Projects Install King pin set - 51 mercury

Been working on the suspension/steering rebuild for my 1951 Mercury little by little: new front spring coils, shocks, centerlink, tierods both inner and outer, idler arm and King pin

The suspension is A arm and so far pretty good. As for the king pin set, dont have or want to buy a reemer tool ect. Ive called a couple auto/machinist shops in my area (Whittier, CA) BUT so far no one is set up for that type of work anymore...

Can anyone point me to a shop where I can take my spindles and a new king pin set and have installed? Any leads would help.

Thanks

 

I ended up buying a 15/16" king pin reamer but I have more than one Merc. I think I paid 85 bucks plus shipping off of flea-pay. You migh try a suspension shop that does big trucks. Not to many vehicles use the king pins but trucks used them longer than cars did and they were larger diameter.

 

Any good machine shop can hone them for you ! Gary

 

Doesn't your 'A' arm front suspension have replaceable bushings and ball joints, not kingpins?

 

Not in 51', I think 54' was the first year, at least for Ford..

 

Unfortunately 49-51 Mercs have both control arms and king pins. The part called the "upright" thru which the king pin goes is on the right. The spindle fits between the two bushings you see.

 

thanks for the detail drawing 19Fordy. i've never messed with one of these and have a couple questions if dangulo doesn't mind me drifting his thread...are the pin and holes tappered? are you replacing the bushings too, or does everything get reamed out to use an oversize pin? or, can you get new, stock sized bushings and pins, and just replace em'?

thanks

 

Rotowrench, thanks I'll try a shop that does big trucks as you mentioned. For some reason every auto/machine shop I tried so far tells me they are not set up to service the king pins on the uprights.

Fordy19, thanks as always for your feedback and sorry I meant upright support not spindles. BTW I sent you a PM a while back regarding swaybar, not sure if you still have new rubbers for it?

Kursplat, I dont mind - the more info the better for us.

Here are a couple of pics before I removed sping coils.

 

thanks for the detail drawing 19Fordy. i've never messed with one of these and have a couple questions if dangulo doesn't mind me drifting his thread...are the pin and holes tappered? are you replacing the bushings too, or does everything get reamed out to use an oversize pin? or, can you get new, stock sized bushings and pins, and just replace em'?

The bushings are first installed in the uprights so that the grease fitting holes line up with the grease fitting. This compresses the bushing making the ID smaller. The bushings are then reamed to provide a "slip fit" with "zero play" for the king pins. I had mine done at a NAPA store. Hand reaming is not the best method to use to get the best fit. It is not possible to just install new bushings and have the kingpins just "drop in" and fit properly. The bushings have to be aligned when honed to fit the king pins. New king pins will be "stock size" and then the bushings are always reamed to fit the king pins. Otherwise you won't obtain a proper sliding fit with "zero" play..

Since you have your front suspension apart, it might be a good idea to also install new upper and lower control arm bushings, pins and rubber seals. It's quite a bit of work but well worth the effort if your suspension is worn out with plenty of "play." It's something you want to do only once since you have the front end apart already. Take plenty of photos and write notes to detail exactly how everything fits together. Make sure you get copies of the books in the photos. They give detailed instructions on how to disassemble and reassemble the Merc suspension.

I am selling a complete sway bar with new Prothane bushings and brackets that will fit the 49-51 Merc. as shown in the photo above. PM me if interested.

 

I just had a pair done by this guy that came recommended on the stovebolt (chevy truck) forum He charged 120 plus 12 in shipping... I have not gotten them back yet but he shipped them Tuesday so he had them less than a week... King pin sets were 60 bucks locally And the machine shop wanted 65 to hone them but my problem was the bore for the bushings were worn out. If your old bushings slide out with ease then your bores may be too....I don't know if he does Merc but I'd contact him...
http://www.droppedaxles.com/CONTACT_INFO.html

 

When I did my '53 Dodge, I took the spindles to a local garage that also repairs tractors. They popped out the old brass bushings for $25. My new king pin set from NAPA has nylon bushings, no reaming required. The tractor mechanic told me that was pretty much all they used now, if they have that option available.

