Slacker's Guide to Fixing Up the 68 Notch
So this afternoon I found a couple free hours to work more on the right side front end disassembly. This is what happened:
I just looked at things and went with what I though to be a good order of removal. I started with this tie rod that connects to the lower ball joint and steering knuckle.
I removed the cotter pin and removed it with a breaker bar and 3/4 inch socket. It broke free relatively easy.
I have seen some videos of folks just smacking the joints with a hammer to release them. I tried this a few times but it did not do the trick for me and so I decided to try something else.
I just happened to be near Harbor Freight the other day and picked up this air hammer and tie rod pickle fork. I could quit buying tools anytime just so you know. The air hammer was $9.99 and the fork was also $9.99. Out the door with my 20% off coupon was $19.55.
This was my first time using an air hammer. I adjusted my air compressor to 90 psi, and let it rip.
Just a few rat-a-tats and off it came. I like tools...
Next I decided I would remove the lower and upper ball joints. I removed the cotter pins and nuts on both the joints. This pic is on the lower BJ. Used a 7/8" socket for the lower BJ, and a 11/16" for the upper. Both nuts broke free pretty easily with the breaker bar.
This is the "upper ball joint stud removal tool" out of the American Muscle tool kit.
Here is the top side of the tool that is designed to fit into the stud of the upper BJ.
Pic shows the bottom of the tool that is supposed to slip over the lower BJ stud.
The tool places pressure on the upper BJ stud by turning the bolt, and then by giving the steering knuckle a hammer whack it is supposed to release the joint. Well I could not get the bottom of the tool over the the lower stud as it seemed that there was not enough space due to the proximity of the steering knuckle/spindle. I tried several positions, turning the knuckle, etc. but could not make them fit. But I made it work as you see it in the picture. I tightened it, whacked the knuckle with the hammer a few, and off it came. IDIOT ALERT DOH!: After I got it off I realized if I had just jacked up the lower control arm the tool could have been placed as instructed. :BangHead:
Its off :)
My next step was to remove the entire upper BJ out of the upper control arm. It is threaded in the control arm.
To do this you need this special 1.809 inch socket. This socket came in my kit and uses 1/2" ratchet size. It fit both my breaker bar and ratchet extremely tight so I took a few file strokes on the 1/2" square to fix that issue.
Before I put the socket on the BJ, I removed the zerk fitting, and scraped a little of the crud off the BJ.
One good tidbit of info I have gleaned from FABO is it is much easier to unscrew the BJ from the upper control arm while it is still in the car. I was able to put this breaker bar along with a short cheater pipe on the breaker bar to break it loose.
Pic showing where it came out of the upper control arm and the light threading.
Pic of the upper BJ I just removed and the boot.
Next I removed two bolts and nuts that held the spindle on to the lower ball joint.
It came off without issue. This is a 10" drum spindle that I will replace with the Kelsey Hayes disc spindle.
My last operation today was to remove the lower ball joint. I thought my American Muscle kit had a lower BJ removal tool, but today I discovered they do not provide that in their kit. Not sure what their reasoning was behind that:realcrazy:. So I decided I would use my pickle fork but unfortunately it is a tie rod pickle fork and did not have wide enough forks to completely pass through the joint. But it did go far enough to put some pressure on the joint and I was able to whack the control arm with a hammer and it let go fairly easily. Harbor Freight has a little bigger pickle joint for BJ's, so I may pick that one up when I do the other side.
Final pic of the post showing the lower BJ out. Next job when some time comes available will be to remove the lower control arm and strut. Wish somebody would come clean up this mess on the floor now....
So this afternoon I found a couple free hours to work more on the right side front end disassembly. This is what happened:
I just looked at things and went with what I though to be a good order of removal. I started with this tie rod that connects to the lower ball joint and steering knuckle.
I removed the cotter pin and removed it with a breaker bar and 3/4 inch socket. It broke free relatively easy.
I have seen some videos of folks just smacking the joints with a hammer to release them. I tried this a few times but it did not do the trick for me and so I decided to try something else.
This was my first time using an air hammer. I adjusted my air compressor to 90 psi, and let it rip.
Just a few rat-a-tats and off it came. I like tools...
Next I decided I would remove the lower and upper ball joints. I removed the cotter pins and nuts on both the joints. This pic is on the lower BJ. Used a 7/8" socket for the lower BJ, and a 11/16" for the upper. Both nuts broke free pretty easily with the breaker bar.
This is the "upper ball joint stud removal tool" out of the American Muscle tool kit.
Here is the top side of the tool that is designed to fit into the stud of the upper BJ.
Pic shows the bottom of the tool that is supposed to slip over the lower BJ stud.
The tool places pressure on the upper BJ stud by turning the bolt, and then by giving the steering knuckle a hammer whack it is supposed to release the joint. Well I could not get the bottom of the tool over the the lower stud as it seemed that there was not enough space due to the proximity of the steering knuckle/spindle. I tried several positions, turning the knuckle, etc. but could not make them fit. But I made it work as you see it in the picture. I tightened it, whacked the knuckle with the hammer a few, and off it came. IDIOT ALERT DOH!: After I got it off I realized if I had just jacked up the lower control arm the tool could have been placed as instructed. :BangHead:
Its off :)
My next step was to remove the entire upper BJ out of the upper control arm. It is threaded in the control arm.
To do this you need this special 1.809 inch socket. This socket came in my kit and uses 1/2" ratchet size. It fit both my breaker bar and ratchet extremely tight so I took a few file strokes on the 1/2" square to fix that issue.
Before I put the socket on the BJ, I removed the zerk fitting, and scraped a little of the crud off the BJ.
One good tidbit of info I have gleaned from FABO is it is much easier to unscrew the BJ from the upper control arm while it is still in the car. I was able to put this breaker bar along with a short cheater pipe on the breaker bar to break it loose.
Pic showing where it came out of the upper control arm and the light threading.
Pic of the upper BJ I just removed and the boot.
Next I removed two bolts and nuts that held the spindle on to the lower ball joint.
It came off without issue. This is a 10" drum spindle that I will replace with the Kelsey Hayes disc spindle.
My last operation today was to remove the lower ball joint. I thought my American Muscle kit had a lower BJ removal tool, but today I discovered they do not provide that in their kit. Not sure what their reasoning was behind that:realcrazy:. So I decided I would use my pickle fork but unfortunately it is a tie rod pickle fork and did not have wide enough forks to completely pass through the joint. But it did go far enough to put some pressure on the joint and I was able to whack the control arm with a hammer and it let go fairly easily. Harbor Freight has a little bigger pickle joint for BJ's, so I may pick that one up when I do the other side.
Final pic of the post showing the lower BJ out. Next job when some time comes available will be to remove the lower control arm and strut. Wish somebody would come clean up this mess on the floor now....
