Gramma's Car: the new project!

[drdave69]

Those tires sure make it look better. Who knew that 2 more inches would make a difference. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/blush.gif[/img]

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

And as usual anything tied to NJSteve has a shout out to Evaporust:-)

Ryan

[njsteve]

With the amount I go through, I should at least get a discount! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

They should sponsor the next &quot;newest, newer, part 7&quot; restoration:-)

Ryan

[Dave Rifkin]

Not bad for someone who knows nothing about Pontiacs................. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/hmmm.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

Hey, I'm a slow learner... [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/dunno.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

Well it's a little slow around here so I decided to take apart the front suspension on Gramma's car. At 80,000 miles I figured that it was about time. It's always the annoying little stuff that takes the longest...like getting 42 year old cotter pins out. UGH! Or removing the upper control frame nuts and then discovering that the upper control arm won't come off if the engine is there. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img] So, I had to tap the knurled bolts back out of the frame so the upper arms could come out.





Here's the pile of greasy old parts:

[njsteve]

And here is the problem for the day. I noticed that the driver's sde lower ball joint nut was really easy to remove (after spending 30 minutes getting the fused cotter pin out.). When I turned the spindle to get clearance I noticed that it moved on a stanrge arc instead of on a normal pivot.

Well here is the reason: the original lower ball joint stud had been loose for who knows how many decades. It probably was improperly installed from the factory, and it completely oblonged the mounting hole.

Does anyone have a spare driver's side second gen Camrao or Firebird spindle they want to get rid of?

[njsteve]

And here's another glitch. It seems that the factory had some issue over the upper control arm bushing nuts coming loose so they tack welded the front driver's side nut on. I have seen this on other 1975 cars. It is only on the front nut of the driver's side.




The passenger side does not have the tack weld but does have a different lock nut on the rear of the stud.

[seventieshow]

&quot;And here's another glitch. It seems that the factory had some issue over the upper control arm bushing nuts coming loose so they tack welded the front driver's side nut on. I have seen this on other 1975 cars. It is only on the front nut of the driver's side&quot;

I have a 1971 Camaro with the same thing on the passenger upper forward bushing nut. Car is unrestored (but needs it). I always thought it was done by an alignment shop, but now you have me wondering. It is the same style of nut like the one in your picture.