Twilight Fenrir

Hello! I've got a '66 Toronado, I'm currently replacing the drum brakes on the front with '69 disc brakes. And, since i've got it all appart, I'm rebuilding my suspension, and painting all the involved parts with POR15.

But I'm hung up on two points:

How do I get the bearings off the wheel hub? Also, how do I get them back on? I'm tempted to smack them with a hammer, but I don't want to damage anything in the area. I understand there's a fairly specific technique to getting the bearings properly greased for installation?

Also, on the torsion bars.. I can't get my unloader above the crossmember. I have an orriginal GM shop unloader specified in the service manual, but there's no room for it.

The crossmember touches my floorboards, with no room above it. There's big rubber spacers at each end where the member attatches to the frame, but I'm a bit concerned about removing the bolts, for fear of unleashing the torsion bars in an unusual way... Is this the proper way to go about it?

Lastly, I noticed that the adjusting bolts on my torsion keys are radically different from eachother... my passenger side is almost all the way in, and my driver side is almost all the way out... Is this normal? I would think they should be approximately the same...

Thanks.

Twilight Fenrir

Alright, got my bearings out with a combination of an air-chisel, cuttoff wheel, and a big hammer/screwdriver. Huzzah!

Still at the same place with the torsion bars though.

MX442

I separated the lower ball joint, and lowered the control arm with a jack. Then with a helper pushing down on the control arm, I removed the bolt from the key. However, after 44 years, the T bars would not slide. Ended up having to remove the control arms and persuading them with heat, wd-40 and a 5 lb BFH.

Twilight Fenrir

So you didn't bother with the unloader?

I was wondering if such a thing was possible... I've already got my upper control arm and knuckle out, so if I can just do that to remove the lower one, that would make my life a world of simpler. That's basically all that's holding me up at this point. After my paint dries, I'll be able to through my knuckles back together.

MX442

No unloader. If you already have the knuckle out, then there should be no tension. Push down on the lower control arm, and you'll see that there is no tension.

Twilight Fenrir

Yup, worked like a charm. I've got my torsion bar out, and everything on my passenger side is just waiting for the paint to dry, and I can put it together again. Just finished taking appart the drivers side.

Thanks for the help!

Twilight Fenrir

Aaand here we are! Passenger side is (mostly) done! I have still got to do some plumbing, and torque everything to spec, but it's fully assembled!

RATCHETMASTER

Hi
Did you have to replace the upper control arms with the 69s? Or can you use the original upper arms from the 66?

Someone has said you have to use the 69 arms for the earlier years?

Need help with this.

Thanks
Tim

Twilight Fenrir

Well.....

According to all the research I did on accomplishing the job, it recomended using upper control arms from the donor car. These guides typically suggest using the parts from a 2nd gen toro, '75-'78 specifically.

However, the research I did on the cars seems to suggest that if I use first-gen brakes, I can use my original control arms. The '66 through '70 have the same part number for the upper arms, and they use the same bushings, and ball joints. So I'm not sure what would be different to interfere, other than if the caliper somehow struck against the side of the upper arm.

Before I went through the trouble of painting everything, I did a test fit. There appears to be PLENTY of clearence on the upper control arm to the calliper, unless the upper arm is pointed downwards at about a 45 degree angle (Relative to the knuckle) which is impossible when installed on the vehicle. Furthermore, since they use the same ball joints, there is no issue of taper. I now have my passenger side almost completely assembled, and there still seems to be no issue.

I haven't gotten my car on the road yet, I am still finishing up my drivers side, then I have to plumb it all, so this is not a 100% certainty. It seems that you only need the new upper control arms if you use a 2nd gen knuckle. Which uses different upper ball joints, that cannot be attatched to the '66 upper control arm. 71+ also seems to need different outer tie rod ends.

Until I take the car on the road though, it is an educated assumption.

Twilight Fenrir

Aaaand I'm done!

Finished torquing everything to spec today, putting in cotter pins, bleeding the lines and took it out for a test drive. Car does indeed stop! So I didn't screw up! :P

Just to re-iterate, I did NOT use newer upper control arms. I rebuilt my original '66's and used knuckles from a '69. Everything works just fine, and I cannot see any conflict between the parts. So unless it is a different length or something, the only reason you'd need a new upper one seems to be if you are using non-first-gen parts.

Unfortunately, my rear drivers wheel is locking up before the rest, however I already have a new wheel cylinder for that, so it's not a big problem, and it only happens when I really stomp on it. I'll see about getting an appointment for an alignment Monday, and hopefully I'll be back out on the road again by the end of the week!

photobucket-5464-1332704159198.jpg
(Okay, the upper balljoint isn't torqued in this pic, and the shock is obviously missing, but I didn't take another picture before I put the wheel on)

photobucket-1691-1332704287830.jpg
Hello calliper, I see you!

photobucket-2188-1332704220129.jpg
Ouch, what a rats nest of tubing... I'm looking into getting Cunifer tubing, at which I will replace all of my lines. But that might fall to next winters project. Depending on how ambitious I feel over the summer. My old tubing is in remarkably good shape, minus a couple of nuts being rusted to the tubing by the wheels.

RATCHETMASTER

Looks great!! Now you can get that two ton beast to come to a stop within a mile or so!! lol

Thanks for the updated info.