out of commission, cant drive my dart anymore

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mopower440 said:
no and i cant weld worth a darn any ways..
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That is okay. The welds there don't need to look good, they just need to hold. I am not a great welder but my stuff doesn't come apart.
I know that here in CA there are some muffler services that are mobile, guys that have self contained pipe benders and torches or MIG welders. Maybe you can do a search for your area to see if it is worth it versus buying a cheap Harbor freight 110 welder.
 
I hope you have a can on Never-Seize (black moly). Put it everywhere you don't want to struggle in the future when you put all this together. If somebody had done it the last time this front end was rebuilt, it all would have been a piece of cake...
 
str12-340 said:
I hope you have a can on Never-Seize (black moly). Put it everywhere you don't want to struggle in the future when you put all this together. If somebody had done it the last time this front end was rebuilt, it all would have been a piece of cake...
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I dont think its ever been touched before! everything was shot//ball joints and bushings anyways..
 
IMHO that broken tab may be a problem it is what the eccentic washer works against when you are rotating the upper bolts to set camber and caster. So adjusting that upper bolt will be a pain without it. The alignment guy needs to know this.

It also may provide some support to prevent that eccentric washer and the bolt from moving and allowing the caster/camber setting to change when things are locked down. The torque on the bolt may be enough to keep things from moving with out that tab. I'd have it welded back on but that is going to be a logistical problem right now. Maybe the alignment shop can tack it back on with patience and little heating to the rubber; use a sopping wet rag to cool the area after each tack and take the heat out. That was done with Chevy truck lower BJ's to hold them in after the press-in holes got worn; tack, cool, tack, cool.... 3-4 tack welds and they were in for good with no issues for the new BJ.

I can't say on the lower BJ not coming loose... that is a new one on me. Heat the knuckle and let cool down a few times and see if that helps. I would not whack on it when very hot.

And, IMHO, no anti-sieze on the ball joint tapers during re-assembly.

Hope you get rested up!
 
mopower440 said:
View attachment 1715312063 View attachment 1715312066 WOW!!!! All i can say is my body is beat down! I will need a pry bar to get me out of bed tomorrow!..lol..I have ruptured discs in my neck and lower back and im gonna be hurtin boys! Anyway, i went to oreilys and got a propane torch and came back and put the flame where i could get the part of the bushings you can see cherry red and i beat and banged and pried my rear end off over and over again and FINALLY, they came out! Thank God! You wanna know what REALLY made me mad..The bolts did not have any rust on them,,so i dont know why they would not budge. The other side came right out..So, im a happy camper! The only bad thing is, one of the little tabs that are used for the adjuster broke, not sure what its called but i took a picture of it with my finger pointing at it..I hope this wont be a problem..?? I thank all of you for your guidance and patience with this!! I have a rebuilt set of upper control arms ready to go in but was hoping to save my lowers to rebuild and use, can anyone tell me how in the world i can get that dang lower ball joint to let loose? I did all i could do while it was still on the car and could not get them to let go..I was hitting the cast knuckle where your supposed to hit it, along with my grandson standing on a prybar. Ive never had that issue getting them to separate on any other vehicle. Now that everything is removed from the car, what can i do to get it apart? As much as i hammered on the thing, i hope it didnt hurt the cast end of the arm..
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Since you already have everything off the car and lying on the ground, why not take it to a local auto repair shop in your city, and have the mechanic rap the side of that spindle where the ball joint stud goes thru the spindle with an air hammer.
He can use the punch, or pickle fork attachment to separate, easily get those things apart.
I'm sure you must have a shop in your town you use, from time to time.
Might cost you a 6 pack of beer, or free, if your a regular, loyal customer, with the shop.

P.S.
Oh, by the way.
Thank's for purchasing a pair of my rebuilt lower control arms, and the set of 4 upper control arm mounting bolts & washers.


Air Hammer 004 (Small).JPG
 
shocktower.jpg
Ok guys, before putting this back together, i would like to paint the inner shock tower and frame rail with something. The inner tower is pitted and rusty..not rotten just pitted and obviously i cant get down in some of the areas to sand it..Wondering what to paint this area with? All i can think of that would work well in there is POR 15..I would really like to put it back blue like originally but dont see how being its rough..
 
