I've read in some posts that it's difficult to change the front suspension (control arms, coil springs, etc) in a car with no engine because there is not enough weight to compress the springs. I know I've seen pictures in posts where people have done this.

How should I do it? Coil spring compressor? Should I just get a bunch of buddies to stand on the frame while I jack up the control arm? What happens when one of them staggers off the frame while I'm compressing it?

By the way, the ceiling to too high to wedge a board between it and the frame as has been suggested.

Thanks.

use a spring compressor. if u don't want to buy one go to napa. my local napa requires a $50.00 deposit. you get the $50.00 back when u bring the tool back. its the safest way and i would still recommend a chain around the control arm just in case. if something goes wrong and the spring flies out,you don't want to be in it's way.

good luck and be safe.

mike

Like Mike said with no engine get the spring compressor from the auto parts store. Remove the shock and run a safety chain through the a-arms and coil spring just to be sure. Used them a couple of times, not that hard.

Jonathan

I did this very same thing on my 66SS when the engine was currently out of the car. I used Hotchkiss springs so im not sure if that would have any bearing on installation compaired to stockers.

Did our 70 without the motor in it...

I put a floor jack under the arm and backed off the nut until there were about three threads left, then persuaded it with a 5 lb hammer. After it popped loose, the floor jack held it so I could just lower the arm down and take the spring out. That was the painless easy part. Didn't even have to use and juice on the nuts ahead of time.

On the return trip, I compressed the spring partway with an Autozone compressor (WHAT A PAIN!) and then had a few buddies (4 to be exact) stand on the frame while I raised the arm the rest of the way back up with a jack. I couldn't get the thing compressed fully with the widget and then be able to remove the widget once the spring was in, so I did it enough to get the spring seated and the arm starting back up, then had the guys stand in the engine bay as I removed the compressor with the floor jhack underneath. It worked, but I know there's a better way. Our garage is finished, so no way to put a vertical beam from the frame to the ceiling...

One guy here, forget who, actually removed the lower arm completely and put a 1" plywood piece over the jack, put the arm on top of it and then the spring on top of that. The plywood protected the powder-coated A-Arm... Then, he jacked the whole wad up, compressing the spring and then bolted the arm back in. Sounds smooth, but I suspect it could be a little unstable on a lightweight / engineless front end.

Save your dentalwork, you skull and your car and put a STRONG chain around the whole thing when you're working with it. I've seen those springs REALLY take off and they WILL kill someone if they hit 'em!

here's how i did it.
http://forums.performanceyears.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&f=5916037811&m=284105788
david

DOH! Use the spring compressor upside down... of course!

MAN - THAT would have worked a lot easier!!!
Well, maybe next time...!

I just finished rebuilding the front end on my '70 Chevelle with the engine out (bushings, springs, shocks, tie rod ends, etc.). I rented a spring compressor from Autozone and fought with the #@* thing for 2 days. Finally figured it out. You take both hooks/blocks off the threaded rod of the spring compressor, run the rod down through the shock absorber hole in the top of the upper control arm, work one of the hooks/blocks up through the hole in the lower control arm and into the inside of the spring, start the thread through the block, snag the hooks on a coil and suck it up from the top.

Once the lower control arm is free, you can release the pressure on the spring, unthread the rod from the hook/block, slip the rod out the top of the upper control arm, and spring will drop right out.

To install the new springs, I reversed the process. Sucked the spring up from the upper control arm (make sure you have the opening in the upper end of the spring lined up properly around the round flange inside the upper control arm and the end of the coil on the bottom lined up so it fits in the "dip" in the lower control arm). Once the spring is compressed, raise the lower control arm with a floor jack until the thread from the ball joint shows through the bolt hole in the spindle, torque the castle nut, insert the pin, lower and remove the floor jack, unthread the compressor rod from the hook/block, slide the rod out the top of the upper arm and work the hook/block out the hole in the bottom of the lower control arm and you're done !!

Borrowed a compressor from Advanced. Used the upside down method from the shock hole through the frame. Made sure I sprayed large washers and the shaft liberally with WD-40. Maybe because the spring had compressed all of these years, but it didn't take much to relieve the tension from the LCA. Make sure you have the hooks up high enough. For me, it was the last "row" going up, that the hooks would fit in. The springs that came out were quite bent. The new ones are not. That should be a challenge, but I have a large pry bar to seat them into the LCA going up.

BTW..After the tension is off the spring, it helps to remove both the upper ball joint nut and the lower. The LCA is at an odd angle and can't be removed without the spindle disengaged from the upper ball joint. Make sure you put a jack under the spindle before removing the upper nut.

All in all, it went better than I expected. Thanks for the info.

Ed

I was flipping channels that other day and came across Trucks!. They were showing a section of the Copperhead. He was talking about the front springs and how he assembled it with a bare frame. He had sandbags and bench weights piled on the front crossmember. Here is a link to the show's website. Maybe you can find the episode I am talking about and reference it.

http://www.truckstv.com/