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control arms & upgrades

SELLERSRODSHOP

SELLERSRODSHOP

Well-Known Member
o.k., got the drum assemblies pulled off today in preparation for the new disc brakes. found all four of my ball joints had torn/rotten boots so figure i might as well tear the whole thing apart . would i be better off replacing the whole lower arm vs. just changing ball joints? i figure if i get it apart & the lower bushing is worn & needs replaced, it will be a wash as far as $$$ go. if i run int the same thing on the uppers, i figure i would be better off rebuilding vs. replacing as far as NAPA prices go. i think they want about $250 for a complete upper. CJ's has the scott drake uppers on sale (20% off) but wasn't sure of the quality or country of manufacture. i'm planning on boxing in the lowers while i'm at it (like the job i did on jon k.'s lowers) & adding the boss "plates" in the shock towers. is there anything else i should look at upgrading while its apart??
 
Get ORP street UCA for $199 Steve, I got repops and kick myself for not going with Johns for $20-$30 difference and not worrying about the shaft nuts turning as they did and I have no idea if mine are centered (John does) or deburred.
I got the lowers from Moog that you boxed for me, http://www.virginiaclassicmustang.com/6 ... C3512.aspx
is where I got mine, they used to say it in the ad but maybe they could tell you if you called. John pointed me there as he couldn't even buy the LCA for $50. They also have the boots, BJ, retainers, gasket if you need any of that.

Do the 1" drop as mentioned. If you want to do the roller strut rods I can bring one of mine over as an example if you want to look at it.
Jon
 
thanks!

yes, have already done the control arm drop, have 720 lb front springs & koni's..

got the right side torn down to the frame today. its fun getting into greasy stuff btween shooting coats on a candy job, not! had to be really careful. believe it or not, other than the boots being torn & the upper ball joint a little loose, this things pretty tight for being the original stuff from 69.... i'm going to check with john @ opentracker & see what i can afford right now. the mrs just had her 4th surgery in the last 7 months, with most of that stretch off work + rehab @ $30 per hr, so my "play fund" is almost non-existent right now... gotta get the "have to's" now & add the "want to's" later except for the stuff i can fab up here in the shop...
 
I've got all of my original UCA/LCA parts still if you need anything. I wouldn't be surprised if my UCA are still good for a rebuild.
Jon
 
thanks! mine will be good cores, but think if i can swing it, i think i'll get new arms & add some of the other stuff later. i'll decide tomorrow when i get the left side tore down. may take a look at those strut rods you made though. did we make a set of those tower reinforcements for your car? cant remember if you got a set of those or not...
 
Ok, I'll throw one of them in the car, Jake needs some measurements from one anyway. I didn't get a set of the shock tower reinforcement plates yet, interested. Hoped we could do those 'when' I can get the car to you for body/paint. Strut rods are pretty easy to build, parts are cheap, hardest part was getting the old rods threaded for adj. collar but you probably got shop connections for that.

I went with the larger rod clevis than Days did on his '66 as I didn't want to whittle down the original strut rod any more than necessary, would have had to go down 2 sizes to use the smaller and fab more adapters. The '65-'66 SR may be thinner? I still have a lot of the washers, etc. as I bought a bag from Fastenal of most of them.
Jon
IMG_1196.jpg
 
"Jonk67" said:
Strut rods are pretty easy to build, parts are cheap, hardest part was getting the old rods threaded for adj. collar but you probably got shop connections for that.
Click to expand...

Its really cheap when you make your own clevis and make a plate with steering stop. I'll have less than $60 bucks in mine.
 
got a little further today, finished tearing down the rt side & did a little cleaning & fitting the "boss brace" inside the tower:
photo6.jpg


blasted & painted the spindle. nice to see "made in u.s.a." cast into something for once:
photo4.jpg


got the left side apart. still have one ball joint & the strut rod to get loose, then the arms can come off:
photo7.jpg


dug out my stash of tower supports to se what i have/ need to make. have a full set & 1/2 set of the inners & need to make a couple outers to have an extra set:
photo5.jpg
 
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got my hubs pressed out of the drums, cleaned, blasted & painted. also took off the front bumper, valence, grille etc in preparation for pulling the fenders. geez, none of this has been apart since late 68 when it was assembled at the factory (no, i'm not fussing, would rather have it that way...)

photo8.jpg
 
great day today! went with a friend as "technical advisor" to look at a 39 chevy body (it came from north dakota, one dime size spot of rust in the floor.) he's a fool if he doesn't make a serious run at getting it. got home this evening to two boxes, one with my new lower control arms from va mustang, the other, part of my order from Opentracker!!! ordered the upper arms & roller perches from john & wasn't expecting them to be here from ca so soon. those new upper arms he's doing with the scott drake parts look awesome! also had an unexpected "gift" in there too! thanks john!

Opentracker parts:
controlarms1.jpg


moog lowers from va must. gonna make the boxing plates for these tomorrow:
controlarms2.jpg


i removed the front sheetmetal & right fender to do some cleaning/painting & grafting in the piece for the battery tray . since its just a small area thats bad, i'll take the time to graft in the area instead of replacing the whole panel. that way i won't lose the crisp, original lines & will also retain all of the stamped numbers.
rtside1.jpg


also found my first area of MAJOR RUST!!
well, major for this car...
rtside2.jpg
 
yeah, thats my $100 homemade shaker! bought the scoop off ebay & converted the original air cleaner housing into the shaker (got pics if anyone is interested). i always thought they should have used this one on the mustang. the angled nose matches the angle on the front of the hood in 69-70. i'll keep it on for now, until i decide i want to change the look & switch to something else...
 
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