Two wheels down

Post date: Aug 6, 2013 1:43:39 AM

.... two to go!

It was so hot that I forgot to get a pic with the wheels on the ground!

After much delay, we got the front suspension and brakes mounted. Now it rolls on two wheels!

The fancy a-arms and balljoints are, indeed, very flexible. The lower ball joints became quite stiff once pressed in, almost as though the arm forces the housing into an oblong shape. Once mounted and with a spindle I was still able to articulate them through the full range and very smoothly, so I'm hoping all is OK. Per Mark at SC&C, they will firm up when mounted. Seems odd.

We also got the rear ends swapped around again. Now I need to tear down the 4.10's, clean and paint. I'm still toying with the idea of changing gears, so need to build some spreadsheets and make a final decision.

As a bonus, we swapped the 'parts car' steering gear over to the other Cutlass, as my old unit has leaked horribly for years, yet this one appears to be in good shape.

Also, the pitman arm nut is 1-5/16". That's a difficult socket to find!

I'm using the black oxide agent from Caswell. Very simple and very easy. I got both the 'penetrating sealer' and 'caswell sealer'. While the Caswell is twice as expensive, some quick tests look like the penetrating is actually a better sealant.