After sitting for a long period of time, reassembled but not driveable, the front clip was once again removed and the suspension work commenced. The suspension, though not worn out because it had been maintained as needed, was not new. The other reason to tear into it was that the frame and suspension had been painted while still assembled, the effect and look was not what it should be for a complete restoration. Hence, the complete suspension front and rear would be disassembled. Each component would be replaced, reconditioned, powder coated or painted.
Hood, cowl, grill, fenders, inner fenders, and front bumper were all removed for easy access and to be reconditioned.The core support, radiator, fan shroud, and hard A/C lines still need to be removed. The suspension is now as perfectly accessible.Note how the control arms, control arm shafts, shims, steering gearbox, etc, are painted the same color.Tie rod ends, Pittman arm, Because the steering gearbox was on the frame when it was painted, this section of the frame did not receive any paint. This would be the time to primer and paint this section.Again, ball joints, brake hoses, rotor dust shields were all painted while assembled; not the level of restoration We were going for.Control arms have been removed and upper and lower ball joints are being extracted. The tops of the rivets were ground off. The remainder of the rivets were pounded out with an air hammer. Any dents to the control arms caused by the air hammer were filled in with JB Weld. JB Weld had to be used since the control arms would be powder coated which includes baking the metal at high temperatures.Tools used to remove the ball joints; compressor, cutting wheel, air hammer, air drill, and impact ratchet.
