll start on this project.

SO, I've NEVER done this before. I'm kinda nervous about it :( , and I actually had a fellow car buddy tell me that there is NO WAY that I can do this project in my driveway without a lift or power tools. He then admitted that he's never rebuilt a front end either. However, I take this as a challenge. :mad: He says I can't, I say watch me.

I have a reasonable amount of experience/talent. I've built a couple of motors, swapped numerous trannies and rear-ends and feel like I'm a pretty fair tuner. But, I've just never done front ends.

So, what do tools and equipment do I need? I have all the basic hand tools, but that's about it. I don't have any brake tools, coil spring compressor or Pickle fork. I guess I need to check around and borrow some.

Anything else? What about a torque wrench? A good friend did this stuff for a living for a few years and said he never torqed anything down :rolleyes: , but I see specs in my Haynes manual, so I'm guessing that it would be wise to have one.

What are some tips and tricks that you guys have learned along the way? What are some tough things that I'm going to come across? I'm gonna try to work about 3 hours a day for 3 days. Is approx. 9 hours enuff to do the job for a first-timer?

I have access to a couple of presses at work, so hopefully I can get the old bushings out and new ones in without having to pay someone for it.

BTW, I already have all my components painted and the polygraphite bushings are separated from their shells and sleeves. I have some Amsoil synthetic grease ready to lube them up on installation day.

I'm excited. Are there any good links that detail the process? Any and all help would be appreciated! graemlins/waving.gif

This is a down to earth,basic instructions for replaceing your front end. Print it out, it's good information to have.


http://www.employees.org/~redneck/carstuff/front_procedure.htm


Rocky

Rocky, you da man! That is exactly the link I was lookin for. graemlins/hurray.gif I saw it quite a while back when, you guessed it, I wasn't needin' to rebuild my front end. :rolleyes: Now that I needed it, I couldn't find it.

Anywho, I printed it out and I'm goin to take a shot at this. Thanks so much! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

A couple of "tricks" I've learned involve getting the bushings out of the lower A arms. I usually heat up the inner sleeves until I can slide them out. Some guys drill holes throught the rubber until they can push it out. Either way it makes getting the bushings out SO much easier. After you get those out, you can use a chisel to collapse the outer shell and pull it out. I have an air chisel but YOU powered works too.
To get the new one in, you need something to support the sides on the A-frame. I have used a nut and bolt wedged in there but it doesn't work that well. I saw a tip in one of the magazines that said to use a piece of exhaust tubing. Slice part off so it looks like a "C" and make sure it's long enough to fit snugly in between the "ears" on the A-arm. Now you can press the bushing in without fear of collapsing the ears. Anti seize is your friend here. You can rent/borrow a press from AutoZone. Kind of like a giant C-clamp with various adapters. It will come in handy for the bushings and the ball joints.
Good luck, have fun and don't be surprised if it takes more than 9 hours. I did the B body brake swap at the same time I put in the PST kit. I think I put ne urethane motor mounts in at the same time. All that took about 2 days with 2 guys(me and 1 other) who have done this for years.

Jeff

I've never had great luck with the lower arm bushings. They seem to defeat me. The last two times I did it, I took the lowers and parts to a chassis shop and had them press the lower bushings and ball joint out and in. Ran around $15.00 an arm. Maybe it's just an age thing.

you can do it no problem. good luck!

I went through my suspension 2 years ago. Some things I would do different would be to add additional support to the lower control arms. You can weld on additional bracing to the area beneath the lower control arms. This will lessen the chances of this area failing.
I would have selected different coil springs. I am using MOOG 6330 front springs which may be too stiff for my application. The Chevelle engineer (Fred Al??) has a great website to help you decide this.

I was lucky, my friend's buddy has a machine shop and it cost me a 12 pack to have my bushings pressed. But I suggest that you just spend the small amount to have someone press the old one's out and the new ones in, it's not worth the hassle to do all the drilling and heating. we are not in the stone age anymore, and it's well worth the money to do it right and not have to do bushing installations with a big hammer and a drill.


