Philosophical meanderings
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Luva65wagon
(1) I thought you were going to do the work yourself and then have it aligned afterward, but either way should be nice driving it with a new front end.
(2) Are they going to inspect the steering box 'while they'er at it' (WTAI as opposed to WIAI).
(3) The only other thing you could have added, which I think you would have liked a lot, is a thicker front sway bar.
Hello, Roger.
(1) Taking those grease encrusted frozen parts apart would have been a real bear. The mechanic has a lift, the extra tools, and he knows what he is doing. He has a machine to do the alignment. He will probably have it done by tomorrow afternoon. Bingo bango duno.
(2) There is some extra play in the steering. How much is normal? Until the new pitman arm, idler arm, ball joints, etc., are installed I won't be able to tell how much of the play is due to a worn steering box and how much is due to everything else. I did pump the box full of lithium grease about a year ago. I could not add much extra, which showed that the box was almost full of grease to begin with. If it has been kept full of grease, maybe it is OK. Rust probably destroys these things quicker than does wear. I'll see what the steering is like after all the new parts are installed. If I can't say for sure that is a problem, maybe I don't have a problem.
(3) I did give a heavier sway bar some thought. I wondered why if the heavier bar was better, why didn't the Ford engineers specify one insead of the stock 11/16" bar. One guy at work thought that maybe it was economics. If the heavier bar cost 50-cents more and you build two million cars, the heavier bar costs a million dollars. Another guy said that a heavier sway bar makes the suspension stiffer. You sacrifice ride comfort on a bumpy road for less body roll on a sharp turn. Then I considered that the stock bar has been on the car for the past fifty years. Why should I take it off now? What I liked about my car when I bought it was that it was relatively unmolested. I want to leave it as original as I can. The 1963 ride may have had some body roll, but that's what a 1963 ride was and that is part of what makes it different from new cars. Along with its drum brakes, leaf springs, and generator. I can always add a heavier sway bar later, but I would first like to feel what the original ride was like. The new parts that will be installed include new sway bar links and bushings to get the stock bar performing like it is supposed to. I may be happy with it as is.
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The Wonder Falcon is back!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Luva65wagon
(1) Can't wait to hear the report on the front end - and yeah, I get the keeping it stock notion. (2) The rear bushing are actually pretty easy to replace - assuming the nuts come off easy from the shackles. They also see the most movement and wear.
Hello, Roger.
The mechanic installed the new front end parts and I drove the car back home this afternoon. He said that all the parts fit without any problems and to bring it back in a couple of months to align it again after the new bushings and springs have settled in.
Here is the new left lower control arm (with a smear of lithium grease) and you can see the new sway bar end link. I made a u-turn driving home and did not notice any body roll. The stock sway bar seems to be functioning correctly now.
Attachment 4129
The new pitman arm is in the background and you can see the left inner tie rod end. There were some blobs of lithium grease on the tie rod end ball joints that I wiped off with a paper towel. Maybe it got squished out while driving home.
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Here is the new right upper control arm and coil spring. The new springs make the car seem to sit just a bit a little higher in front now and I do not see the lean to the left now that it previously had.
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He put new bolts on the spring tower. These look a bit longer than what was there before. I can look inside and see the new shocks and the new rubber spring insulators.
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Thanks for the advice on the rear suspension. Your description does make the spring shackles sound "pretty easy to install" and I have already ordered two of them. I thought that it was interesting where you said "They also see the most movement and wear." I found this suspension explanation that shows how the shackle swings as the spring moves:
Attachment 4133
Like you said, the shackle makes the most motion and swings forward and back on two pivot points while the front bushing just pivots a little up and down.
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8/31/14 Test Drive Report
I took the car on an 86-mile test drive this morning. At low speed I noticed that the car does not creak and groan anymore while making a tight turn and the stock sway bar now prevents noticeable roll during a normal U-turn. I had to aggressively dive the car into a tight turn to produce significant body roll.
This is someone trying to imitate me:
Attachment 4134
The new suspension parts made themselves most apparent at high speed. I took the car on I-75 north and found that the previous shaking that had been present at above 65 mpg was gone. [yay] Yaaaaaay!!!! The car now runs and handles like it is supposed to. It rides smoothly at 70 mph and it keeps up with highway traffic without drama. The morning air temperature was 76° and the engine temperature gauge never rose above 1/3.
