Ollie, I am ready to order my ball joints and bushings. What parts co.
sold
you the moog's for$48 ?....................MO
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ollie" <satellite1965@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 9:45 AM
Subject: Re: Front Ends Ollie's Ramblings
>
> Just ordered some lower ball joints for my Petty Stock car project.
> NAPA
>
> wanted $65 for MOOG. My parts lady got them (MOOG) for $48.
> Ollie
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Watters" <tomwatters@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 9:01 AM
> Subject: Re: Front Ends Ollie's Ramblings
>
>
>>
>> I rebuilt my whole front-end for peace of mind, but I did know a few
>> key
>>
>> parts were bad before I did.
>>
>> The outer tie-rod ends on both side were sloppy. The Pitman Arm ball
>> was
>> quite loose in it's socket and the drivers side upper and lower ball
>> joints had decent play. Yes the car would hold alignment and only cut
>> tires a little. The car only wandered a little on the highway, but I
>> wanted the peace of mind to KNOW what I was driving on the road.
>>
>> There's no way I would have paid someone $2,000 to rebuild it though.
>> I
>>
>> spent about 8 hours or so, plus < $400 on parts. I borrowed ball
>> joint
>> sockets and a Pittman arm puller from my friend, and because I wasnt
>> saving anything, just used a pickle fork to remove the components.
>> The
>> only problem I had was drivers side LCA bolt was stuck and would not
>> come
>> out. A cedar 4x4 and an 8lb sledge drove that out.
>>
>> Then took it to an alignment person who I got recommendations from by
>> my
>>
>> local club members. It needs to be someone who's had good success
>> with
>> these old mopar's. No matter what the young alignment guys tell you,
>> there is some finess to these cars and not just anybody should be
>> trusted
>> in doing it. Algined one time the right way, instead of having pull,
>> wandering problems or cutting tires..
>>
>> --Tom
>>
>> 62pluckedchicken@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
>>> I have an appointment with Auto Fitness in Omaha (MO recommended)
>>>
>>> I'm gonna have them look at and see what they say.. I wasn't gonna
>>> tell
>>> about the other guy.. just see what work they think need immediate
>>> attention..
>>> The "2K guy" made me feel like I was driving the "Death-Mobile" and
>>> was
>>> taking my life in my own hands every time I drove it... I've been
>>> driving around in-town since (about 8 weeks)... and haven't seen the
>>> tunnel of light yet ;)
>>>
>>> Ollie wrote:
>>>
>>>> Think I would write that guy off. Was trying to get him a good job
>>>> with
>>>> endless pockets. He ain't the only game in town. New shocks help any
>>>> vehicle. Change those and see what u got.
>>>> You high speed is it a shimmy or viberation? Do a careful inspection
>>>> of
>>>> your steering componets. A shimmy may be caused by loose or worn
>>>> rubber
>>>> bushings. The strut rod rubbers are bad about getting old and your
>>>> rod
>>>> moves a bit.
>>>> Only fix whats broke..the other will fly apart soon enough..lol
>>>> The interior looks great by the way.
>>>> Ollie
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: <62pluckedchicken@xxxxxxxxx>
>>>> To: <1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 5:32 PM
>>>> Subject: RE: Front Ends Ollie's Ramblings
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> I was starting to come to the same conclusion.. without really
>>>>> knowing
>>>>> the technical reasons...
>>>>>
>>>>> The guy who quoted me $2K to do the front end, also told me my
>>>>> radiator
>>>>> was shot, leaking, and I would start to have over-heating
>>>>> problems.. I
>>>>> check my radiator once a week and the fluid is still in the same
>>>>> place,
>>>>> and I drove it around town for an hour in 96 degree temp.... it did
>>>>> not
>>>>> over heat...
>>>>>
>>>>> he said my floor pans would need to be replaced, but the under
>>>>> coating
>>>>> is still in tact, and I've been walking around on them while
>>>>> re-upholstering and haven't felt any weakness.. (how does he know
>>>>> they
>>>>> need replacing?)
