ah64pilot

It was simple; go out in the garage and disconnect the lower control arm from the spindle so that I can install new coil springs when they get here. Easy, right?

Turns out, when I did the front suspension last year I was in sort of a hurry. See, I was doing chemotherapy at the time and what little energy I had was spent on the necessities, ONLY the necessities. And now that I have most of my energy back since doing radiation a few months ago, I figure it's time to tackle something I've wanted to do for a long time...install some hoppity hop springs.

So I set out on this mission, install Moroso Trick front springs P/N 47160 with a 142 lb/in rating. That should make the car launch just right at the racetrack. The only problem is, once I got into the job I'm finding dirty parts that I didn't clean back then. So I figure MAW!

Some Beach! Now look what I've got?







So now I'm well on my way to creating more work for myself than I ever dreamed of doing this week. I'd like to thank Allan and Rob for never letting anything just be. And I'd like to give a special thanks to Joe (joesw31) for talking me out of cutting the coil springs I have and making me get the trick springs...I think. Because, well, having nice new shiny springs next to dirty spindles and dust plates just can't happen. Geez...here we go!

citcapp

This is how it always goes. I'll just replace --- and be done with it, but gotta clean this then that looks bad, better clean all of it. Sure would look good painted, and then.........................several $$$$$$ plus hours later your almost done when.............you see the next thing and..................

Tom442

Always makes me chuckle...why are us car guys so alike??

Tom
68 442
70 F85
95 Aurora

tru-blue 442

Ohh...But it's gonna be so nice...
Think of the satisfaction next week...or the week after, or...

GAOldsman

I gots mah Anti-MAW helmet in the mail Thanks Rob I'll need it on this thread Good luck Steve, remember your gonna thrash with it and not show it at Concours so repeat these words... I will only do what I need to do to make this mama jama a bit better off the line and for the first 60' of the 1320

Scot

BIGJERR

At least you are able to take on that project,Spring compressers scare me.......Iam still running the stockers on the front and need a upgrade badly.......

ah64pilot

Dremel, oh Dremel I love you so, oh Dremel! It's amazing how fast a Dremel works on dirty parts...NOT! Two hours and 4 different bits later I am up to here:





It's so MO FRIKKIN HOT in Houston that I'm having to use this opportunity for a break. I suspect I'll be working late tonight to keep the sweat at a minimum...we'll see. I need to hit Lowe's before they close to get another $50 worth of Dremel polishing bits, wow those things go quick. I noticed if you stay away from the bit eating edges they last longer, but not much. Cheese and Rice!

ah64pilot

I should've got a helmet when I was in Dallas...Rob forgot to bring it

Because we're all jacked in the head to think we can take these old cars and make them new again...

It's gonna be satisfying next week, I have a date with the racetrack next Friday and there are going to be quite a few Olds guys there as witnesses. I can't miss it.

I may not show it at concourse, but, but, some beach you know you can't resist it! Aha! I know, I'm making it look nice so when the wheels come off the ground it'll make for a pretty picture for the Calendar! Something like that

It all started because I bought the 90/10 shocks...then I thought "I'm gonna trim the springs because I hate the way it sits so high in the front..." Then Joe talked me into new springs...and, well...you know

Jerry, you find anything out about my picture submission for the calendar? I know you have it on the facebook page but I don't see it listed as a "submission".

ah64pilot

Querstion...I went through the galvanizing in a couple of places, do I leave it alone or should I paint this sucker?

Lady72nRob71

This looks familiar, sans the room to work...

Bingo - enough said, so make her purty!

It is off, so might as well paint it! Spindle, too.
Brake calipers look rusty. Eastwood's brake gray is nice stuff and resists brake fluid.
How's the frame and motor look?

ah64pilot

Rob did you forget who you were talking to? The engine? LMAO!



The frame is good too, I did that before I had the car painted. The only thing I need to finish (that I didn't get to last year) is the spindle, caliper mount, dust shield, tie rod end, and the caliper. I need to wipe down the control arms but they were boiled last year and I painted them black. They just have a few water spots on them from the stupid sprinkler systems around town.

ah64pilot

What color should I paint everything? Or should I use different colors? You're the guy, so I trust you'll know what looks good

ah64pilot

Rob you took too long LOL! I went ahead and painted the dust shield silver, it's high temp engine paint so hopefully it'll last.





I went ahead and finished the caliper bracket as well...







All I have left is the spindle and the passenger side is done...then I'll be on to the driver's side. I can't wait

Allan R

Any time Steve. You're welcome!

Yes, I know. Been there done that, got the T shirt. Very painstaking work. I used 'cast' color on my spindles and calipers. Yours look like they need some freshening.

Backing plate looks great. The caliper bracket should be gold or anodized gold color to simulate same.

