I already have the w27 cap - just waiting until I’m done breaking in the new rear end to switch out the gear lube to put it on - also I have the inserts for the lower rear control arms nicks1966 graciously offered to help me weld them in so they are boxed - I have neither welder or knowledge to use it - then I’ll find the sway bar to bolt on

 

From the "best bang for the buck" comment I'm guessing he was talking about the rear sway bar and not the diff cover.

 

Haha, yeah, I guess I should have been more specific. With the addition of the sway bar, I no longer scrape my doors on tight turns. That Moser cover is pretty cool though, yeah?

 

Yeah it is - great *** all the way around! - the umi - is that a 1 inch?

 

Yes sir, 1 inch diameter.

 

Thanks

 

Model #4034?

 

Wow what a thread mac. Just FWIW. I was able to use the stock ball joints that came on the eBay control arms. I went to .900 taller ball joints to allow more front end rise. For drag racing GM A bodies need between 5 and 6 inches. At full extension my shocks are at their travel limit. I think i sent you this picture but before with the stock ball joints on top I had like 2 inches of travel. Which is fine but for drag racing it dont work for me. I run a 1 inch HR parts n stuff rear sway bar and it keeps the car pretty straight at launch. Sucks you had to go through all that.

 

Yeah man. I put the link to the exact bar I purchased from Summit. But the be clear, I have the UMI tubular trailing arms that are sleeved so install was super easy. Bolt holes should line up fine with your arms but it's tough to see in the pictures of your arms are sleeved. You wouldn't want to crush your arms when tightening down the bolts

Hey dude. Thanks for the input. I'm still debating keeping the taller joints or sending them back. I'm so far over budget now I can't afford the new front tires. The old tires have some life left but I thought it best if I have it aligned with new tires. Oh well. When I get new tires next summer, will it need aligned again? Shouldn't, right?
And no worries. This job has been a pain but I've learned way more than I had imagined. I'm just waiting on the new upper arms which are driving by my town today on their way to a town an hour away before they come here tomorrow. I mean, I get it, but still, it's frustrating, lol.
Hey, you're not running a front sway bar, are you? The end links, where they attach to the lower arms, have a lot of play in them. I took out the play by tightening them to the point that the brackets sort of pinched inward. The links still move easily but now they don't slide back and forth inside the bracket. Hard to describe, I'll get a pic.
Thanks for letting me bug you with texts all through this

 

So, the sides of the bracket were perpendicular to the arm but the link had room to slide back and forth inside the bracket. I looked for a small bronze bushing but didn't have anything. So I didn't see any reason to not just tighten it up until the bracket sides pinched inward.
Also, I'm assuming the end links should be the same length as the stock end links. These are adjustable so I'm hoping they adjust out that far. Pretty sure they will.

 

Im not running the sway bar. But I did . I set it to where everything bolted in and cleared.

 

Yeah, I figured it would make sense once I got it all back together.

 

So, yeah, the new (correct) upper control arms came today and wow, what a difference. It's coming together pretty fast now. I have an appointment for an alignment on Friday so I have a couple days to finish up. Unfortunately, after all this, I can't afford new tires this season. The current tires are pretty worn but just on the very outside tread. When I do get new tires, will I need to get it aligned again?

 

Most likely you'll get both opinions on alignment when purchasing new tires. The alignment has nothing to do w/ the tires themselves - only with the suspension. Personally, if as in your case, you just rebuilt the FE and you're getting a fresh new alignment, I would not pay for another alignment. Although, with that said - much has to do with where & how you drive a car - tons of pothole ridden streets, banging into curbs, off-roading, tons of hole shots raising the FE off the ground, circuit racing, etc. - which in that case, I'd get a new alignment. By all means if when you get new tires and you're fighting the FE, get an alignment. If you buy your tires at a tire shop w/ a FE alignment setup, ask them to toss in a free FE alignment evaluation. In years past, it was always recommended to get a FE alignment when purchasing four all new tires. If purchasing just the front tires, I don't know - I think it's a crap shoot. If you're not fighting the FE why would you need another alignment?

What tires you going to get - bias or radial? What's on there now?

EDIT: Never mind, I just looked at some of your pictures - you have radials.

 

Generally tires play little role in front end alignment requirements unless you change wheels or tire sizes. If it drives straight and there are no tire wear issues a new alignment is not required.

 

Just an FYI, you can most often find tires online MUCH cheaper than you can at a local Tire Store. Even with mounting and balancing, you can save a LOT! Many of the online vendors have free shipping too.

 

Looking good!

 

Yup...I got all 4 of my Coopers for 500 shipped from Tire Rack, plus they'll ship to your local tire shop at no extra charge. No worries about hauling them yourself. 😀

 

I prefer going to discount tire or a local tire store. Most will match the online pricing and I don't have to jump through hoops for a defect

 

Discount tire wanted $500 for tires and mounting for 2 front BFGs, 235/60-15s. Even without the warranty they wanted $450. And that's part of the issue; I want out of these BFGs, they're too expensive. But my rear tires are in good shape but I don't want mismatched tires. My car show buddy (with a '71 vert) has really liked his Coopers so I'll go that direction. With two 235s and two 275s for the rear, it's not going to be cheap either way. I looked at TireRack but they were more expensive than Discount Tire.