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mopower440 said:
View attachment 1715312618 Ok guys, before putting this back together, i would like to paint the inner shock tower and frame rail with something. The inner tower is pitted and rusty..not rotten just pitted and obviously i cant get down in some of the areas to sand it..Wondering what to paint this area with? All i can think of that would work well in there is POR 15..I would really like to put it back blue like originally but dont see how being its rough..
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OK, I got one side back together today.. I did have a problem and that was trying to get the freaking dust boot seated on the lower ball joint which are moog brand. I FINALLY found a piece of PVC pipe the right size and smacked it on using the pipe, but i did tear one of the boots, so im held up from doing the other side until i can figure out how to get another boot without buying another whole lower ball joint..anyone know where i can get that correct boot? I really do NOT want to put on a torn boot..
 
Since boots are new, I would try cleaning the grease off and gluing with crazy glue.
Don't laugh, this can work, especially if there's only one hole. There are probably other glues that would work since rubber is not ancient / thin. I'm late to this party but I always mark eccentrics and measure ride height frame to floor BEFORE taking anything apart.
That way you've got a starting point when putting the car back together, Glad you're tackling this!
 
sccachallenger said:
Since boots are new, I would try cleaning the grease off and gluing with crazy glue.
Don't laugh, this can work, especially if there's only one hole. There are probably other glues that would work since rubber is not ancient / thin. I'm late to this party but I always mark eccentrics and measure ride height frame to floor BEFORE taking anything apart.
That way you've got a starting point when putting the car back together, Glad you're tackling this!
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I wouldnt mind gluing it if i could find the right glue that will hold up to the task because i sure dont want to do this again any time soon.. I thought about clear silicone but i just dont know..thats a lot of twisting and turning and being squished with greese inside..
 
mopower440 said:
I wouldnt mind gluing it if i could find the right glue that will hold up to the task because i sure dont want to do this again any time soon.. I thought about clear silicone but i just dont know..thats a lot of twisting and turning and being squished with greese inside..
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anyone know of a glue that would hold this? (really dont want to use super glue)
 
Super glue depends on a very close tolerance to set to strength and so might be hard to do.

My best guess...... try a simple rubber tire patch kit.... tires flex some. Let the cement tack up. Gotta be cleaned and grease free and scuffed to a rough surface. The hard part will be pressing it together to put some pressure on it for a few minutes.

If you use a caulk, use a siliconized acrylic caulk; it does not release with time nearly as much as straight silicon caulks. You can pick up a tube for $5 in black at the big box stores like Lowes. DAP Dynaflex is good stuff... DAP AlexFlex is chaepo stuff.
 
nm9stheham said:
Super glue depends on a very close tolerance to set to strength and so might be hard to do.

My best guess...... try a simple rubber tire patch kit.... tires flex some. Let the cement tack up. Gotta be cleaned and grease free and scuffed to a rough surface. The hard part will be pressing it together to put some pressure on it for a few minutes.

If you use a caulk, use a siliconized acrylic caulk; it does not release with time nearly as much as straight silicon caulks. You can pick up a tube for $5 in black at the big box stores like Lowes. DAP Dynaflex is good stuff... DAP AlexFlex is chaepo stuff.
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I ended up just ordering some new boots from energy suspensions. Should be here tuesday. They look to be better than these ones that came with the moogs that have to be beaten on to get them to seat..
 
mopower440 said:
I ended up just ordering some new boots from energy suspensions. Should be here tuesday. They look to be better than these ones that came with the moogs that have to be beaten on to get them to seat..
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Well, i got the new energy suspension ball joint boots and dont know if i should use them or just glue the tear in the moog boot. The reason im pondering it is because the energy suspension boot just sits over the ball joint and doesnt actually seal around the bottom like the moog boot does, so the grease can just come right out the bottom...anyone used these from energy suspension and had good luck with them? here is a pic of the torn moog boot that actually seals to the bottom of the ball joint and you can see the rip.
boot.jpeg
 
mopower440 said:
Well, i got the new energy suspension ball joint boots and dont know if i should use them or just glue the tear in the moog boot. The reason im pondering it is because the energy suspension boot just sits over the ball joint and doesnt actually seal around the bottom like the moog boot does, so the grease can just come right out the bottom...anyone used these from energy suspension and had good luck with them? here is a pic of the torn moog boot that actually seals to the bottom of the ball joint and you can see the rip.
View attachment 1715321630
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Don't they sell the replacement boot for the Moog BJ?
 
Getting ready to buckle things back up and sitting here trying to figure out how a dummy like me can get a good baseline alignment in my garage to be able to drive it and get it to an alignment shop?
 
mopower440 said:
Getting ready to buckle things back up and sitting here trying to figure out how a dummy like me can get a good baseline alignment in my garage to be able to drive it and get it to an alignment shop?
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what did you guys do to get a decent baseline?
 