Keep up the good work! You'll prolly have your front end done way before I get everything finished on my project(s). But then you NEED to go racing soon to blow off some of the pressure I guess.

ah64pilot

Spindle is done...now I can start the driver's side. I'm glad I already did the bushings and ball joints!

ah64pilot

I would've liked to do some kind of "cast" color but I'm just using what I have. And anything will look better than it was. Plus it was hard enough to get the warden to let me spend what I did on the components I bought, I don't wanna get solitary for buying odds and ends too

I should've painted the caliper bracket gold but I was afraid the gold color would look dumb since it's SBO gold. I just used black, it'll all look uniform and this car isn't a show car by any means.

Racing? Who said racing? Of course I need to go racing! Haha! We already planned a trip to the track and Danny (70Wcars) is driving in from San Antonio so I can't stand him up. I'll get it done, just gotta keep plugging away.

Fakser

That dremel just looks like a lot of time spent hunched over, came out good though. You gonna sexy up those control arms too? Just thought I would plant that seed since they are so accessible.

ah64pilot

Well, here's the deal. I put new bushings and ball joints in last year. When I did them, I had the control arms boiled and then painted them black. But I had the car painted after that...so they look faded because of the silver overspray. I'm a little perturbed because they DID look really nice.

I am going to try wiping them down because the paint is still nice, we'll see.

ah64pilot

Here you go Allan, is this more correct? LOL! It's only paint, right? I MAW make it look factory correct, although I did paint over the factory green paint on the spindle



And cast iron for the spindle:



I also got Energy suspension bump stops to replace the hard rubber factory stops (1 of which was broken). They are universal "trim" to fit and they bolt on, much better than the factory stuff. I trimmed them as much as I can to give the suspension as much travel as possible.

P/N: 9.9101G

oldcutlass

Nooooooooooooo, I should have never looked here!!!!! I'm starting my lil front end project Sunday. Not coming in here again till I finish. You my friend are a bad influence.

Btw, looks really nice Steve.

ah64pilot

Eric, let me give you bit of information that will make your life MUCH easier. And no, it doesn't involve shortcutting the cleaning and painting process.

When you take the front end apart, take each piece off separately. What I mean is, last year I did the front end but I left the spindle, caliper bracket, and dust shield together. I now realize that the headache I had trying to get it all to come off together wasn't worth the 3 extra bolts I took off to take it apart 1 piece at a time.

After the wheel is off, I took the hub nut off and removed the rotor. Then I took the 2 bolts off for the tie rod end "U" piece (forget what it's called). Then I took the 1 bolt off that holds the caliper bracket / shield to the spindle. After that, it was loosen the 2 spindle nuts, not removing them all the way, and hit each side of the spindle (top and bottom, not the nut) with a hammer. Once they popped loose, I put a jack under the end of the control arm (there's room now cuz the shield is off). Jack it up just enough to get the load off the nuts, remove the nuts, and lower the jack. The spring came out easy without a compressor.

You'll be alright, it's the cleaning and painting that's taken the longest and even that hasn't been too bad. Good luck!

oldcutlass

Allan that was my plan, cept I still have drums. The only thing I may still go out and buy are the front brake hoses, I'll see after I inspect them. I did the brakes 2 years ago so I'll pobably leave those together as a unit.

I'm still debating on how much I want to clean up under there as 1 winter and it will look just like it does now.

ah64pilot

Are you talking to me, or to Allan? LOL! I am with you on the cleaning, but I figured that even though the car gets driven it'll still look better than the 1/4" of crap that is caked on it. And it saves weight, right? LOL!

oldcutlass

Sorry, I was talking to you, I'm multitasking it work and confused myself. I'm going to clean all the crap from under there and give it a quick coat of paint but thats it.

ah64pilot

Mmm Hmmm... riigggghhhhttt!

OLDSMORAT

If I knew you wanted to clean them parts. I would have let you use my glass bead cabinet. I live just down the road. I have a powder coater 2 blocks away. Plus I got this new shop.

Troys Toy 70

Steve, I think I see a spot of dust on the motor. This is absolutely unacceptable. You should start building a different motor without spots. And....since I am not as particular as you, if you will just ship it to Ohio, I will be glad to put it in mine... It will be easy to put in mine, because the complete front end is off because I started to just do the ball joints and tie rods. (Rob sent me a crossed wired helmet, it worked in reverse).

Anyway everything looking good, as expected.

ralsy

You know what I like about Steve. He is such a tidy worker. All the tools lined up and all the parts on a rag, and when he does something he does it right. No short cuts. Steve, can you come over to Australia and help me with my car

ralsy

OH yeah, by the way, do you have any more videos of your track runs???

ah64pilot

So where's my pm with an address in it? LOL! Damn! Powder coat? Really? Geez! I can't wait to meet you next Friday, you're a guy I could really REALLY get to know hahaha!!!

