Grrrrrrr!!!!!!
The last time I rebuilt an A body front end was in 1980. Time has not healed the process.
Just got the uppers off the donor car. Like so many others, I found the front cam bolts came out OK, but the rears were stuck. I tried to save the cam bolts and the car is scrap, so I cut the rear brackets off. The nut side was easy, just split it thru the middle and break the ears off with a pair of vise grips. The bolt side is a little more challenging, cut what I could with a sawzall and pried the rest out with a big bar. Idea is to save the arms and the cam bolts because they seem to the the pieces you can't buy anymore. Well, the driver's side comes out and I take the arm to the press to see if I can press out the cam bolt. I put the nut on the end to save the threads. Didn't screw it all the way on and I put the 20 ton jack to it. Did not manage to pop the bolt out, but I managed to press the nut on, ruining the threads. Back to the car and went after the left arm. Managed to bend the arm with my big bar.
I think the A body front end is really quite a unique design and works well for the most part, but those cheesey upper control arms have got to be the weak link here. I don't want to get into a big redesign here, but I'm beginning to see an Alterkation kit in my future. For now, I've got to make the car roll again. Problem is I need the late model UCA's for my disk brakes and I can't find a source for new stamped UCA's or the cam bolts. I may go the tubular route. Read all the posts about which to use, but I'm still pretty leery about the factory control arm mounts. Any advice as how to stiffen up this area?
The last time I rebuilt an A body front end was in 1980. Time has not healed the process.
Just got the uppers off the donor car. Like so many others, I found the front cam bolts came out OK, but the rears were stuck. I tried to save the cam bolts and the car is scrap, so I cut the rear brackets off. The nut side was easy, just split it thru the middle and break the ears off with a pair of vise grips. The bolt side is a little more challenging, cut what I could with a sawzall and pried the rest out with a big bar. Idea is to save the arms and the cam bolts because they seem to the the pieces you can't buy anymore. Well, the driver's side comes out and I take the arm to the press to see if I can press out the cam bolt. I put the nut on the end to save the threads. Didn't screw it all the way on and I put the 20 ton jack to it. Did not manage to pop the bolt out, but I managed to press the nut on, ruining the threads. Back to the car and went after the left arm. Managed to bend the arm with my big bar.
I think the A body front end is really quite a unique design and works well for the most part, but those cheesey upper control arms have got to be the weak link here. I don't want to get into a big redesign here, but I'm beginning to see an Alterkation kit in my future. For now, I've got to make the car roll again. Problem is I need the late model UCA's for my disk brakes and I can't find a source for new stamped UCA's or the cam bolts. I may go the tubular route. Read all the posts about which to use, but I'm still pretty leery about the factory control arm mounts. Any advice as how to stiffen up this area?
