67 steering linkage

[Keith B.]

I read in the archives it was painted as a assembly semi gloss black. My question was the rubber boots in place doing painting.

Does anyone have a picture of a correctly painted one. This car also has power steering

[Joe L.]

Re: 67 steering linkage

I read in the archives it was painted as a assembly semi gloss black. My question was the rubber boots in place doing painting.

Does anyone have a picture of a correctly painted one. This car also has power steering

Keith-----

It wasn't actually painted. It was coated with some sort of thin asphaltic coating. It might appear like paint, but it wasn't. For restoration, though, I'd use paint.

The rubber boots that were part of the assembly were coated with the rest of it. The tie rod studs were covered with a cardboard tube.

[Gene M.]

Re: 67 steering linkage

The top part of the idler arm were it mounts to the frame was also covered to prevent coating the mounting holes.

[Mike E.]

Re: 67 steering linkage

Keith,
According to John the grease zerks were installed at St. Louis so they should be free of paint.

Keith-----

It wasn't actually painted. It was coated with some sort of thin asphaltic coating. It might appear like paint, but it wasn't. For restoration, though, I'd use paint.

The rubber boots that were part of the assembly were coated with the rest of it. The tie rod studs were covered with a cardboard tube.

Joe,
After taking the time to clean mine all up I could not bring myself to paint them with that nasty stuff so I primed them with black epoxy and semi gloss single stage 2K urethane. It might lose some point, I’m not even sure my car will be good enough to be judged. It looks like I need to pull them off and shoot some paint on the boots...Arrg!

The top part of the idler arm were it mounts to the frame was also covered to prevent coating the mounting holes.

Gene,

I didn't know that, I have more rework.




Mike

[Keith B.]

Re: 67 steering linkage

Mike thanks for the pictures. how did you get the finish on the natural parts?

[Mike E.]

Re: 67 steering linkage

Mike thanks for the pictures. how did you get the finish on the natural parts?

Keith,
Everything has been media blasted with this cheap 80 grit media from Tractor supply. I started using this because I didn't have a blast cabinet at first and the other stuff was much to costly because you loose so much. It cuts very slow, probably took around 15-20 minutes to clean the idler arm IMO that's not a bad thing. Anything that could be damaged by the media I tried to seal the ends with duct tape so the media didn't get into the part. Still castings came out too light so on parts that can take heat, and didn't have seals I heated in an oven much like you season a cast iron frying pan at about 400 degrees for 1/2 hour. Removed the part and brushed on used motor oil then wiped it down. It would smoke pretty bad but gave the part a nice look after it cooling then applied BioShield to protect it from rusting.


For parts like the idler arm that I didn't want to expose to heat I media blasted and took 220 then 400 grit sandpaper to the cap areas and polished them a bit. Still casting looked to light, so with surgical gloves on I brushed on and wiped off quickly Eastwood Metal Blackening then wash the part with water, dried with air gun then applied BioShield. The shot below is of the restored idler arm on the left next to a repop that will be going on Ebay.





Below is a picture of the how the spindle after the treatment. BTW IMO the BioSheild does a nice job. These parts were treated last summer and I haven't see any rust appear since treatment. Prior to the BioShield treatment freshly blasted spindles would rust in a few days.






Mike

[Joe L.]

Re: 67 steering linkage

Keith,
Everything has been media blasted with this cheap 80 grit media from Tractor supply. I started using this because I didn't have a blast cabinet at first and the other stuff was much to costly because you loose so much. It cuts very slow, probably took around 15-20 minutes to clean the idler arm IMO that's not a bad thing. Anything that could be damaged by the media I tried to seal the ends with duct tape so the media didn't get into the part. Still castings came out too light so on parts that can take heat, and didn't have seals I heated in an oven much like you season a cast iron frying pan at about 400 degrees for 1/2 hour. Removed the part and brushed on used motor oil then wiped it down. It would smoke pretty bad but gave the part a nice look after it cooling then applied BioShield to protect it from rusting.


For parts like the idler arm that I didn't want to expose to heat I media blasted and took 220 then 400 grit sandpaper to the cap areas and polished them a bit. Still casting looked to light, so with surgical gloves on I brushed on and wiped off quickly Eastwood Metal Blackening then wash the part with water, dried with air gun then applied BioShield. The shot below is of the restored idler arm on the left next to a repop that will be going on Ebay.





Below is a picture of the how the spindle after the treatment. BTW IMO the BioSheild does a nice job. These parts were treated last summer and I haven't see any rust appear since treatment. Prior to the BioShield treatment freshly blasted spindles would rust in a few days.






Mike

Mike------


The problem is how do you know the USED and restored idler arm is any good? These things cannot be rebuilt and, unless they are really bad, you won't be able to tell by inspecting it off the car.

[Mike E.]

Re: 67 steering linkage

Mike------


The problem is how do you know the USED and restored idler arm is any good? These things cannot be rebuilt and, unless they are really bad, you won't be able to tell by inspecting it off the car.

Thanks Joe,
It seems tight is there any way to measure play with a say a dial indicator? What types of failure modes are there? I'm not sure I know what the symptom is when an idler arm is bad. In any case I'll hold on the reproduction Idler Arm incase I need it.

From a few images and postings I've seen of Idler Arms with the correct casting number there seems to be a lot of variations in the shape of the castings and fonts used for the numbers even on original units. It would probably take a seasoned judge that's seen hundreds of cars to know what's right and whats a repop.

Mike

[Joe L.]

Re: 67 steering linkage

Thanks Joe,
It seems tight is there any way to measure play with a say a dial indicator? What types of failure modes are there? I'm not sure I know what the symptom is when an idler arm is bad. In any case I'll hold on the reproduction Idler Arm incase I need it.

From a few images and postings I've seen of Idler Arms with the correct casting number there seems to be a lot of variations in the shape of the castings and fonts used for the numbers even on original units. It would probably take a seasoned judge that's seen hundreds of cars to know what's right and whats a repop.

Mike

Mike-----


There's no way I know of to assess the condition of an idler arm using any sort of measurements. Usually, front end instability, wandering, and just general looseness in the steering are the symptoms folks experience. However, it creeps up slowly and deceptively. One realizes how bad it was only after one replaces all the front end and steering wear parts. The difference becomes quite stark and obvious at that point.

[Mike E.]

Re: 67 steering linkage

Mike-----


There's no way I know of to assess the condition of an idler arm using any sort of measurements. Usually, front end instability, wandering, and just general looseness in the steering are the symptoms folks experience. However, it creeps up slowly and deceptively. One realizes how bad it was only after one replaces all the front end and steering wear parts. The difference becomes quite stark and obvious at that point.

Thanks Joe,

Sounds good!...Like I said...I'll keep the replacement handy if needed, I'm not building a trailer queen. I want it to drive right.


Mike