Need help!

68 camaro
I have the upper and lower control arms out. I borrowed a lower ball joint press from AutoZone. I have no clue how to use it but I guess it will be self explanatory once I start using it.
On the control arm bushings!
I have read in other posts that you can drill out the rubber and chisel or pound out the old bushings.
Once their out how difficult is it to get the new bushings in??
AND on the upper control arm there is the rod that goes through the bushings with threaded studs on the ends.
How do you deal with that? What is the procedure for removing the upper arm bushings/rod assembly and replacing without damaging.

Thanks
Ray

you dont need a ball joint press...wack it out with a big as* hammer....the easiest way i found to get teh bushings out is to melt them out and press them in...the metal rod stays in there when you press them in

I'm not sure "whacking" front suspension parts with a big ass hammer is a reall good idea. The next day you could be one of those who've aksed "why won't my power control arms go back on?"

Any shop that does front end work will have a press that will get them off and on. They don't charge a heck of a lot to do it.

I have in the past used a peice of pipe bigger than the bushing to support the control arm, and an air hammer to beat the old one out, but even then I had a shop press em back in.

$50.00 at a shop is money well spent. if you screw up something you will spend twice that and then pay it anyway.

Joe

One piece of advice I'd give you BEFORE you do anything to them is to measure the distances between the control arm flanges that the bushings are in. Measure in a couple different places and write the figures down.
Then, after the old ones are out and the new ones are in, you can check to make sure the flanges stayed where they were when the arms were removed from the frame.

You could bore a hole slightly larger than the bushing flange in a piece of 2x4, lay the bushing over the hole and 'wack' them out. Squirt a little PB Blaster around them first.

A bushing press would obviously be the best choice.

I called a local machine shop and they wanted $12 a bushing/ball joint to remove and press in. With 2 in each arm and two ball joints that's about $150. That's one of the reasons I was going to try and do it myself. I think I'll call around and try to get a better estimate. Sound like trying to press the bushings back in myself is not a good idea. I wanted to clean them up and paint also. Should I do that before I take them or wait after?

Thanks
Ray

Wait until after.. theyll just scratch them up anyway.. but taking them in is the safest way.. you could find the correct tools around to do it, but itll be a pain...

Ray,

I've just installed tube a-arms in my '68. I purchased a 12 ton
press at : http://www.harborfreight.com/ for $109.99. You'll need
receiver tubes also. They're just 2 1/2" tubes made of steel, pipe,
or a big ass socket. Save yourself some money and and add a tool
to your collection!

R-Dawg

I did the ones on my current '68 with a hammer, a hacksaw, and a balljoint press. The '67 I did a few years ago I paid a shop to do and they bent the control arms all to hell doing them.

you dont need a ball joint press...wack it out with a big as* hammer....

Yes, you do need a press. Those control arms are very prone to cracking. :sad:

When it comes to suspensions, DO IT RIGHT! If you don't know what you're doing with brakes and suspensions (by using a hammer as a ball joint remover), you are a danger to yourself and everybody on the road.

Thanks for all the input. After all the advice I figured I DID NOT know what I was doing. I picked up all the parts, took them and dropped off at the machine shop. They said they would be ready tomorrow. Without this forum I probably would have attempted it and hacked something up.
I've attempted and done most everything else on my car but some things I let the guys with the knowledge and proper equipment (machine shop) handle it.

Thanks again
Ray

The right tools for a job make it so much easyier and nicer in after it's completed.

Joe

I used my CHEAP trusty, HFT $10 air chisel to remove mine and then I installed them using a length of 1/2" Al-Thread rod and a bunch of different sized washers and a couple of nuts, some lube and a combination wrench and my 1/2" ratchet and needed socket!

About 2.5 or so hours later and I was done!!

He, he!! Gotta big blister in the palm of my hand tho!! Hair ain't gonna grow there for a while!! he, He!!

Oh, and a couple of short 3/8" or 1/2" sockets that will fit on the back of the flanges to keep from callapsing them and a short piece of stout wood 2x stock and a 3 pound FT!!

You use the piece of 2x as a throat spacer to keep from callapsing the throat as you finish the job with the 3 pound "BFT" with the shaft in place!!

Easy, but time consuming! And yes, they wanted about a "C"-Note to do mine!!

pdq67

PS., AND don't forget the shaft!!

Ask me, just ask me!!!