Rocky

So, how important is it to use a torque wrench? A friend, that has done this for a living, says he's NEVER torqued any of this stuff down.

Hmmmm.....the more I think about it, the stupider that question looks. redface.gif :rolleyes: I'm gonna see about borrowing one. I mean, it is my steering and suspensions, right? smile.gif

People have been doing front end repair since cars were invented without using a torque wrench!

But...............there is a reason that an engineer has a torque spec for these parts, Let's just say what if you over torqued your ball joint way too much, took a corner too hard, and the ball stud failed because it had too much stress on it?

Odds are slim, but stranger things have happened!
No I don't think it was a stupid question, but one thing is for certin, use a torque wrench and you will never need to worry if it was done right or not! I used a torque wrench on mine.

If you have any problems or questions with anything on your front end rebuild feel free to email me. I do have one suggestion for you, remove the center link and tie rod assembly out as a unit, so when you reassemble the new parts you can use a tape measure and have a refrence to put the new one's together. It will make the trip to the shop to have it aligned a lot more pleasent than if you just tossed the new parts in!

Good Luck on the rebuild, I had a lot of fun doing mine.


Rocky

Hey-I'm gonna stick my a$$ out there for a minute. Torque wrenches have their place and Chevy went throught the trouble of giving everything a torque spec but truthfully, the only time mine comes out is for bottom-end stuff and cylinder heads(although my boss will say we always torque everything). I have rebuilt hundreds of front-end without ever using a torque wrench. Even an amatuer should be able to "feel" what 80 ft.lbs. is give or take a few-it's pretty damn tight. Also you'll notice that those are not exact specs as the it shows "torque to 80 ft lbs then tighten to next hole that lines up nut and stud" Don't worry about it-when in doubt crank it down a little more---EXCEPT FOR BEARINGS.

Another thing you might want to do is wait until the car is off the jackstands, and sitting at level ride height, before you finish tightening the bolts that go through the bushings. If not, the bushing rubber will be twisted and under a constant load at regular ride height, and can lead to premature failure.

Jim

I agree. you can do it. A floor jack, jack stands, a 3 lb hammer, and a torque wrench. I did mine using the PST polygraphite kit. I had need been into a frontend of a car before. Just take your time.

And chevyjim is right... wait to do the torque after the car is setting with all ofur wheels on the ground. The first time I did mine, I yorqued everything with the wheels in the air, and the darn thing would'nt settle down in the front end. Once I heard about this, I raised it back up and lossened everything, set it back on the ground and re-torqued it. It's been great ever since!

One more thing.. I made the mistake of bragging to a buddy on how well it went, got myself suckered inot do the front end of his 66 ford yesterday. Ford frontend what a nightmare compared to the Chevy frontend. But with a good manual and persistance, the ford is rolling again!

tas

Thanks for the all the kind words guys! Nice tip about the final torque, btw.

The TC'er that is supposed to help me, jmhardin, has a torque wrench, so I'm good there. We were going to dig into it today, but something came up. :( So, I guess I'll try it on Tuesday as originally planned.

Almost forgot, I picked up a TRW centerlink at Advance Auto Parts today. It came with a lifetime warranty and was just under $34.

The only other draglink I could find at the other parts stores, with a similar warranty, was a Moog for $60+.. I'm glad I shopped around!

I'm going to take it to work tomorrow and sandblast it. Give it a good shot of ceramic paint and it should be acceptable. Also, I completely greased my bushings and slipped them back in their shells. MAN, freezing them makes it soooo much easier!

I can't wait till Tuesday. smile.gif

Justin, how did it work out?

I have to tackle the frontend very soon too, so I'd love to hear how it all went.

