Are my upper control arms unusable now? 1973 Dart.

dodgemahal said
Today I was attempting to remove bushing shells from an upper control arm and I got a little careless, and might have bent one of the "ears" holding the bushing just a little bit. Is it toast? Can it be fixed by an automotive machine shop. Can the front alignment process compensate for this?

The easy answer is if you bent something to the point that it didn’t return to its original shape, it won’t be the same even if you “fix” it.

If this was a 50+ year old part to begin with that’s also a consideration

Of course it all depends on how bad the damage is, which we can’t see without a picture. If the bushing won’t sit straight in the arm that’s probably not going to work well for you. If this is a stock UCA it’s not like there’s much useful adjustment to begin with if you’re trying to run decent alignment numbers for radial tires. Lots of unanswered questions.

4spdragtop said
"Might"? So you aren't sure? I saw a thread recently where uca holes are not 100% in line with each other. Easier seeing a pic then trying to picture it in our minds.

They should line up