IMHO, I would find a garage that repairs tractors and buses and get a price quote from them.

 

Dennis Carpenter has the Merc king pin bushing kit.
http://dennis-carpenter.com/car49-59king-pin-bolt-set/c/2844/

 

Grapp, thanks for the website. Will check out and keep in mind. I'm hoping I can do it locally but good to know my options.

Bobacuda, appreciate the info. I do plan to check out shops that do trucks and what not. Also, there is a napa in my that does machine work but they too told me they aren't set up for it and when I asked if they knew of a place that might, the answer was good luck.. lol

19Fordy, last month there was a special running at mac for all steering and suspension (15% discount), I purchased most of the parts with that deal. As for the upper and lower control arm shafts, mac nor dennis carries for Merc 51. They have 52 and up but for some reason that is a year alot of places dont have the shafts. Now I know Kanter has them but prices are a little steep so waiting for a couple of paydays to roll in, then I can order. In the meantime, been checking places like mercuryland and what not. Items I still need are:

Upper/Lower control arm shaft
Upper/Lower control arm bumpers
coil insulators - if not I will try to make some out of hose like you mentioned in a previous post.
And I think that is it. Everything else, I pretty much got from mac.

Oh ya, and the sway bar bushings which I will send you a pm..

 

Actually Sid's is a H.A.M.B O'Dex... I didn't even know he was here..
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=647246
Personally I would shy away from nylon....and did so on the truck~

 

I replaced a set on a 50 & honed them with a wheel cyl hone------it took a while but it worked

 

You really have to know auto parts to find the right control arm kits in old 49/51 Lincoln Mercury replacement parts world. Cadillac and several other earlier GM products used the same uppers & lowers. The complete front end kits on flea-pay are expensive but they are available. It is probably Kanter's stuff.

The reamer I purchased is specifically for 15/16" king pins and only has a small amount of expansion since it is a hollow multi flute reamer with slots cut in between the flutes to allow for that. It is designed with a pilot to fit the lower un-reamed bushing while the upper is reamed and long enough to continue at near 15/16" to remain as a pilot for the cutting of he lower bushing. The bushings come out looking like they haven't even been reamed. The pins can be pushed in by hand easily but won't fall out under the affect of gravity.

The only thing I don't like about the Sunnen hone is that it embeds particles of hone material into the soft metals. This can cause premature wear on the pin. Honing steel bushings is no problem but phosphor bronze is a different story.

 

Danny, A friend of mine has 2 lower inner 51 Merc control arm shafts. I am pretty sure he will sell them cheap. Let me know and I'll send you photos.
Also, coil spring insulators are really hard to find. Use the hose idea. It works just as good.
Rotorwrench is correct. The Kanter kits are expensive, but those parts do pop up on Ebay quite often. One tip re: Merc parts: Buy them when you first see them as they never get cheaper. At least, that's what I found.

 

thanks, pretty much how it looked, but i've screwed myself before just going by "that's how it looked".

 

I have two questions that follow in sequence to what you have already discussed.

First is how do remove those horrible domed "caps" top and bottom of the kingpin? And secondly, how do you remove the bushings?

Thanks,

Tequila Bob

 

Bob, Use a sharp diamond pointed punch or a sharp center punch to remove the domed caps. To make it even easier drill a 1/4 inch hole in the center of each cap first. Then insert the punch. A few hammer blows and you're done.

To remove the old bushings, use an extension and a socket that is just a hair smaller than the bushing. Set socket squarely on top of bushing and strike extension with hammer to remove bushing. A piece of small dia. pipe or a bushing driver will also work.

Be sure to get the Merc manuals if you are going to be working on your front suspension.
They give step-by-step instructions.
There are two . Vol I and Vol II. Click on pics to enlarge.