  1. With the pivots a bit loose, set the car down and check the ride height; adjust torsion bars adjusters until ride height is where it should be
  2. With car on ground NOW tighten the pivot bolts
  3. Equalize the caster angle on both sides; get them close; use some sort of angle gauge across the UCA and LCA edges at the same spots.
  4. Use a home made angle gauge to rough set the camber to zero or -1 when on the ground
  5. Set toe in with tape measure or a homemade toe gauge' I'd shoot for 1/8" toe-in
  6. 'Jounce' the car up and down several times every time you set it down on the ground to get it to 'settle out' to the same point
Ought to be OK for driving to the shop then.

BTW, I would fix that Moog boot if you have not done so already.... IMHO, it will want to split along the base as it ages so affix something that extend left and right of that tear. Just keep putting grease in there!
 
BTW, I use this tool as an angle gauge by taping a bubble level on the arm and setting the edges of the gauge on whatever I want to measure.
Tool Experts > Micrometers and Protractors > Protractor - Angle Finder & Bevel - Square Head

A bubble level on the arm of the above tool is a lot more accurate AND repeatable than this type of angle gauge commonly found at lumber stores. These are very poor to use IMHO.
(4) 90° Measuring Range, Magnetic Base 88041959 - MSC

Use a good angle gauge with cut pieces of straight steel as 'adapters' ... span vertically across the wheel rim for camber for example.
 
Just about done but have yet another problem..I have 3 lug studs that need replaced. 2 dont even look bad so i went to harbor freight to buy the 40$ tap and die set, but it sucks! The die reuses to start straight onto the stud, then theres the problem of the die holder hitting the stub sticking out of the center of the rotor, so i tried to grab the die with pliers to thread the stud and it broke in half! So im done with that, i will just take it back apart and beat the 3 studs out and put in new ones. Anyone know a source for these K-H studs? I THOUGHT i read something that Hemi71 said about them being hard to find?
 
Sorry I can't help with a lug source.... Suggestion: Go to a hardware store or go online and buy a 'thread file' to re-file those 2 that are not so bad. This one might be OK, and may be at Lowes/HD. I don't know where it is made, but an old USA made should be in everyone's special tool box.
8-3/8" Long, External Pipe Thread Restoring 98875818 - MSC

Good tools don't come from HF !
 
swapped out the studs today. So ive been reading a bunch about alignments on this site so i can try and set mine. I read several times that the most castor you will get without offset bushings is 2* positive and they also say to start with the front cam all the way out, and the rear cam all the way in, then adjust the rear cam for camber. Ok, even with mine adjusted all the way out in the front and all the way in on the rear, the upper ball join still sits ahead of the lower ball joint, so i dont see how you can get ANY positive caster with stock style bushings...?
 
mopower440 said:
swapped out the studs today. So ive been reading a bunch about alignments on this site so i can try and set mine. I read several times that the most castor you will get without offset bushings is 2* positive and they also say to start with the front cam all the way out, and the rear cam all the way in, then adjust the rear cam for camber. Ok, even with mine adjusted all the way out in the front and all the way in on the rear, the upper ball join still sits ahead of the lower ball joint, so i dont see how you can get ANY positive caster with stock style bushings...?
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??
 
  • Upper control arms swapped L to R? (Never did it so I don't know which way it would move the caster.)
  • Radius rod bushings wrong, installed wrong, or not torqued to pull the LCA's forward far enough?
  • Car sitting on its wheels? (I don't know what caster does as the suspension bumps or droops.)
  • So the upper BJ is as far back as it will go? Just making sure the adjustment was not done backwards.
  • How are you measuring this? It has to be center of BJ to center of BJ.
Should not be a problem to get to a little + caster.
 
nm9stheham said:
  • Upper control arms swapped L to R? (Never did it so I don't know which way it would move the caster.)
  • Radius rod bushings wrong, installed wrong, or not torqued to pull the LCA's forward far enough?
  • Car sitting on its wheels? (I don't know what caster does as the suspension bumps or droops.)
  • So the upper BJ is as far back as it will go? Just making sure the adjustment was not done backwards.
  • How are you measuring this? It has to be center of BJ to center of BJ.
Should not be a problem to get to a little + caster.
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I know the upper arms are on the right sides and I have torqued the strut rods to the correct torque. The car is jacked up when I was looking at this and that may be why..? I did put a jack under the lower control arms and jacked it up some and it didn't seem to help much..
 
I'd suspect that, or your measurement technique... have you made some sort of caster gauge to use when the car is on the ground, set at ride height? That one is the hardest to make. This ought not to be far out, unless stuff is installed wrong or is bent, etc.

What did you do on that boot BTW?

Any pix you can post?
 
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