Thanks,

Olli

Some other things to do before you disassemble the front end.Mark the control arms for left and right.Beleive it or not you can mix them up.Also make a note of the shims on the upper control arm bolts and put them back in the same place to make your alignment go easier.
Dennis68,I agree. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Justin,

After having done 3 suspension rebuilds myself, I suggest sure you follow jpete's advice about the C shaped spacer for installing the bushings. If you don't, you will almost surely bend the control arms. The advice about removing the center link & all tie rods together so you can assemble the new ones is also a must in my book. Be careful installing springs, even with a spring compressor, as it's a dangerous job.

You will love the "new" feel when you drive it.

Referring to the link Rocky posted (http://www.employees.org/~redneck/carstuff/front_procedure.htm), I would not leave step 25 until the end. Rather, I would insert it at several locations throughout the procedure - ie: steps 5, 10, 15, 20, etc.
graemlins/beers.gif

Even though I am a certified mechanic. I did this to my 66SS in my garage and used only jack stands on the frame to raise the car.

I didnt do anything that the average do it yourselfer couldnt do. And I dont have any powertools like air to remove parts. You should have bet your friend that you do it without those things.

Chris.

Wow, old topic! Yes, I'm done. Well, sort of. :rolleyes:

Since finishing up a few months ago, I've been on vacation, had a death in the family and I'm currently working 7 days a week for the unforseeable future.

I've taken her for a few test drives, but I still don't have an alignment yet. I honestly can't tell much difference yet, but that might be due to the fact that I don't have a front sway bar on her. She's like an elephant on roller skates. :D

For those wanting to know...it was THE nastiest, hardest thing I've done to my car. I got some help from TC'er "jmhardin" on the driver's side, which was the first side I worked on. It took me a couple of weeks, just on that side, working a few hours here and there.

Once I figured out the little tricks to it, I drove the car back to my house (we had been at jmhardin's originally) and did the passenger's side by myself in one weekend. It went so much smoother, cuz I actually knew what I was supposed to do. Still dirty and nasty, tho. I LOVE getting dirty, but man, stuff that had been on there literally 34 years didn't like comin' off.

I waited till the car was back on the ground before tightening everything up, however, someone pointed out that this might not matter with polygraphite bushings since they aren't bonded to the shell. I did it anyway to be safe. The car sits up a bit higher than before. I don't think it's going to settle. I don't care. It's over. smile.gif

One thing I keep putting off is that when I broke everything down, there are these little gaskets that go between the backing plates and the spindle. They disintegrated on me. If I can ever get around to it, I'd like to tear the brakes back down, put a dab of silicone around the spindle to act as a gasket (I think it's for some kind of noise reduction) and replace one wheel bearing.

The car is running with open headers right now and I'm looking to buy some new mufflers for it. Once I get them delivered, I'll see about resolving that gasket issue and drive up town for an alignment and some exhaust work. If anyone has any more questions holler.

BTW, yep, I should have bet my friend. I did it all with only jackstands and NO power tools. I took the stuff to work and pressed out/in the bushings myself and did all the sandblasting and painting. I got good advice from you guys, some help from a friend (jmhardin) and I think it turned out good. Just need to get piddly stuff done and put some miles on her.

OH YEAH, the one bad thing. I had to remove my innner fenderwells. They were plasic. I say WERE. They are trash now. I'm not sure if I like the looks of an inner fenderless car. It does make it easier to get to stuff in the engine compartment, tho. :D

old topic indeed ...BUT, since it has been "bounced" to the top, I'll add 1 comment. About torque wrenches, understand that there is a difference between tightening a nut/bolt with a 1/4 vs 3/8 vs 1/2 in drive for example ... The bigger the wrench, the more torque you can manufacture ..., so, especially if you are using a larger wrench, exercise some good judgement, and, if in doubt, and when applicable, use a torque wrench. Too much torque can break or strip bolts and that is usually a major PITA. Too much torque on wheels can induce rotor to warp... Too much torque on valve covers ( although we use no t-wrench here ) will induce leaks... Its a touch sometimes ....