Upper rear shock studs for a 69 Cuda

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moparlee

moparlee

64 Valiant
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I'm replaceing the rear air shocks for a customer's car and the went to take the upper nut off and and the stud is turning also....I'm like no big deal I'll put a wrench on from the trunk side like my 64 Valiant.....but this cuda is covered in that area...

How's the best way to get to these on this year of Cuda? Thanks in advance for the help guys.

Lee
 
A long extension and a universal socket and a flash light. There's not much room but it can be done (I did it on my '69 Barracuda).

treblig
 
Interesting....so how you supposed to change that gasket out from the filler neck tube to floor board....same way?
 
You can't get at the nut inside the trunk? To change the seal you have to drop the tank and filler neck and then take the filler neck out of the tank and put the filler neck through the seal inside the trunk and slide it down into the tank.
 
I should have asked if you're working on a fastback or a notch. My Barracuda is a Fastback, I don't if it's the same on a notch?? I've never replaced the filler neck gasket.

Treblig
 
I guess I'll take some pictures...gas tank is already out. I'm replacing the filler neck gasket to tank while it's out. The filler neck gasket that goes on top of the floor board is the one I'm talking about...You can't even see it in the truck compared to a Valiant and Dart. Yes, I'm working on a fastback car.
 
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It might be a good idea to have a friend help when you tighten the shock mount stud. Sometimes it will try and rotate as you tighten. If you have someone that can hold the stud from under the car it will tighten much easier. Otherwise you might have to put some vice grips on there to keep it from spinning. If I remember correctly you also need to orient the stud in the best spot (from underneath) so you can get a wrench on it. I think it only has two narrow flats on it which makes it hard to hold onto.

Treblig
 
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Thanks for the photos. I wonder if I can come up with a thin enough wrench to get one the back side there to get the shocks off?

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why not just use your die grinder to cut nut then use a chisel to break it in 1/2 or loosen enough to remove... then buy new nuts ..
 
I had a rough time holding on to the studs with the shocks removed. The only other way you could do it with the shocks installed is to go to harbor freight and buy a cheap wrench (the right size) then grind it down until it's narrow enough. But remember that it's made of hardened steel so keep cooling it off with water so it doesn't lose it's hardness (don't let it get too hot). You can grab the outer shoulder with vice grips but they don't grab very well on such a short surface and you can't put vice grips on the stud where the shock mounts because it will tear it up. My stud had some corrosion on the threads where the nut goes (on the inside of the trunk). Every time I tried to tighten the nut the whole thing would rotate. I finally had a friend hold a wrench on the underside of the car (on the flats of the stud with shock removed) and with plenty of lube on the threads it broke loose and I was able to tighten it.
Treblig
 
mbaird said:
why not just use your die grinder to cut nut then use a chisel to break it in 1/2 or loosen enough to remove... then buy new nuts ..
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I think those shock nut are some kind of self locking nuts. they will fall off by themselves over time.....ask me how I know???

Treblig
 
We called them bicycle wrenches because we used them for the thin nuts inside the front and rear wheel on a bicycle (very thin nuts) I have some that are even thinner (regular wrench on the left):


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Treblig
 
Remove the floor panel. Should be a bunch of screws on both ends. You need to get the nut tight.
 
I used a small pipe wrench on them where the shock slides on and use an impact on the nut and they come off pretty easy.
 
Very nice thinking (outside the box). But you never did tell us how you got to the nuts inside the trunk area?? Or were you only trying to replace the shocks??

treblig
 
I'm going to take that plate/board up when the interior guy comes.....use that tool and tighten it up.....the owner came up with some photos for me.

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moparlee said:
I'm going to take that plate/board up when the interior guy comes.....use that tool and tighten it up.....the owner came up with some photos for me.

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That's a great pic!! It easily shows the stud nuts. Make sure that lock nuts are used because the shock continuously is pulling up and down on the stud. The up and down motion does two things: it forces the stud to come loose over time and (even worse) once a little loose the stud will wollow out the hole in the body then you have a real big problem.
PS - By plate/board are you referring to the vertical piece of sheet metal where the rear divider hinge (door) attaches??
treblig
 
By the way only oneside ended up being loose, but I'll try and tighten both sides.
 
moparlee said:
By the way only oneside ended up being loose, but I'll try and tighten both sides.
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As I found....just because the nut won't "turn" doesn't mean that it's tight (it could be frozen on the threads). While you have the car disassembled (making it easy to work on) I would loosen both nuts and lube them well. Then tighten them down "real good and tight" knowing that the threads are free to tighten down against the body. On my Barracuda, it was such a hassle to get a wrench on the nuts I didn't want to have to do it again for another 45 years..LOL!!!

treblig
 
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