Good evening to the forum. I have finally got the lower control arms off of our 1966 Olds Ninety-Eight, the upper ones already done and placed upon the car once again. I am losing my faith in part numbers listed for various items on the car, it looks like I got lower control arm bushings for an A-Body instead of this model. One bushing looks like it will fit, but the other is way too small! Can our gurus here please give me a correct MOOG or whatever number so this project can continue once the cleaning and painting of the parts is done. BTW, the sway bar bushings are too small, but if I remember correctly Joe Pavadano said a set from a 1971 full-sized Olds can be used, Joe can you please confirm or refute this? Thanking all in advance, regards, Howie.




The left lower control arm rear bushing, spoiled by



The lumps of good old American thick steel awaiting some freshening up!

 

I guess you know that there are two different size bushings used in that control arm .
The bushing at the front of the arm is listed as #K5144 and the rear is #K5161 ,according to Moog's websight :
http://www.moogparts.com/find-my-par...~Oldsmobile~98

If you were looking at Rock Auto's websight , it's understandable that you're confused .
Be assured that if you order a pair of each of these numbers , you will have all the bushings you will need .
And yes , they were also used on 64 & 65 "A" bodies .

 

Thank you very much, it is very kind of you to give me these numbers. I am sure the smaller one is shared with the a body it looks pretty darn close but I am still going to order these two that you say to use. Fingers crossed the catalog is correct!

 

I went through this about 18 months ago on my 67 D88. The suspension bushings are all available from RockAuto. Lowers are K5144, which is one large and one small (does one control arm). Uppers are K6108 (same as A-body). Lower ball joints are K5073. Upper ball joints are not available new unless you get old stock from someone like Mobileparts. Pay careful attention to the orientation of the lower control arm bushings - it's not obvious.

 

Thank you so much Charlie and Joe! The parts have been ordered, so soon the project can advance. And for sure Joe, I did a very close examination of the control arms, and do see that they are pressed in facing the same direction, looking like they get pressed in from the rear direction of the car, moving in towards the front, the best way I can describe it. It looks like if they got pressed in facing opposite, the control arm would not fit back into the frame. I guess I was wrong about thinking upper ball joints were available in Chinesium from Kanter, good to know lowers are available. All of mine are original and they have been greased like crazy I figure from day one, and are still nice and tight. Thank goodness! So goes the fun owning a car that can't be built from a catalog! Even the crazy speedometer cable housing is unique to these cars! Thankfully still good as seen!



A unicorn of a speedometer cable style!

 

We chose to restore B&C body Oldsmobiles . Not because they are easy , but because they are hard!

 

Kanter does sell Chinesium upper ball joints for these cars. I was unimpressed. The ones I have are generic - meaning they fit either side. OEM uppers are specific RH/LH. The new ones also don't look like the originals. I chose not to use them and got old stock replacements from Craig.

 

Thank you to all for your help in this part of the project. With the always great advice, the correct parts were sourced. The ball joints thankfully are fine! The new lower control arms bushings, as you stated Joe, were installed exactly as you and the TSM stated. Even then it was a snug, but not hard fit to place back into position on the car. I can see how wrong way installation could cause somebody fits upon trying to refit if correct procedure is not followed. We purchased a decent spring compressor, one can't take a chance with angry springs breaking loose and doing who-knows-what to one's body. Even then a lot of caution was taken to place the springs back their positions, clocking them right. Deep sigh! That scary part of the job is now done, and it will be time to carefully check torque specs in the book, and then double check! Onto brakes, and the anti-sway bar, thanks again Joe, I got the ones for the '71 FS Olds, a right match for the O/E ones on the car now. Then it will be time for the new springs and shocks on the rear axle. Somebody in the past put on awful looking coil spring boosters on the rear shocks. They are leaking, so repacement is a must, and obviously the rear springs are weak if those things were fitted. To quote Charlie Jone "We chose to restore B&C body Oldsmobiles. Not because they are easy, but because they are hard!" How true! But when you look back, fun. Here are a couple of pictures. Sorry for poor quality of pictures, but at least I

have a few. More will come!

Left side lower control arm back in place!



A quick peek at some of the ugly mess being dealt with. All from a SEEPING valve cover over the years. Never a drop of oil on the ground oddly enough!