Restoring Rusty

[Gregski]

Full Disclosure: Dummy over here bought twice the amount of bushings we needed, cause well I didn't know two come in a box!

Note The: Made in India, Made in China - - - Nice! gotta be good, ha ha so much for the ACDelco genuine parts

[Gregski]

also decided to buy new 2" drop front coil springs since we've been driving around on cut ones, a few years back I tried McGuphies 2" dropped coil springs and they dropped my front end 4" inches, not acceptable, so then I cut one loop off of my stock ones, which gave me a proper 2" drop and a stiff ride, so it's time to do it right, this time using Western Chassis parts, they are much better

[Gregski]

so we start with the Passenger Side as it has way too much negative Camber (big word alert) for some reason - and we are about to find out why

we make a few mental notes of how the upper control arm is aligned forward and aft and how much the bushings stick out if any

[Gregski]

we also mentalize how many alignment spacers there was in the front and the back, and lay they out nicely for roll call

if we put them back where we found them we will still need to get an alignment done but we will at least have a decent starting point

[Gregski]

I like to loosen the lower control arm first from the bottom of the frame using a jack to compress the spring, then you lower it gently and the spring comes right out

here I am resting the heavy lower control arm as it is still attached to the spindle, they get stuck after 40 plus years of service and need a little gentle persuasion

[Gregski]

here's the anatomy of the Driver Side lower control arm

[Gregski]

the upper control arm was next

[Gregski]

naturally this one is bound to fight you as well... like the lower one did on the other side, ha ha

[Gregski]

and the anatomy of the upper control arm

[Gregski]

SUPER IMPORTANT: Lessons Learned

Unlike the lower control arms the bushings in the upper control arms do NOT get pressed all the way in, this my friends may drive you a bit crazy if you don't pay attention to this fact. Don't ask how I know, ha ha

I suggest you take some measurements of your old setup before pressing these out so you have an idea of the width you are shooting for later

also I learned why they sell new upper control arms, as they tend to warp and shift and bend and twist

[Gregski]

Alright, now what?

[rusty76]

I’m anxious to see how this plays out. I’ve watched a few videos and seen guys replace the bushings before but never did it myself.

[hatzie]

The most exciting thing about replacing the lower A-Am bushings is the coil springs...

I usually use brandy new U-bolts on the lower arms.

Make sure the aligment studs on the upper mount are in good shape and replace em if there's any question.

Gm used some kind of green threadlocker on the crossmember to frame bolts... at least they did on my 85 and the 86 I cabbaged the front crossmember from.

[Gregski]

so first let me show you how to press out the bushing out of the upper control arm the hard way ie using the Harbor Freight 12 ton press

and just so you know I had to do this with a buddy system because a press is not the proper tool for this especially if you don't have any dies or metal props to wedge under to make the A arm level etc...

this will get one bushing out on one side...

[Gregski]

alright now to get the other side out I had to improvise and use a pipe that I happened to have to press the other bushing out

hard work and dangerous...

[Gregski]

and here is a tool I rented from AutoZone that made the process so much easier to both press in and remove the bushings from the upper control arms

EverTough part # 67045

Ball Joint / U-Join Press Set

I know it says Ball Joint on it but it does the bushings too

[Gregski]

in order to get the original rivitted ball joint off we had to use the 4" grinder aka the Death Wheel

at first I tried the trick of just grinding the middle just enough to cut the width f the stem, but that wasn't enough

[Gregski]

and so the grinding continued until finally we were able to use a punch and a 3 pound sledge to get the upper ball joint off

not pretty but it got the job done, the new replacement ball joints are bolt in

Fun Level = 2

[Gregski]

the lower control arm we pounded out the bushings after kinking them in a bit like so, at least on one side, maybe we used the press for the other side

[Gregski]

this is the lower control arm with the new ball joint pressed in, the ball joints are not rivitted to the lower control arms they just snap out and in using the shop press and some pipe or square tubing in our case as a jig

DISCLAIMER: note how the game changes when you go from a restore project truck to your daily driver, I did not paint these old control arms Roadkill style and just replaced the warn out parts and bolted them back up, shame on me

[Gregski]

a little stare and compare of my old stock coil spring which I cut one loop off of to lower the truck 2" and the new Western Chassis 2" propper drop coil springs, I really like these springs they fit good and the ride is great, you buy them through Performance Online and they are cheaper than directly from Western Chassis for some strange reason

[Gregski]

You know you got a Chevy when you buy your parts by the bucket, ha ha

these are new upper control arm shaft (assemblies) I just needed the metal shafts but NAPA only sold them as sets or kits which included the bushings, oh great, now I have three sets of bushings per side, lol

my passenger side shaft was mangled so I decided to replace both of them for evenability

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by Gregski

You know you got a Chevy when you buy your parts by the bucket, ha ha

these are new upper control arm shaft (assemblies) I just needed the metal shafts but NAPA only sold them as sets or kits which included the bushings, oh great, now I have three sets of bushings per side, lol

my passenger side shaft was mangled so I decided to replace both of them for evenability

Put the extra bushings in the individual bushing boxes and return em as if you bought too many... because you did.
They're all brand new quality parts so you're not cheating anyone.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by hatzie

Put the extra bushings in the individual bushing boxes and return em as if you bought too many... because you did.
They're all brand new quality parts so you're not cheating anyone.

hee hee, The Greg did just that, great minds think alike Hatzie

[Gregski]

here's a cautionary note and a heads up, remember those alignment spacers we talked about earlier for the upper control arm, well be careful when you are putting them back in as they like to rotate upside down and slip out from underneath, slippery little suckers

below I caught them in the act