front end dissassembly?#@!
 

hey all,
front suspension is off my 72 and i'm trying to break it down for rebuild
its pretty rusted and i need help to take it apart.
1: any hints on removing the ball joints? i pulled the double taper bolt and tried pounding the strut off with my ball joint tool, no go! then i tried to unscrew the castellated nut , frozen solid. do i have to cut it off?
2: any trick to pulling the torsion bars? i removed the tension adjuster, the bars wiggle but won't pop out.
3:how do you separate the control arms from the cross member?
4:can the control arm bushings be replaced? should they be replaced?
any and all advice appreciated.
thanks
bob

I take it you have the a-arm off the car, which means the torsion bars are exposed at both ends. If they won't come out, tap them from the front end and they should come out through the end where you removed the adjuster.
The a-arm just sits in the cross member at that end and is bolted to the chasis at the front end, so it might need some persuasion as well to come out. Nothing to hurt as long as you aren't wailing on it for an hour.
As far as the bushings go, yes, they can be replaced and should be. I don't believe rubber is available. You either have the plastic busings which are finicky to install and may squeek or you can go with Elephant Racing polybronze and have a perfect fit needing periodic greasing in the provided grease nipple. Search the forum for installing the bushings and you will find a ton of info. Particularly on how to get the rubber ones off.

HI Bob -
I just pulled the front suspension off my '74 yesterday! I fought some of the same battles you mentioned - some successfully, some not.

I had to pound the he11 out of the tapered pins that attach the top of the ball joints to the bottom of the struts. The pins finally did come out, but they put up a great fight. Leave the nut on the pin when pounding away - it gives a larger contact area, and may help save the pin so you can re-use it. To separate the strut and ball joint, I tapped on the top of the a-arm w/a hammer while holding and pulling up on the strut. they separated w/out much drama.

I still have not been able to break the large nut that attaches the ball joint to the a-arm. I've cut it up w/a dremmel tool, PB Blastered it, beat it w/a hammer and chisel, and tried leverage - to no avail. I will eventually win, but I'm not sure what it'll take!

If you've pulled the adjuster, you should be able to pull the torsion bars out towards the back. If they've been in there a while, it may be easier to pull them out w/the a-arm and then work w/it on your workbench. I was able to pry the a-arms off using the cross member as leverage. They were in there tight as well.

You can replace the a-arm bushings. There are a few options - polygraphite bushings (basically hard plastic) or Polybronze bushings from Elephant Racing - both available from Pelican. I noticed that Chuck @ Elephant Racing is also offering a service now where he will recondition your a-arms and replace the bushings w/more OEM type rubber - there was some talk of this service earlier on the board here, but I can't remember how it turned out - there's lots of info on the pros and cons of all the various bushing options.

Hope this helps a little,
Tom

You didn't mention the rod ends which may end up being your next battle. Those can be popped off with a little heat and by hitting the ends of the arms. Now, to your BJ's: you can drive the castellated nut with a chisel and a hammer if you don't care about them. IIRC, new BJ's don't come with new nuts, they have to be purchased, just a thought. Heat again, will help. With the inserts out of the struts, you can heat the bottom w/o any damage. No need to go red hot, though. You don't want to change the metal. Just heat it and whack the a-arm.

thanks guys
bob

I remove the ball joints with the A-Arm out and an impact wrench.
Given the necessary torque required, it's best to replace the nut with the new ball joint.