completely rebuild front suspension?

Torsion bar tools are a waste of money. Put it up on jacks, loosen the torsion bar adjusters, pull the shocks, separate the ball joints, remove the strut rod nuts. Pull the torsion bar clips, remove the LCA spindle nuts and use a dead blow hammer to knock the LCA back until the torsion bar hex end clears the rear socket. Knock the LCA forward off the bar, slide the bar out. No chance to scratch up the bar with some dumb tool, more cash in your wallet. And if you have larger torsion bars and/or headers the tools are pretty useless anyway. The don’t fit the larger bars at all, and with headers there’s very little room to work with to get them clamped on.

jos51700 said
I'd pull that K for three reasons:
#1 you can't truly inspect it easily if it's in place, and given the tendency of these cars to crack lower control arm mounts and such, you'll end up welding washers on there and all that good crap if you know what's good for you. Gusseting the K and fully welding it does add a measure of stiffness that will be readily apparent when driving.

#2. You can completely and easily build the front suspension out of the car, which is far more comfortable with the K on work table or even a shop floor compared to laying under the car with crap falling in your eyes. A couple pieces of grit in your eye or a trip to the hospital (with requisite bill) will make you regret doing anything under car you don't have to, once you've done the job without it.

#3. It's easier to clean everything.

Unless you're the type to insist on rebuilding an axle under the car, pull the upper control pivots, pop the steering coupler and motor mounts (I lay a 2x10 across the fenders and hang the motor with ratchet straps), back off the adjusters and drive out the torsion bars, and pull the four K bolts. Easy as pie.

Pro tip: drill a 1/8" hole over each K bolt and douse with penetrating oil before you start. reapply hourly. Plug hole with silicone when you're done.

And you don't need to worry about the marking the rear of the torsion bars. They're handed and won't fit if swapped side to side, and the twist directional force applies the same way same regardless of which end faces front.
Click to expand...

Agree with everything except the torsion bars not fitting if you swap them side to side. They absolutely fit, and it has been done. It throws the ride height adjustments totally out of whack though because the bars are indexed, which is usually how it gets noticed. Stock torsion bars are numbered, odds on the left, even on the right.

Based on the description of how the car handles, I would drop the K, clean and inspect it at the very least. If the bushings are shot then the LCA pin tubes could easily be broken out or worn. I would also check all the factory welds, because I've seen factory welds crack at the steering box mounts. Personally I wouldn't ever reinstall a K member without fully seam welding and gusseting the steering box and LCA pin mounts, but that's just me.