The Falcon is ready for long distance travel!
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The Battle of the Shackle
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Luva65wagon
The rear bushing are actually pretty easy to replace - assuming the nuts come off easy from the shackles. They also see the most movement and wear.
I bought two rear spring shackle sets rather than just the bushings because I thought that the old shackles might be rusted. I bought a little container of silicone grease in the plumbing section of Lowes for $3.33 and used it to lubricate and preserve the rubber bushings. Silicone grease is used to lubricate rubber o-rings and is safe to use on rubber. It is water proof and will not melt. In the upper left of the picture is the replacement standard interior rear view mirror for a 1963 - 1965 hardtop that I bought. The new mirror looks just the original. My original mirror would "droop" and not stay in place and the mirror had turned dark and the adhesive backing could be seen through the through the mirror. I installed the new morror and now the reflection is nice and bright and colorful and the mount is stiff so it should stay in position.
Attachment 4153
Attachment 4157
The left spring shackle came off easily. I removed the nuts and levered the old shackle out with a big screw driver. I was surprised to see that the bushings were actually in good shape. It was only the exposed outer edges that were crumbling. The existing shackle that was removed had some light surface rust but was otherwise in good condition.
Attachment 4154
When I tried to install the new left shackle, I ran into a problem. The top bolt went in straight, but the bottom bolt stuck up at an angle. I compared it to the old shackle and saw that the new one (on right) was bowed in a crescent. The holes in the shackle plate that went with it would not line up with the bolts. I had to sand the rust off the old shackle and re-use it.
Attachment 4155
Then I ran into a second problem. The lower bolt would not go all the way through the shackle and spring and I could not get a nut on it. It turned out that the spring was shifted about and inch to the left of the shackle mount. Is it supposed to be like this? Should/can the spring be moved to the right? I don't see how it can because it is held in position by the front bushing.
Attachment 4156
After a frustrating period of pushing and pulling, I ended up placing my tire iron against the inner left fender and levering the spring to the right and holding it with one hand while using the other hand to push the bolt through, position the other mounting plate, and start the nut. Then I used the tire iron the lever to top of the plate down to get the top hole to line up with the top bolt. Then I tightened both nuts and was done. Maybe the right side will not be as difficult.
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Riding on new greased bushings.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Luva65wagon
Best method would have been to support the body on both sides with the wheels just off the ground. Then place a floor jack under the rear-end and lift it until you see both shackles go neutral (perfectly vertical) - then pull one shackle at a time.
Hello, Roger. I followed your above listed description and installed the other shackle this morning. It went in easily.
I jacked the car up and put a jack stand under each side.
Attachment 4179
Then I put the jack under the differential and raised it until the shackles were straight up and down.
Attachment 4180
I removed the old shackle and saw that the base plate was warped in a crescent shape. The new one was straight. The shackle axles being straight in-line will allow them to rotate within the bushings with less binding.
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I greased the bushings, shackle axles, and the bushing holes in the frame and spring ends with silicone grease. This pictures shows the inserted new greased bushings. Note that the leaf spring is centered under the frame rail.
Attachment 4182
Then I installed the new shackle assembly and tightened the nuts and was done. Cool! The shackle is swung forward because the car was still on the jack stands when I took the picture.
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One note about the silicone grease. The water-proof property that makes it a good plumbing lubricant makes the stuff impossible to wash it off your hands with soap and water. It is best to wear disposable latex gloves if you are going to use it to grease spring shackle bushings as I described.
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People will comment on my attractive leaf spring shackles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
pbrown
One thing to note; those new ones are bare metal so they will rust. You might want to get some black rattle can chassis paint for them.
Thanks for the tip, Pat.
Rust is unattractive. I used a brush and added a coat of primer. Some silicone grease had oozed past the press fit of the lower axle bolt and you can you can see below the bolt where the primer effectively "beaded" and did not stick. Oh, well.
Attachment 4191
I'll add a top coat of black tomorrow.
Next day update:
Is chassis black paint flat or semi-gloss? I painted the shackles with glossy black Rust-Oleum® paint. It was what I had on the shelf, and it will get covered with dust anyway. The paint is still wet in the pictures.
Behold, the painted right shackle! I spread a little paint on the bottom of the frame rail where it had been scraped by the leaf spring while replacing the shackle.
Attachment 4201
Behold, the painted left shackle!
Attachment 4202