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| | | Re: Tuner4life's Big Ballin, Racecar Haulin, 4 Speed Manual G20 | Joined: Feb 2016 Posts: 41 newbie | newbie Joined: Feb 2016 Posts: 41 | Use an engine hoist through the passenger door to hold the engine and a jack stand and a block of wood under the front of the pan as a safety support. That's how my uncle did it when he replaced the front end of my grandmas van. | | | Re: Tuner4life's Big Ballin, Racecar Haulin, 4 Speed Manual G20 | Joined: Sep 2013 Posts: 1,015 Likes: 19 old hand | OP old hand Joined: Sep 2013 Posts: 1,015 Likes: 19 | I managed to make a "cradle" out of wood that supports the engine nicely with jack stands, then I pulled the crossmember out with a transmission jack. There is only minimal surface rust on the frame of the van which will be easy to clean up and stop. Going to clean those spots up then coat with POR15 also and then 3M rubber undercoat. I also managed to get both lower control arms completely stripped down. Those bushings suck to remove!! No good way to use a press, and my air hammer died. I may have to Pick up a new air hammer tonight because after 2 hours of hammering I am having zero luck removing the bushings from the upper arms . Anyways.. Once I get all the parts that I am reusing stripped down, a friend is going to sand blast them for me and I'll coat all of them in POR15 and rebuild (crossmember included). Should look nice when it's done. I have about a 2 week window to get this project done.. Probably won't happen, but I can hope. Also, I went back to the junk yard that had the 1978 Chevy van and grabbed these taillights. They are not perfect, but should clean up nicely.
Last edited by tuner4life; February 29th 2016 9:33 am.
| | | Re: Tuner4life's Big Ballin, Racecar Haulin, 4 Speed Manual G20 | Joined: May 2007 Posts: 9,854 Likes: 8 Festerus Vannimus | Festerus Vannimus Joined: May 2007 Posts: 9,854 Likes: 8 | I I also managed to get both lower control arms completely stripped down. Those bushings suck to remove!! No good way to use a press, and my air hammer died. I may have to Pick up a new air hammer tonight because after 2 hours of hammering I am having zero luck removing the bushings from the upper arms . it seems to me, last time my Dad and I did control arm bushings, we BURNED them out with a gas welding torch. . . . EPA or some other such place would probably scream doing that today !
My van : 1989 Ford E-150 Econoline, currently named “WOLF-DEN IIâ€
Founder & President of Sooner or Later United Truckers and PROUD TO BE A S.L.U.T. ! !
| | | Re: Tuner4life's Big Ballin, Racecar Haulin, 4 Speed Manual G20 | Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 1,593 veteran | veteran Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 1,593 | Wow good job on that front end restore...
How hard was it to get the whole front end and crossmember out...? How lucj time do you figure you have into it, and are you using air tools for removal...?
I'm considering a full rebuild like that, too... | | | Re: Tuner4life's Big Ballin, Racecar Haulin, 4 Speed Manual G20 | Joined: Sep 2013 Posts: 1,015 Likes: 19 old hand | OP old hand Joined: Sep 2013 Posts: 1,015 Likes: 19 | It actually wasn't all that bad. But keep in mind that there is very little rust on my van. Rusty/stuck bolts would have really made this a giant pain.
I haven't really kept track of time but I would say only a few hours.. Probably 4-5 or so to get everything including the crossmember off the van. I did use air tools. (Impact gun, air ratchet, and air hammer). Also make sure to have a good ball joint/tie rod fork, and a big hammer.
The hardest part so far has been removing the bushings from the control arms.. What a giant pain, and I even have a shop press. I probably have 2-3 hours in getting the lower arms stripped down, and I spent an hour and a half on the uppers and only got the ball joints out. No luck with the bushings.. Although I did break my air hammer in the process.. Maybe it will go faster once that is replaced.. If you are short on tools, it might be best if you took the arms to a shop to have the bushings removed/installed.
So I might have a cool deal going on for my parts. My friend who was going to sand blast the parts for me so I can use POR15 said that his business works hand in hand with a powder coating company. I'm hoping that I might be able to work out some sort of sponsorship deal for the racecar in exchange for having these parts powder coated.. I'm excited, but we'll see what happens.
| | | Re: Tuner4life's Big Ballin, Racecar Haulin, 4 Speed Manual G20 | Joined: Sep 2013 Posts: 1,015 Likes: 19 old hand | OP old hand Joined: Sep 2013 Posts: 1,015 Likes: 19 | So I got confirmation yesterday that I will for sure be getting all of my reused suspension parts as well as the large crossmember powder coated. A good friend of mine is getting me the hook up in a big way. Super excited, but I need to get the rest of the parts torn apart and to him tonight. Gonna be busy! Also these showed up yesterday! Ended up going with MaxTrac 2.5" drop. They seem to have good reviews for a very good price. We'll see how it goes.
Last edited by tuner4life; March 02nd 2016 8:56 am.
| | | Re: Tuner4life's Big Ballin, Racecar Haulin, 4 Speed Manual G20 | Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,389 old hand | old hand Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,389 | Hey stranger! Hell yeah dude you are going for it, you need anything you know where I'm at. Nice score on the taillights, was it at LKQ?
Scott
Live to Ride******Ride to Live 1982 Chevy G20 1998 GMC Savana 1973 GMC Motorhome | | | Re: Tuner4life's Big Ballin, Racecar Haulin, 4 Speed Manual G20 | Joined: Sep 2013 Posts: 1,015 Likes: 19 old hand | OP old hand Joined: Sep 2013 Posts: 1,015 Likes: 19 | This is about how last night went.. Had to burn the bushings out of the upper arms to get them apart. Once I did that I was able to easily press the sleeves out. All of my parts are at the powder coater now. I'm hoping to have them back by the beginning of next week. I have some other parts that should be in around that time, hopefully I can get it mostly put back together next week. | | | Re: Tuner4life's Big Ballin, Racecar Haulin, 4 Speed Manual G20 | Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,389 old hand | old hand Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,389 | A-Arm bushings were such a pain in the ass I said screw it and took them to the shop and them do mine.
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