Gramma's Car: the new project!

[njsteve]

Rustoleum, Stainless Steel paint from Lowes.

[njsteve]

Got everything back together today including the powder coated inner fenders. They are quite the endeavor to install without scratching them. I ended up using duct tape around the fender flanges and the underside of the fender in the engine compartment. This alowed the inner fender to painlessly jockey for position while I used some screw drivers to pry it til it fully slipped under the fender well flanges and engaged in place.

Tomorrow I'll take her off the jackstands and see how she sits.

[RST]

Your amazing Steve .......... looks great!

[njsteve]

Thanks! Gotta keep busy working on something. Maybe I'll pull the rear end out next to redo the springs/bushings/shocks, etc.

[njsteve]

Took Gramma's car out for a test drive this morning. Very smooth. No floating or tire rubbing during suspension movement when going over bumps. Actually no real wallowing or jouncing at all, like it did with the old parts. It rides very nicely now. Not even a hint of a rub at full lock in either direction any more.

Prior to the suspension rebuild, the passenger side front tire was a good 3/8" further out of the wheel well (when viewed from above) than the driver's side - due to the worn control arm bushings. Now it is in the exact location as the driver's side tire. YAY!

Once I pull the rear end out, rebuild the rear springs and replace the bushings and shocks, she should level out a bit.

The ride height is as follows:

Left Front: 28-11/16" to fender edge..................Right Front: 28-8/16" to fender edge
Left Rear: 28-13/16" to fender edge...................Right Rear 28-6/16" to fender edge

I thought it a little odd that the driver's side is taller than the passenger side. I then went and measured the 19,000 mile SD455 fender heights and found that it had the exact same stagger gap between left to right.

Here is a photo of the car with the factory 80,000 mile suspension components:




And today with the new front springs (prior to the test drive)

[njsteve]

And here's a shot of the newly powder coated inner fenders installed. Time to get going on detailing the rest of the engine bay one of these days.

[KevinW]

Nice work Steve! So no "rubber" flaps on the inner fenders?

[njsteve]

Nope. I think they stopped that in 1972.

[njsteve]

I was thinking (always a dangerous endeavor)...it's probably all the A/C gear that causes these things to sit lower on the passenger side. You have that heavy A-6 compressor, the evaporator and fiberglass box, and all the hoses and extraneous other shrapnel that go along with the system. Not to mention the heavy radial spare tire and rim on the right side as well. All that would tend to make the car unevenly weighted to the right side.

[njsteve]

I brought the car in for an alignment today and was pleasantly surprised. As assembled, the caster and camber were perfectly in spec and only the toe was out of spec. It was toed in, probably due to the wacky driver's side lower ball joint/spindle wallowing situation. I brought my bag-O-shims with me but the car didn't need a single shim, whatsoever.

She tracks straight and true and the steering wheel is straight. YAY!

Now, on to the rear suspension. The front end is completely silent. But I can hear squeeks from the worn front leaf spring bushings and the squishy Midas shock absorbers and worn sway bar bushings. I had already replaced the rear shackle bushings last year when I replaced the gas tank. The new KYB gas shocks arrived yesterday and now I am waiting for the new sway bar bushings that Summit is drop shipping from Prothane. This car has the small 9/16" sway bar which was a little tricky to find bushings for.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/PTP-7-1116-BL