Dominic and I have spent many hours on the front end rebuild. The dissassembly took about 4 hours. I'd estimate we have about 60 hours in the rebuild. We began with a complete rust removal with sand paper and a wire wheel on a drill. After much clean up, the parts were labled, identified, and spayed with a rust conversion paint. The rust conversion paint takes any rust and converts it to a paintable surface. After this prep, the surface was painted with several coats of rustoleum.
After the rust removal, it was time to replace the king pins and link pins. These critical suspension items required a trip to Ken Friends shop for use of his expertise and a heavy duty hydraulic press. With the king pins installed, it was time to focus on the brakes and braking components. Dominic cleaned and painted the backing plates and I enlisted the help of good friend and all around expert Jimmie W. who stopped by and helped with the brake install.
Today, Dominic and I spent some time measuring for the net tie rod ends. Like the king pins/link pins these measurments were critical for the suspension install. We used a measuring tape, string, and a make shift plumb bob to be certain that our tie rods and ends were exactly correct. We'll do a final measurment to make sure that everything is still correct before we bolt on the wheels and tires.
While the front end assembly was out, we were also able to replace the master cylinder and front brake lines. This should make the car safe to drive. Hopefully this week, we'll turn the car around and begin a similar refit to the rear end of the car. Then it will be safe for Dominic to drive around town.
