Front Suspension, hubs and so forth
It was nice to have a day that wasn't interrupted by a trip into town, the front suspension is installed and ready to rock and roll. Well, roll at least.
I spent a fair amount of time this afternoon trying to get the splash pans installed having to make a bracket along the way. The pictures start with the fitment of the calipers to the uprights. I've used lock washer, Loctite, and safety wire. Probably overkill but when your talking about stopping....
I touched up the rivets that I used to plug the holes in the frame rails with primer and then mixed up a little paint that is pretty close to the correct color.
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| I used 50 lb safety wire, it should be set up so that loosening of one bolt will tighten the other, I think it was used extensively in the aircraft industry. |
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| Just showing the now complete front suspension, no splash pans though |
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| Same thing on the passenger side, the bearings were set to 1-2/1000" free-play. Split pins in place and suspension tightened up. How can I do this with the car in the air? I jacked up the suspension under the ball joints to get it close to the 'mid laidened" position before tightening the bushings. |
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| The plugged holes in the frame primed and touched up. |
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| Had to make a bracket for the inner fender, what a PITA trying to get these pans all lined up and bolted together. It gives me a little sense of empathy for the folks who did the restoration on this car and why they decided to just use self tapping screws-NOT! These cars are fiddly and take a lot of time to get them set up correctly. As Chuck said " it's the difference between restoring a car to sell and restoring a car to keep". It takes time to do it right, and sometimes it takes several tries to get it right! |
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| Trying to fit the bottom splash pan on the drivers side, getting the bolts started on this piece mandated removal of the inner fender to get at the bolts on it, it was still a PITA because I don't have enough joints in my arms to get in some of the spaces that have been filled with aftermarket adaptations for the weber carbs! I wonder at times if having tentacles would be better? |
Well that's it for today, the passenger side splash pans fasteners will hopefully be more accessible than the drivers side.
Cheers,
Lynn
PS: Drew, thanks for your thoughts, I really appreciate your insight! I decided to use the premium red grease primarily because it's generally easy to source. I think if I were re-restoring my car I would use "Superlube" but only if I had it on every fitting.
7 3/4 hrs
I use a knock-off of that premium reg grease. It's made by Smuckers. They call if strawberry jam. Just be careful not to get the strawberry preserve, as the seeds can block the grease fittings....
ReplyDeleteGood work on that lock wire. Once I learned how to do it properly I started enjoying the job as it makes the car safer and it looks nice too. The lower splash pans have been very difficult for me so mine are not in place. I keep telling myself I'll get them done, but it is not an easy task and every time I test fit them the attachment holes do not line up and the ones I have are my originals. Looks like I'll do another 5000 mile OL with them off the car. I do like my black fender well side pans and the 3M rubberized coating I spray on works really well. Glad you got those holes in the frame rails sealed.
ReplyDeleteThe suspension sure looks nice and the new bushings are going to vastly improve the feel and performance. Jerry always liked the rubber bushings. Erica and I were talking yesterday about how much Jerry had helped us over the years. I remember us getting under my 69 in my old garage in the summer heat when we replaced the front crankshaft seal and distance piece. We put her engine on the stand and removed the sump. It was and oily mess, but she cleaned it up so everything is ready to go back on when she gets her rear main seal done.