IML: Trials & Tribulations of a Shade Tree Mechanic. LONG READ

[jcmartin@xxxxxxxxx (Jim Martin)]

Greeting's:
   The springs are mounted on the 39/C24.
What an ordeal !   I don't want to mess with that job ever again.  Parts
for a 66 year old car are made out of unobtainium
so I had to go with the parts I removed which is another story.  My 275#
son had to use a two ft. cheater bar to remove the bushing from the rear
spring shackles. At 125#'s I added a 2 ft. cheater to his bar. I swear,
that car is built like a Locomotive and all the parts are beyond heavy !
I
could probably hire on to the Union Pacific
if I didn't like retirement so well. My hats off to Betts Springs in San
Leandro, CA.
for their customer service & quick turn around. (3 days) The price for
the two rear leaf springs wasn't cheap. When I replace the shocks, my
outlay will total over one grand. I don't say this to brag but rather to
alert IML members what it can cost. If I'd had a shop do the job I'd be
signing up for food stamps.  :) I'm happy to have a Pit in the garage.
It made a tough job easier than working off a creeper.  

   AND THEN I had what I thought was a rear brake cyl. leaking turned
out to be
lubricant from the differential leaking past the seals & on  to the
brakes. Some one prior to me had used chassis lube for the rear bearings
rather than the proper lube.
I had to remove the backing plate & axle
to remove the inner axle seal. Fortunately,
my local CarQuest parts store was able to
cross reference the 1939 Chrys.# for the seals  which will be here
tomorrow. In the process I had to disconnect the brake line.
Oh well, it was time to change the silicon
fluid any way. Another stroke of luck was
removing the 14" brake drum with the helfer strong drum tool that I
bought from a co-worker 30 years ago for $15.00. I used a 10# brass
hammer to no avail and
contrary to other advice I've read on the
IML, I used a propane torch on the HUB
while rotating the drum. A piece'a cake !    Bad news is,  I'm going to
have to do the same to the other rear  drum & axle. To remove the axle I
replaced the nut & washer & used an old fly wheel on the
 axle as a slide hammer. Works fine.

That's All Folks
Jim

 
  http://www.imperialclub.com/yr/1939/limo/martin/index.htm



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