charv13

Part 2 of the ongoing saga, removing the hubs, spindles, ball joints, and springs.

Part 1 is here...https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...pt-1-a-154498/

WARNING: Springs are dangerous, and can wreck you. Be careful. I used a spring compressor (not shown in pics) and a chain.

Step 1. Loosen the castle nuts from the upper and lower ball joints. Easier said than done cause the cotter pins on these were rusted in as well. But, this time, the whole thing didn't spin when loosening them. Got the upper loose, and the lower, then wrapped a chain around the spring to keep it from flying out and killing anyone.


Of course, after I got the spring compressor in, and jack under the lower control arm, then the top ball joint decided to spin. Figures. I shoved a vice grip in there to keep in from spinning after that, and lowered the control arm.



Well, I tried to lower the control arm all the way. The header had other ideas though, and insisted on being in the way.

Back in with the spring compressor and took it out. Man it is a little crusty in there. I'm going to degrease and give it some rust preventer.



Then off to the other side, which was pretty much the same as this side, except I couldn't get a spring compressor in there, cause the shock was still in there. Made me nervous, and I still used the chain,
and after letting down the control arm, where the header WASN'T in the way this time, I was able to get a wrench in there on the nut and get the shock out. This was is even more crusty and had some extra
stuff, like some nuts, a rusty 10mm socket (how and why?), and some more broken rusty mushy stuff. Degreaser and paint tomorrow.



Compared them to the new springs. For those who are interested, I got a pair of slightly used eaton 1" lowering springs from the neighbor up the road after he put in coil overs in his cutlass. These are from a 72 cutlass with a 350 without a/c. My car used to have ac, but it no longer does. However, they look a little lower than an inch drop to me. I'm slightly concerned...



Next job was to pop out the lower ball joints, which I did with my dad's trusty ball joint remover kit. Which I remember when purchased was a large fight in the Weavers parking lot between my Dad and Mom. She was all like why are you always buying more tools, my Dad fixed cars with a vice grip and a screwdriver, and Dad didn't really have a comeback except to say you can't take out ball joints with a vice grip, and Mom said whatever. I said maybe we should get a new car, and she said go see what's taking your Father so long. That ball joint remover kit in the red box really brings back memories. Anyways, pop goes the ball joint.



The uppers are riveted in. Which means they must be original to the car, and makes me wonder if it really only has 44,000 miles on it. Or did ball joints last 144,000 miles in 1972? Or were they replaced by a dealer, and those were riveted in? They weren't that bad, and it doesn't matter, I'm replacing them (Moog ball joints) anyways. I've never replaced ball joints that have been riveted in, but I did read in a forum on here that you just have to grind the top of the rivet off and then punch it out. That's on the list for tomorrow and part 3.

Vintage Chief

You're doing a fine job. Suggestion. Purchase one more set of jack stands and place your vehicle on four jack stands. When you're spending this much time under the vehicle, safety is the highest priority. If this were a quick up and down, two jack stands would suffice. Buy two more jack stands.
Winter Project - '71 CS Suspension



Four (4) Jack Stands - Normal Working Profile

Seven (7) Jack Stands - 4 Supporting Vehicle (2 Supporting Axle, 1 Supporting Drive Shaft while working on Axle and Control Arms)

charv13

Hi Norm,

I checked out your suspension rebuild, nice write up and I see the need for more jack stands. I'll be picking some up soon. Your car looks and sounds amazing.