LMAO! Rob must've sabotaged you on purpose, I hear those helmets work quite well when they're wired correctly! Hahaha! About the engine, I blew a head gasket back in May so rather than change it out in the car I used the opportunity to clean up the engine, as if it needed it LMAO! It was just an excuse to pull it and do it right I guess. But it did allow me to get the A/C stuff out of the car. Thanks for the offer btw, but for now I think I'll keep this one...but you could do me a solid and point out the spec of dust you're talking about lol!

Ralph, I really appreciate that...thank you! I think my organization comes from working on aircraft, tool accountability is a big deal. And it makes for an easier time finding tools when you need them lol! So, uh, how do I say this...you tell me when my plane leaves for Australia and I'll be there. I'll trade ya a week of working on your car for the plane ticket I'd be all over that!

ah64pilot

I haven't been back since our last 1/8th mile outing in June. Everything I have is on my youtube channel: ah64gunpilot

I'll be making more videos next Friday when the Houston / San Antonio guys get together at the dragstrip. Hopefully I'll have an 11 second pass to show

Troys Toy 70

Actually, I think I saw the spot in the video of your car in the driveway where you drove over the camera, maybe it was on the camera lens. LOL. Cool video!! Just wanted to know if you decide it bothers you the offer still stands.

As for the helmet, I am just the poster child for murphy's law. Got the frame wire brushed used POR 15, didn't work out very well, now I am sanding it down to epoxy prime and paint. over 40 hours doing this. Painted the spindles, sway bar, backing plate and disk brackets with a high temp paint I picked up. Only to figure out that this paint needs to be temp cured at 400 deg. for an hour, or it will leave grey residue all over the place. (I grilled the smaller parts, but still not sure what to do about the sway bar to cure it.) It is the way things work for me.

ah64pilot

If you lived here in Texas you could cure it by leaving it out in the driveway for the afternoon. I picked up a dust shield I left sitting out yesterday and got a blister on my finger from where it burned me...sheesh! It's hot!

Troys Toy 70

Well, that seems easy enough, and probably better than my technique in the first picture. (My Luck, I would send it to you and it would snow in Texas for three months.) Actually, I am thinking of doing a charcoal trench.

The second pic is the frame after the POR 15, the white specs are air pockets that popped.

ah64pilot

So the shocks are in...I'm just waiting for the springs to get here today and I can put it all back together. I've decided I'm not going to paint my calipers because I don't want to remove them and have to bleed the brakes, and I am not about to paint them while they're in the car (plus I have a sneaking suspicion I am gonna get some new Wilwood calipers and rotors



He's ready for springs and reassembly:

Allan R

Looks good Steve. I had a feeling you would be looking at an upgrade there. I'd still clean up the calipers especially if you don't know for sure if/when you'll get those Willwoods. You know, with all that work taking just a short time, maybe if you're bored or listless, pop over to Granbury and see if Eric needs help. Much closer than coming up here....and he needs that 67 back on the road quick for his DD. Ok, never mind. I just looked up the geography. You guys are around 250 miles + apart! Almost like living up here in Alberta!

BTW, WTH happened to your front bumper? Looks like it's been hit! Throws out the symetry of that beautiful front end.

ah64pilot

I know! I hate that bumper! I traded bumpers with the convertible because that car was so close to being perfect...it was a shame that it had those dents. So now "Old Bill" has them.

I cleaned up the rotors and I'll brush off the calipers before I put them on, I just don't wanna spray them close to the car. And I get a bonus of sorts in October so the Wilwoods may happen soon, we'll see...I might have to get bumpers

oldcutlass

LOL, it seems he's been up here quite a few times lately. Annnnnnnd since he's done such a nice job on his, and has a trunk load of cleaning supplies and paint, well.... what do you think Steve, I'll buy the beer and steak.

I too am waiting on my springs, hopefully they will be here today. I'm going to tear it apart on Sunday.

Hey Steve, what shocks did you remove from your car? As far as the calipers, you can hit them with a wire brush and paint them hanging right there in place, just mask off the stuff you don't want paint on.

ah64pilot

Do any of you racer types suggest adjusting the control arm at the bushing mounting area so the arms move freely? In otherwords so that there is no binding at all and the arms can move almost effortlessly...what's the best way to do that? I have new poly bushings.

ah64pilot

That is so tempting...but if I were to do that I'd probably get put in solitary! The Warden has been bugging me about working on the car too much

What springs did you get? I assume you got some Moog or similar because you drive yours every day. I didnt have to remove shocks because I never put any back in when I did the front end last year lol! It was so stiff from the heavy sway bar and HD springs I just waited till now to get the shocks. I think what I took out back then were Monroe's but I can't remember

I might paint the calipers, I just need a break from cleaning and painting for now. Maybe by tonight with all the other nice stuff on I'll get motivated to do it.