I am doing a body off frame preservation/restoration on my 58. I am sending out the frame for sandblasting and have disassebled the rear suspension and now want to take apart the front. I want to take it down as far as possible so the sand blaster can do a good job. I wanted to take the control arms off to fully expose everything. After reading the ST 12 I am a little confused. How difficult is this? The upper control arm has tapered fittings. Can I take out the control arm shafts and bushings to blast/clean/paint and replace the rubber seals etc and re-use the shafts, arms and bushings? Is the special tool "upper control arm shaft remover and replacer" necessary. If so where can I get one of these? Should I drop the front crossmember too or leave it on when it gets sandblasted (ie more trouble than it's worth)? Sorry for the long post. Any advice appreciated. Ken
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Re: C1 front suspension
Kenneth,
I would advise that under no circumstance, should ever remove a servicable upper-inner shaft! The possibility of damaging the shaft or the peice that it threads into is too great. Just wrap the shafts with duct tape to protect them from the blaster and blast the crossmember. I would remove the crossmember form the chassis as you will get a better job.
Regards, John McGraw -
Re: C1 front suspension
I agree with John, but let me add this.
To remove the control arms is fairly simple. First, go buy a 3ft length of all thread, 2 washers and 2 nuts. Remove the shocks and re-install the shock mounting bracket in the lower A-frame. Insert the all thread through the holes for the shock attachment and then the washers and nuts. Put a little oil on the threads. Tighten the nuts enough to remove pressure from the spindle support upper and lower outer bolts. Remove the lower, outer A-frame bolt. Now, loosen the nuts on the all thread untill all pressure is releived from the coil spring. After the front cross member/suspension is disassembled, then unbolt the cross member from the frame. That's all there is to it! Reassemble in reverse order.
If you are not knowledgeable about these early front suspensions and what is acceptable regarding wear limits, see if you can locate a local NCRS person who is. There is no rubber bushings or ball joints in the suspension, it is ALL metal to metal joints. If they were not properly lubricated, the wear could be severe. There is not many people around any more who know what and how to repair or replace worn parts in these old frontends. Also, when you start shopping for front suspension replacement parts, DO NOT ask for Corvette parts, ask for 49-54 passenger car parts (they share the same front suspension). Corvette parts which are shared with the passenger cars are always at least triple the price!!! For example, a bell housing for a 68 Chevy can be picked up at a swap meet for $25-75-----------------------BUT THAT SAME BELL HOUSING FOR A CORVETTE IS SUDDENLY $300!!!!!Comment
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Re: C1 front suspension
Ken,
I recommend that you dissasemble the entire front end and remove the crossmember from the frame. I did this on my 56, it is not rocket science and the results are very good. I concur DO NOT remove the upper inner shafts unless they are excessively worn. The control arms are, certainly, reuseable - unless they are rusted through or damaged - but replace all the shafts and bushings (except the upper inner shafts). While you're this far, it just makes sense to rebuild the whole front end. As I said, it requires no special tools and is straight forward. BE CAREFUL removing the coil springs - they can kill you if they come out unexpectedly. Good Luck - and the ST-12 is the best source for this task. SteveComment
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Re: C1 front suspension
Leave the upper inner control arm shaft in place if it's not worn. It probably won't be. Remove its 2 end bushings, and you can get the control arm off. Protect the shaft, and sandblast everything clean.
Drop the front crossmember, but only after you've done your disassembly of the front suspension. It's easier with the suspension attached to the frame. The threaded rod technique works great.
If you're going to take the whole front suspension apart, do the kingpins and the lower outer control arm bushing off the car (on a bench). It's easier.
Make sure you put the upper control arm back on while the body is off the car. It's difficult to get to rear-most bushing with the body on.
The threaded rod needs to be in place and under tension when you start taking control arm pivot pins (shafts) out.
Before you take everything apart, determine which parts are loose. Usually not all 4 of the pivot pin/bushings need replacing. The lower outer seems to be the weak link. The kingpins will almost certainly need replacing.
I don't know how you're going to compress the springs to put them back in without the weight of the body on the frame. Usual way is to use a floor jack to do the compressing and the threaded rod to hold it. I don't know if I'd feel safe cranking on that threaded rod to do the compression. Maybe you can use a spring compressor. But I've heard it's difficult to get the typical compressor in there.Comment
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Re: C1 front suspension
Chris is absolutely correct on verifying which parts are worn before changing them! I bought a complete kit for my 60 when I restored it, but found that all the bushings were as tight as the brand new ones. I put new kingpins in and then reinstalled the original 35 year old bushings and shafts. If these things are kept lubricated, they will last almost forever! The only reason that most modern bushings are changed is because the rubber goes bad, but there is no rubber in these bushings!
Regards, John McGrawComment
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Re: C1 front suspension
Thanks Guys! Would 1/2" all thread be strong enough / fit? A local spring shop will compress and band the coils so I can install them again. Thanks again for all the great advice. KenComment
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Re: C1 front suspension
I would think so. But I'm not an ME or a materials guy. I used 5/8" when I did mine. Looked to me like 5/8" rod would be strong enough to pick up small buildings. When I posted this information someplace about 1 year ago, others posted that they would still chain the compressed coils for a belt and suspenders approach.Comment
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