Technical A Kid's First Project: 1957 Fairlane 500 Town Victoria.

got the sleeves out, how loose should the bushing ride on the center piece? one side is tight the other is loose

 

Cat, I'm not positive on what you are showing, but if that outer bushing sleeve is still in the arm and needs to be removed, the slow safe way is to get a hacksaw in there and slit it. or the fast way, an air chisel. Hope someone who has experience helps. My 57 Ford was an altered with a straight axle.

EDIT: you replied while I was trying to find a picture of the ol 57.
Were all components bagged and tagged? Does the other side pair also have one tight, one loose?

 

i just used my puller and it came out gently, the inner sleeve was split on one side for easy removal, the components are placed in order on my table, they are the same front and rear. both were very tight due to rust buildup. i hope i dont need new shafts

 

siphoning old gear oil, didnt get any in my mouth this time...

this is the split sleeve i was referring to.

 

yeah, common for inners to be split. I looked for any new videos, but it was the same 57 in Spanish I already posted and a bunch of GM or generic ones. Hope one of the Ford guys shows up and has 1st hand info.

 

one of the rubber "donuts" on the ball joint has split, and i cant find a replacement, any ideas what the actual name is?

 

OK, trying to keep up here. If the split sleeve you are referring to comes from the bushing, just chuck them and buy new ones. I THINK I used a vice to reinstall them. As far as the rubber cover of the ball joint you can buy new urethane ones from Summit-I think. I remember seeing a post on buying new grease boots for ball joints I just can't remember where I saw it. It was either here, Fordbarn or 57 Fords forever forum but I am want to say it was here.

Mike

 

Rubber the right way had what i needed .
got the other side out in less than 15 mins, once it was out ive set out to do engine mounts, simple job with the lower A arms gone glad i did it now, i have a transmission mount incoming so i'll have all new rubber there too.
i have new bushings aswell, they will be installed tomorrow, got any pics from how you did it in your vice?

 

any sane person would have just scrapped it a long time ago.

lucky for it, i am far from sane, so itll be fixed slowly over time, i plan on learning to do metalwork next year, going to @alanp561s sons house to learn mig and tig, then learn how to shape simple non external sheetmetal with masking tape, probably using hammers...

 

Tackle the easier stuff first, to gain experience, and if possible do the passenger side first, the second one is always better and easier (the side you see!).
I dig Carter Auto Restyling, he's got the chops to do quality metalwork.

Again, mine didn't have a stock motor, so I can't say for sure, but if there is a freeze plug/welch plug/core plug/expansion plug behind the motor mount and you have the engine supported and the mount off, it would be a good time to change out that couple dollar part.Sucks the coolant has to be drained, but better now than if it pops later who knows where.
https://www.fordmuscleforums.com/threads/expansion-plugs-for-352-fe.606937/

 

mine all appear fresh for some reason, all are shiny and almost new looking? i might change them regardless but it appears it was changed before, or has survived in good condition there are none behind the motor mount though

 

before i go to bed i got one more thing done, new leaf spring shackle bushings

 

I did front end work for more than a few years. Almost everything came out with an air chisel. I could turn down the pressure for more finesse.

The one thing to watch for is the shaft itself being worn. You can live with a little flat on it, anything like deep gouges and the shaft should be replaced. Most that worn are noisy and owners/drivers will notice.

Everything goes back together with lubriplate or never-seize. Do the final tightening of the bushings with the weight on the front end. Drop it on the ground and give it that last 1/4 turn. The same goes for the lowers.

 

Let me check my pics on the computer, I don't think I do but I might. I also bought a tool that has multiple sized 'sockets' to install bushing and I will take a pic of that which may help.

 

got the lower suspension bushings in, did some general maintenance on the car, but im struggling with the upper bushings

 

got the back two shocks off, the bushings will go on this far, but no further... i think i messed up

 

i made the mistake of not fully closing the jack , my leaf spring shackles are now inverted. help?

 

used a prybar, who knew shocks were so important.

 

Take jumper cables hooked to a 12 volt battery and put the ground on the armature shaft, and touch the commutator with the positive run it all the way around the com and see if you get any sparks. The commutator should be insulated from ground, you may get light sparks from brush dust that may clear. Clean between each bar on the commutator with a hack saw blade. Brush dust will sometimes give you an ohm reading to ground but won’t necessarily mean the com is grounded.

 

Front generator bearing is a 6203 rear is a 6200

 

yep! i have those on the way already, along with another set of brushes... the wire desoldered from the base and i want spares when i go to fix this

 

got nothing at all, think its good then?

 

It shows it’s not grounded, you can’t check to see if it shorted without a growler. So that’s as far as you can go for now. Take the jumper cables and put them on the two field coil posts, you should get a light blue spark between the posts. If you get no spark then the fields are open and bad.

 

im getting ready for bed now, but will do this tomorrow. the front bearing was nearly locked solid.

 

worked on some electronics today, new bearings, new brushes, a new condenser, and the generator is good to go!

went ahead and fixed the horrible rattle the blower motor made, the backing ended up just being bent, oh well. the brass bushing/bearings got some machine oil to help preserve them.

strange to think it was a person who assembled this all those years ago, its got the original factory markings on the motor

 

Sorry for the late reply but here is a picture of the tool I got off of Amazon for the bushings. I don’t have any pics of me assembling the A arms. But if I remember right the upper shafts were a bit loose side to side.

 

i found a tool specifically for doing shaft type bushing on sale for 45 dollars, its on its way and will be here sometime this week.

 

does anyone have a picture of their tie rods? i think i have a bent tie rod looking at it closer