Might as well go all the way - dropping the K member and suspension

[Dino]

After finding the issues with the steering linkage and planning on replacing the front drums with discs, I might as well remove all of it and rebuild it right.  Dropping the K member will also give me the opportunity to beef it up a bit with the firm feel kit.

I just unscrewed the torsion bar adjuster bolts and removed the rear clips.  The bars do not feel loose at all but there's a lot of gunk everywhere.  I don't have the special bar removal tool but since the whole shabang is coming out, do I really need it? 

I was thinking of dropping the K member with everything attached so I can put it on a dolly and wheel it into the driveway to clean up the mess before dismantling everything.  I loosened the nuts on the K member in front of the torsion bars, but the threads started spinning.

How should I proceed?  If I need to remove components before dripping the K member then that's what I'll do, doesn't matter to me.

I'm going back out to PB blast the K member bolts and remove the brake hoses.  The hard lines are already removed.

[tsmithae]

I made my own seeing as I don't have a huge budget... Hope it helps.

2 pieces of 2x4 about 10" long
1 piece of 1.5" rubber hose about 5" long
1 u-bolt about 6" deep and 3" wide





I too plan to make dolly for the k-frame so I can assemble everything and lower the car down over it.

[Dino]

Smart!   

I figured it all needs to cme apart anyway so I started unbolting things.  Ended up removing LCA's and torsion bars together which worked really well.  Torsion bars came right out of the LCA's once the unit was out.  One of the large castle nuts holding the drum backing plate to the knuckle is dead stuck so I unbolted the UCA and removed the whole thing.  I need to apply heat to the castle nut and with all the grease there I didn't want to risk a fire under the fender.  It'll be safer in the backyard.   

Every single bushing on the front is shot, the one on the passenger side LCA shaft was gone.  I will need to rethink the situation and consider upgrades.  I'd like to do this only once.   

All that's left is the sway bar on the K member and the strut rods on the K member which are spinning.  I'll put two nuts on the rear end of the struts and counter them to remove the front nuts.  Or maybe I should buy new ones, I dunno.

Of course I don't have the socket to fit over the 4 K member bolts so I'll have to get one of those.  I hope I can get them out without an impact wrench...

[tan top]

  give everything a good soaking in WD40 or similar !    apart from the floor pans & trunk floor I replaced on mine back in 89   , every thing on the under side  , looked like a 3 years old car ,  no rusty bolts or anything either , but  , because I over think things & just incase type thing , I drilled a 1/8" hole in the frame rail  both sides  , so I could drown the rear K frame bolts in WD40 , a couple of days before I started the strip down ,  just simply filled then with sealer , when I came to paint the car    , see picture below

[Dino]

Good thinking!  I got them soaked though with a long spray nozzle.  I still didn't get the socket though.  What size are these bolts anyway?