1970 cutlass... Trying tobget all the exposed frame back to metal to be repainted exactly the right thing to d but theresbno way im putting a pretty new motor back in this trash bag of a engine bay lol

Question, how do i get the a arms off? I got the top part off and removed all the bolts i could find.. Things seemed to remain pretty snug.. I was trying to remove the brakes with it. Is there something im missing here?

Thanks

 

be careful of the springs, you can get seriously hurt if those things pop out of the control arms unexpectedly. as soon as you undo the upper and lower bolts on the frame, those control arms could pop out at any second. they are compressing the spring severely!!! the spindle and frame mounts are keeping everything together.

i recommend POR15 for the frame, it's a rust inhibitor, paints over almost anything, and dries rock hard with a gloss shine. just don't get it on your skin cuz it will be there for about a month, LOL. not sure how to go about pulling the A-arms off though, i had my mine swapped out by a mechanic friend of mine. good luck!!

 

Pull the spindles first to be safe the A arms should unbolt easily provided they arent rusted on. the lowers unbolt on the sides and the uppers unbolt from the back.

 

But absolutely use a spring compressor or very strong wire to secure the springs in a compressed state BEFORE trying to remove the A Arms.

 

Based on the way you phrased your question, I would say you need to put your top bolts back in very carefully, and then look at a couple of threads here.Lady gets a frontend job is a good one. Also you need to look at a chassis service manual. You can get access to it on wildaboutcars.com. section 3 front suspension. Make sure you pay attention to the A-body instructions. Plenty of guys to help, but you need to cover the basics first.

 

Where do you want to start? Rob Young and I went through this whole thing with our cars last year.

Here's his: https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...tml#post264807

And here's mine (it started off as a front end brake job from hell)
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ing-plate.html

Read through and ask any questions. Getting the springs out is actually not as hard as most think. From there - it's easy to get the upper/lower control arms off. BTW there's lots of welding slag on the frame so it may be sharp in places. Be prepared to spend a lot of time getting hot and dirty. This is not a job that you can do in a day. Mine took almost 3 months. Rob's took about the same. You will prolly be able to get most of your replacement parts from Rock Auto. Use their sticky discount on this site.

Also, when you order from them make sure you try to get all your parts from the same warehouse or it will cost a fortune in shipping.

 

And after you get the suspension all restored and ready to reinstall, see what all else you can do while you are in there...
This thread goes in to details of redoing the engine bay without pulling the motor!
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...storation.html
I still remember going through all that in the hottest, longest summer on record, and I am surprised I lived to tell about it.

 

I'm not surprised at all..... It is the part of the dark side, a disturbance in the force, it is like 1,000,000 suspension newbies cried out at once..... MAW's.......

Someday, I will be on the other side saying you MAW, with Allan and you and I can't wait.

 

Rob, we're terrible aren't we?
I sense your weariness my master.....Worry not Oh Dark Lord - our Battle stars will be completed in time to crush the MAW rebellion!!

 

I think you are missing a lot. Like some clue as to what you are going. Let's review what some of the others had to said. They are more polite than I am.




I have a mental picture that you have managed to take the upper A-arm loose with the rest of the suspension still together. And the only thing holding the spring in is the shock absorber. If that is the case, STOP! You probably don't have enough weight on the springs with the engine out to remove them safely.

I have always used the weight of the car to compress the springs and you probably don't have enough weight without an engine. Put things back together and don't attempt to dismantle the suspension until you have the engine back in. And then don't start on it until you've done your homework. There are plenty of things to clean and detail while you wait on the engine work.

 

With no engine in the car, the springs will have to be compressed with a proper spring compressor, available for loan at most auto parts stores.

 

True enough, but most spring compressors go inside the spring and require the shock to be removed. If he has the upper A-arm loose then the only thing holding the spring in place is the shock.

I don't know exactly what he's done, I do know he's never worked on this stuff before and could get himself in trouble.

 

100% right. I learned about those damn spring compressors last year. If at all possible I'd go with one that fits on the outside instead of inside. Fitting those claws in the right place and compressing the spring is a major PITA.

I'm strongly in agreement that the upper control arm/shaft be reattached and reconnected to the spindle. Here's a DIY video showing how to drop out the spring so the control arms can be taken off for bushings/cleanup/whatever. http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&...Yg_BA0rWsLGOxw

 

 

I ordered a kit online thats got pretty much everything except the sway bar and center link, drilled the rivits and pressed the lower ball joint its all out, clean and ready. Would it be okay to replace my lower control arm bolts and control arm axel bolts with grade 8s? Same size ofcorse..

 

If the lower bolts are rusty, replacing them would be ideal. I replaced mine.
The upper axle bolts are special - they have splines that hold them in the frame. These cannot be had at the local hardware store, but available for 20 bucks a set at Olds and Chevy parts houses.
I got mine here since they are one mile from my house:
http://www.firewheelclassics.com/sto...pID=&SKU=SUB21

 

Yes, IIRC they are grade 8 to start with. Just make sure that you install them with the nut to the back side of the control arm.

re: the shock holding the spring? Typically the shock is not designed to harness the power that is contained in the spring. That's what makes it so dangerous. The connection between the upper ball joint/lower and spindle is designed to carry the load of the spring between those 2 points.

Your removal of the spring using the same technique as the video is not the issue. No, you didn't get hurt this time. But the method you used (removing the upper C/A bolts and spindle castle nuts) without releasing spring pressure first is dangerous and unsafe. You're suggesting that because you didn't get hurt it is ok. In reality - you were really lucky. There's more than enough energy in that compressed spring to tear the shock apart. The best way to think about a compressed spring? It's like a small bomb waiting to go off.

That's the reason some of us were really concerned.

If you need access to the Chassis Service Manual, you can get that for free at www.wildaboutcars.com It would definitely be worth a read for the balance of your project. The CSM is the Oldsmobile bible for repairing/servicing Oldsmobile, and printed by the Oldsmobile division of GM for each model year.

 

Thank you and tahnk you to everyone els!