 

Quick update with my front-end rebuild project. Finally had some time to focus on the Mercury today. Over the last several months its been continuous cleaning and scraping off a thick 3"'s build up of gunk and oil after 60+years on this ole girl.... Did what I could while I saved enough to buy all the suspension/steering parts need for the full rebuild. In the meaning time, sanded and painted sections of the front end frame to clean her up.
I was able to install the upper/lower control arm shafts/bushings, lower control arm bumpers, and new springs. The kingpins were honed at a local machine shop. Here are some pics of where and what it looks like right now.

 

Congratulations. Looks like you did a good job.

 

Slowly but surely.... appreciate all your help as always.

 

Came to a little stump with my project. Long story short, I took alot of pictures before I disassembled the front end, and when I removed the upright supports, left the spindles so the machinist can honed ect. Got the spindles back from machinist, bushings look good, pin is perfect fitting. Next I installed the uprights with coil springs and so on. As I started to put the king pin bearing I noticed I did not have a picture of how exactly it is assembled bc that was taken apart by the machinist (my fault).. My kit came from mac http://macsautoparts.com/1949-59-fo...only-8m-3111-st/camid/F50/cp/JS0R3CHL1084468/

Not really sure how the king pin bearing went together but after reaching out to several of you on hamb (roadsterpu, 19fordy and rotowrench) it got a better idea of what I need to do. This link is helpful to guys or gals that aren't familiar or ever worked on old king pins but willing to learn. Hope this helps.

Also, learned from rotowrench that if you find NOS king pin bearings with ball bearings you might not have to use the spacers bc closer to OEM specs.. good info if anyone cares.
http://www.rareparts.com/pdf/instructions/30227instructions.pdf

Happy holidays friends.

 

This project is complete - WOW what a great learning experience. I'm sure it took me longer than it would normally but parts ain't cheap and knowledge is more valuable. I ended with a rebuilt front suspension (coil springs, control arms with new bushings, shocks front/rear, concentric/eccentric bushings), rebuilt steering (king pins, drag link, tie-rods, idler arm), brakes (inner/outer race, inner outer bearings, seals). At the moment the shoes and drums look meaty so no need to replace at the moment.

This afternoon took the mercury out for a spin and alignment seemed okay. I plan to take it to get an alignment professionally done and see how far off or close I was.

Here's a picture I took today before the wash. Stands pretty nice. Oh ya, need to put my hubcaps back on lol..

 

Congratulations on a job well done. What you did is a lot of work and not a "walk in the park." I am sure you took photos to document your accomplishment. When you get it aligned ask if you can watch and see how it's done. In the Merc Manual it shows a special type of "claws foot wrench" that they used back in the day. Perhaps todays modern tools have a better way of adjusting those eccentric bolts. Also, take a photo of it "on the rack".

 

19Fordy, as always great advice and thanks many for taking your time with descriptive emails that helped answered all my questions. Your help was a big part in getting the project complete.

 

hey guys
I need your help
I would like to install the king pin set, but I can't handle all the washers, can someone tell me where they are installed.

It is a 1950 Merc

greets marcus

 

Just wondering, would the ball joint suspension from a 54 Ford bolt on the Merc if all of it was used?

 

1954 Ford suspension parts are not interchangeable with 1949-51 Merc. Merc parts are larger in size. Here's a good thread.50 mercury front suspension? | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)
Your shim question is answered here. Hot Rods - 1950 Mercury Spindle Shims | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)Shim are used to take out slack between the spindle and the vertical upright. The kit has a selection of shims of varying thickness so that you can select the ones you need. You don't use all of them. Only install the shims you need to reduce vertical "looseness" of fit between spindle pin bushing and upright. You may find that you don't need any shims. Here is an excellent thread that explains and shows the shim install.
King Pin Shims 1950 Merc - The Ford Barn (READ EVERY WORD CAREFULLY.)
Here are some photos that will help in assembling 49-51 Merc suspension.
You have to have the patience of a toothache, so take it slow and take photos.
Be sure to buy the manuals shown below. They are a HUGE help.
I have some of the rubber pieces if you need them and I'll do some searching.