Hello,
As some of you know, when I restored my car, I skipped doing a front end rebuild.
Well, I took the car in to a shop today for a front end alignment, and got the news that it needs to have the lower control arm bushings replaced first. Does anyone know if these bushings are machine-pressed in, or is this something I can handle with small hand tools?
In any case, I guess I will keep it assembled until after Dan and Marie visit here on Aug 24.
rogerh wrote:In any case, I guess I will keep it assembled until after Dan and Marie visit here on Aug 24.
...or the 23rd, Roger, if you're taking it to that car show you mentioned! Marie said she would actually like to go, if that works for you, but we're good either way.
Can't get her to wear a poodle skirt, but I'm sure she'd be happy to demonstrate your swivel seats!
Roger, these bushings do need pressed out and in. You can buy a complete front end rebuild kit from Andy Bernbaum. I rebuilt my SF two years ago and I believe the kit was about $275.
I do have a press and a ball joint socket so was able to do all the work myself. Of course a front end alignment is necessary after you are done.
Tom
Thanks for the input. I am not lucky enough to have a press!
In the Shop Manual I have, they say use an arbor press, or a hammer and Tool C-3557, the tool being a brass drift.
Of course sensibility says rebuild it all while you're at it, but I simply can't afford it. I located four bushings in my garage, purchased years ago for a 1960 Dodge I had at that time. I never installed them in the Dodge...in fact I sold the Dodge to Merle Wolfer. The parts are the same for the Plymouth, if Bernbaums website information is accurate.
Already having new bushings, you can take the lower control arm off the car, leaving the ball joint in it, and take the arm to someone with a press. Have them remove and replace the bushings.
Be sure to back off the torsion bar and remove it from the control arm before taking the arm apart.
Well, I wasn't under the car for very long today when I realised the front end needs a total rebuild. The upper balljoints are worn out. Back in '94 when I bought the car (sight unseen) I ordered up a front-end rebuid kit from Bernbaum. That kit has sat on the shelf these past 14 years. I will now look for a shop that can do this job, as it is beyond my capabilities to install. I'd include a picture or two , but I don't know how.
Latest news:
As reported earlier, I got the front end parts from Andy Bernbaum's back in 1994.
Only just now have I wanted to use them. I stopped in to the local shop this am, because I hadn't heard from him for few days. There I learned that Bernbaum had sold me the wrong lower balljoints...I need the ones that screw in, so the mechanic is searching all over for the correct balljoints.
Had I had dealt with the front end rebuild back in 1994, perhaps I could have gotten a refund from Bernbaum, or exchange of parts. Now it's way too late.
I was thinking of picking up and keeping on the shelf a new fuel pump. But how to assure that it is the correct part? Actually, the bigger challenge has been to FIND one for a 361. Napa and National can't find them in the computer, and my pal at Pierce County Transportation can't find an actual one either.
I hesitate to go back to Bernbaum. I do have one or two local sources I will try today.
Thanks Dan. Coincidentally, I had just made a phone call to Hagen's in nearby Puyallup, WA..(in business in the same place since 1945)...and they have the pump on the shelf for $44.
But our new kitten decided to rip her internal stitches from recent spay, so there goes the pump money.
Vic Barone in Australia will buy my two pair of stainless rocker moldings, so I need to ship those out. Shipping the Fury Junior was delayed yet again. The new tentative ship date is mid-September.
I have respect for my local mechanic. He said he checked the upper CA bushings and they have no "play", so I will save the cost of him doing unnessasary work. He says the wheel bearings are a bit loose, and will tighten them as needed.
My car is getting new balljoints, etc..The driver's side was the most worn. He hasn't finished the job; he says give him a few more days. Then I may have to get it to the front end shop for an alignment.
It is going over 90 degrees here today..not something that happens frequently here. I'm staying in the shade!
Hope you have cooler weather next week when Marie and I visit, Roger...
well, $800 later the job is done. He said most of the parts I supplied were wrong (thanks Andy Bernbaum), but the correct ones were available from HIS sources (I admit I was just a little bit suspicious here). The clunking was from a LOOSE steering box (yipe!). He says I could still use an idler arm. The car does handle better, but now the brakes need attention, the defrost button doesnt work and the brakes need adjusting. For a piece of rolling art, sometimes I would almost rather hang it on the wall!
Does anyone know if these bushings are machine-pressed in, or is this something I can handle with small hand tools?