>>>>>
>>>>> the $2K for the front end was just the beginning of what he wanted
>>>>> to
>>>>> do.. the laundry list of things he said was bad on my car would
>>>>> cost
>>>>> about $8K to $9K to do (at his rates)...
>>>>>
>>>>> by the time he was done with his inspection, I was almost afraid to
>>>>> drive the car home, and still haven't taken it on the Interstate
>>>>> since
>>>>> then.
>>>>>
>>>>> I thought maybe he knows what he's doing because he has a real
>>>>> sweet
>>>>> hemi-charger he restored, testimonials on his site, and he's been a
>>>>> sponsor of the HiPo Mopar event here in town for several years.
>>>>>
>>>>> My suspension IS sloppy at high speeds, but I now believe maybe
>>>>> just
>>>>> ball joints and new shocks might do the trick (the old shocks look
>>>>> pretty damn old)
>>>>>
>>>>> If it turns out a I need to.. I've now bought all the parts for a
>>>>> complete suspension over-haul.. so I'm ready for the worst, but
>>>>> hoping
>>>>> I
>>>>> can get on the highway without tearing the front end apart ;)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Ollie wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I am somewhat perplexed about the front end issues that come up
>>>>>> here.
>>>>>> I
>>>>>> cannot believe that a front end is totally wore out and will cost
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> few
>>>>>> thousand dollars to overhaul.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Most our cars do not have the mileage on them to be a total
>>>>>> disaster.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> From my 2 cent view, the only items that would normally need to be
>>>>>> replaced would be first, the lower ball joints and second LCA
>>>>>> bushings.
>>>>>> The way that our cars are set up with no coil springs there is not
>>>>>> usually that much wear and tear on the upper ball joints. The
>>>>>> third
>>>>>> item
>>>>>> that may be of issue would be the A-frame bushings. Here more than
>>>>>> likely you have just wore out rubber. A squeak that drives u
>>>>>> crazy.
>>>>>> As
>>>>>> far as outer tie rod ends, they just don't go bad unless they
>>>>>> have
>>>>>> been
>>>>>> run on real bad lower ball joints or severely out of line, ie
>>>>>> toe/in
>>>>>> out. Inner tie rods last forever, same as pitman arms and idler
>>>>>> arm.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> All parts can be inspected. Don't let rotted cracked rubber tell
>>>>>> you
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> part is bad. Take your pry bar and pipe wrench and try to more tie
>>>>>> rod
>>>>>> ends, pitman arms, idler arms. A good wack with a stress relieving
>>>>>> hammer on the drag link will cause something bad to move. If there
>>>>>> is
>>>>>> no
>>>>>> play.its good. Grease it and go.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Lower ball joints and LCA bushings can be changed at home. Of
>>>>>> course
>>>>>> you
>>>>>> will have to take the lower control arms to a machine shop to be
>>>>>> pressed.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> One more bit of rambling. Change your torsion bars first before
>>>>>> you
>>>>>> do
>>>>>> anything. I put this off until one of my last projects.
>>>>>> WRONG..should
>>>>>> have been my first act of terrorism. It will improve your Mopar so
>>>>>> much
>>>>>> your will think you just bought it new.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ollie
>>>>>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> ----
>>>>> Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one
>>>>> person --
>>>>> directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and
>>>>> negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the
>>>>> intended
>>>>> recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will
>>>>> protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune
>>>>> the content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks!
>>>>>
>>>>> '62 to '65 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:
>>>>> http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----
>>> Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person --
>>> directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and
>>> negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended
>>> recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will
>>> protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune
>>> the
>>> content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks!
>>>
>>> '62 to '65 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:
>>> http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html.
>>>
>>
>>
>> ----
>> Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person --
>> directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and
>> negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended
>> recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will
>> protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune
>> the
>> content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks!
>>
>> '62 to '65 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:
>>
>>
>
>
> ----
> Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person --
> directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and
> negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended
> recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will
> protect
> your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content
> signal to Mopar topic. Thanks!
>
> '62 to '65 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:
>
>
>