Never Removed a "K" Member Before

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dibbons

dibbons

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It is difficult to clean and paint the engine bay "professionally" with the K member in the way. I guess it just bolts in and out right ('65 Formula S)? If I remove it to restore the engine bay, do I need to brace the body somehow? Seems like the K member is holding everything together and I don't want to mess up the body/alignment/etc. Thank you.
 
I never gave it any thought. Hell, changed a bent one once in the dorm parking lot in college. Probably more to it than I ever considered.

sb
 
Is the engine already out? The K supports the engine, so if it and the transmission are "staying in" you will need to rig some blocking from the frame to sling the engine from. Seems to me "all that" would get in the way..........

Other than the engine, the K supports the T bars and front suspension, so you will have to deal with that. If the suspension / steering is complete, you will need to at minimum, disconnect the column from the steering box, and then decide where to separate the suspension. You can separate the spindles at the bottom ball joints, leaving the lower arms and steering link with the K, and leaving the upper "A" arms, spindles and brakes hanging from the body, or disconnect the brake hoses, and separate the upper ball joints, leaving only the A arms on the body

.............And of course forgot, you will have to pull out the T bars............
 
The engine and transmission are out, the whole car is stripped for sand-blasting. No windows, fenders, interior, doors, hood trunk lid, radiator, nothing left attached that could be removed except the P/S column/steering box.
 
Pull the 4 bolts and remove it. Easy to do. I had my engine bay painted with the suspension on. Got it home from paint and removed the suspension for paint and refresh.
 
You could rebuild everything off the car & just slide it under like this. Makes life easy.

20170704_220802.jpg
 
Still no body has said what happens to the unibody when the complete front end is removed all at once. Need to brace anything, etc.?
 
You don't need to brace anything unless you have a rust bucket. My car sat for a few months without the K and it's perfectly fine.
 
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