Any specifics I should insist on for the alignment? Is it 2 degrees negative camber? I get it all mixed up, lol.

 

Discount Tire is a great company and I never buy tires from anybody else. Try going to discount tire online. They have some tires on there they do not have in the store. They will ship them to the store. I just did that a few months ago on one of my drivers. One other place that has good prices is Walmart online.

 

I just looked online and Discount Tire showed two BFG 235-60-15s were $378 including balancing, mounting, and tax. I can't imagine why there would be such a difference in price between my local store and yours.

FYI, the Cooper Cobras were almost exactly $100 less at $276.

 

Mastercraft also sells a tire in "typical muscle car sizes. Not a bad tire but would have to be blackwall out. I prefer blackwalls. Also try Amazon. I bought my nitto drag radials for 250 for the pair !. About 100 cheaper.

 

Amazon does seem to have good prices and I don't mind carrying them in, I have to take the wheels anyway.

Kenneth, how did you get a total price online? I can't seem to do that. And yeah, I don't know why there would be such a difference. But those were the prices I was quoted when I called.

I made a lot of progress today but my sway bar looks/fits odd. I pulled it, loosened it, adjusted it several times and the driver's side just isn't lining up right. So I had a look at my before pics and a video I took and it looked the same before. I think the bar is bent. But since it was steering fine when I tore it down, I can use it now and replace it later.

 

Your sway bar end link in pic is not tightened up.

 

No, not all the way yet. Shouldn't it be under load when I do that?

 

No, the load comes when the body rolls. There is no load when the car is level.

 

Actually, Eric, that end link is tight. That's the problem. I mean, I could tighten it more but it's past the listed torque spec. I think the bar is bent.

 

I don't understand what your looking at?

 

I clicked on Tires by Size, selected 235-60-15, clicked View Tires, then from the available tires I changed the quantity for the BFG Radial TAs to Quantity = 2, clicked Add to Cart, the clicked View Cart.

 

I can't get the bushings to close tightly against the opening in the bar on the driver's side. I really let her have it today and got pretty close so I'm gonna go with it for now. But the geometry on that end isn't right.

Ahh, I never went as far as the cart. Thanks Kenneth.


Well, I'm done. Sort of. I can't get the two back header bolts back in. I gave it four hours today, tried every which way, including loosening the entire exhaust system but it's just not a one-man job. I need a jiggler, lol. I have an appointment for an alignment in the morning so I hope I don't blow out the gasket or wear down any surfaces. I ran it a little tonight, to get it up and the ramps, and it didn't even sound like it was leaking. I think I'll be okay; the alignment shop is just three miles down the road.

 

Are the nuts galled on the threaded part? Is the sway bar centered in the rubber mounts on the frame?

 

I see threads on the rod between the bushings, so something is wrong, maybe what oldcutlass said. You have an upper nut and a lower nut that can be tightened to the bushing, so are both of them stuck or just one?

 

The extra nuts are for adjusting the height of the link; the bronze nut is integral to the threaded rod and the silver nut is for locking the height. The threads and lock-nut are good, no galling. The bar is centered. I had it loosened and readjusted several times and that end never changes. I'm sure the bar is bent. No worries, I can replace it easy enough. Maybe with a bigger bar....but that Moog idler arm is a beast and it's already a little tight.

 

It may not be so close to the idler arm once there is weight on the wheels.

 

Yeah, you're right; I have more room than I thought.

 

With weight on the wheels the angle of the eyelet on the bar would be less severe also.

 

Yes sir, while it was on the ground I was able to close up that gap but the angle of the eyelet (good word) to the end link rod still isn't quite right. i'll see how it feels after the alignment today.

 

Does anyone know the proper sway bar bushing for my '71 Supreme? The bar measures 0.94 inches which I assumed would be the 15/16 inch bar but these are the bushings I was sent. I read an old post that said that the bushing will look too big but will crush down. These didn't want to crush down so I trimmed them. But now I'm thinking I might have trimmed too much. Just how much rubber should protrude from the bracket before being installed?

 

Okay, so yeah, those bushings crushed okay. It was very very tight but it got there. And that driver's eyelet looks better too. Much easier tightening that with weight on the wheels. That gave me room to get a ratcheting combination wrench on there.
Header bolts are in. It was just one of those things. The garage that did my alignment got one of the back header bolts in for me but couldn't get the other. This morning I walked out there and it went right in, on the first try!
And today, just when I was finishing up, I had a front shock puke all over the floor. These were the KYB Gas-adjust shocks; not cheap and just a couple years old. But to be fair, I had to grind the mounting forks down a little to get them to fit inside the LCAs so I must have overheated them (even though I was dipping them in water every few seconds).
Anyway, I'm done. And now it's raining (of course) but maybe tomorrow I can test it out. It is Father's Day after all
Thanks for all the help with this project. It certainly wasn't my favorite of everything I've done to this car but at least it was successful and the car is now road-worthy.