Thanks Larry, the couple with this '68 Chevelle at the drags on Sunday are giving me a set if they fit and measuring up at 15.5" and the ebay link confirms fitment too. went back over resto pix of chassis and they came off in the teardown but no decent pic of if they went back on... Anyways thanks to these people, well this is their Chevelle Got a link to it slaughtering me in the time trials too but my photograper had it on time lapse so its a 3 second run!!!
Frame connectors arrived in the mail on Monday so I cleaned em up , sprayed em black, jacked the back of the car right up and jammed a pair of stands under the chassis. Now Im tryna undo the top nut on the location arm, bottom one has good access so Im attacking the hardest one first. with a selection of 3/4" and 19mm sockets and wrenches and extensions there appears to be no way of undoing tbe top nut or/and bolt. Sure an impact gun would shift it quick but theres just no room to get one up there. Really the exhaust, and possibly body need to be off and out of the way to get at that top nut! Has anyone here got and clues , tricks, or magic spells to undo those top bolts??? And theyre effing tight too! Thought of getting more nuts and fitting the connectors over the existing nuts but theres not enough exposed thread on the top one, and the function may just not be correct....and itd look bodgy.... Going back under to have another try but not real confident Im gonna get anywhere except frustrated.
you guys with hoists are gonna be laughing. Jacked the chassis up another 6 inches and wound the stands up plus added more stands for peace of mind. By jamming a 19mm ring spanner on the nut end and using my biggest breaker bar with a section of box tubing for max leverage I was able to undo the bolt from the nut. Left side is off, now to scroll back to pic to work out which end of these connectors is up and down . Then attack the other side. Todays lesson Never give up!
Sounds like you are well on your way. If the following helps you, or together all of this helps someone else, that's a good thing... Kroil or 50/50 ATF/Acetone is your friend in removing these things. Apply, let it soak a few hours, maybe a few times, then use impact wrench set low and work back and forth (loosen/tighten/loosen) and time and patience will reward you with things breaking free. Better than hitting with a full on impact wrench at a high setting. Air powered (or really good quality electric) impact guns are a must. Trying to break things loose with breaker bars in tight confines almost always lead to broken things. Not always a bad outcome, but generally better to loosed and remove things rather than breaking bolts and such. I put a nailhead in my 1964 Skylark convertible and replaced all the suspension with UMI tubular components. I added the upper braces as well, and can tell you that the difference it made going from the 300 v8 2bbl with ST300 and 2.56 to the 2x4 warmed over nailhead, 4 speed and 3.54 posi, was like night and day in regard to handling. The stock suspension rolled, swayed and nose dived, and now, with all the power and torque, it handles very well and much like any modern car. The braces will help with frame flex and tame the back end, and that has a great effect on the front end moments as well. As far as "doability" I am more than 60 years old and did all of the rebuilding/swapping in my garage on four jack stands with hand tools. (but I was raised in this lifestyle, so that might have some impact) You can do it, just have no fear and a hard goal in mind. (and I have the utmost respect for folks outside of the US of A taking on American Classics and the "extra" obstacles in the journey of the projects taken on. While on the one hand I am saddened to see "our" cars go away, I am heartened that they are so "loved and desired, as well as enjoyed" by our friends in far away places! Thank You!)
Success!!!....Once I got her high enough in the air I was able to swing the 2 foot box pipe I used for leverage , then it was just perserverence with the 1 foot breaker till things were loose enough. As for an inpact gun theres just no room to get one on the nut or bolt with the muffler and/or coil spring in place. That was to be my next move if my attempts failed Id remove the coil springs and then borrow the a big impact from the tyre shop a few sheds away . But soon as I felt the bolt move I knew I had it licked. Took a bit of fidding to work out which way up the connectors went but once on I could see the design of them theres really only one orientation thats the fatter end with wider slotted hole at the bottom and the thinner end with round hole up the top. Swung on my pipe and breaker to get em nice n tight again, Note a couple of broken muffler straps so Im gonna take the easy way out on them and drive down to a mate who owns a muffler shop and pay him to get it up on his hoist and replace em. At rear of mufflers theres like a flat bracket with 2 straps one on each side of muffler up to the floor. Are these a genuine part?
heres how high I had to get the car and a pic of the muffler bracket. Just in case muffler man wants to replace it with something different if this is original its gotta stay
They dont have to be super tight,..leaving them "wrench tight" is all that's necessary and let's the suspension work better. If you do tighten any bushing point really tight it needs to be done with the suspension loaded. You're putting undue stress on the bushing otherwise. As to reaching the top bolts I've just always used 2 3/4 wrenches one ratchet wrench and one standard. Swapped arms on a car the other week actually
ohhhhhh....so ya reckon I should jack it all up again and slack em off a bit? could never do em up tight loaded cos wouldnt be able to get in there
Put the jack stands UNDER the rear axle. Would not be the same as if it were up on a drive on lift but better than fully extended.
ok all fixed, stands under axle, slack em off and nip em back up sanely. Gonna fit some flatwashers behind the lower nuts once I get some though, don't look right to me without them. Ill feel better about burying the right foot on the last orange now they're on.
