460 swap into my 58 fairlane.. need help fellas!

ah dang, that sucks about the leaf springs being wrong. ill look around still, if anything ill order from dearborn or mac auto. but the galaxie springs will definatley fit to raise my front end?

 

Yup, 60-64 galaxie front coils fit right in, but like i said if you use a v8 spring it will raise you an inch or two over stock. For the rear, reverse the shackles will raise u about 2"


-LUKEY-

 

how do you reverse shackles and what is it? ive looked on the hamb before but havent found a detailed 'how to' thread, and when i google it nothing but images of jeeps and lifted trucks come up

 

I'd like to see a pic of a reversed shackle.

And to the original poster, you will probably need a shroud around your fan. pulls more air that way.

 

yeah ill get a shroud before driving it but i need to figure out this leaf spring issue first, i still havent found a reversed shackle photo

 

i havent updated this in a while because well.. i just havent been working on it unfortunatley. low on money, cold weather hurts my body when i work on it. trying to save up for new front coils and new rear suspension right now.

i went to a party not that long ago with a friend and a ton of high school kids were there that i graduated with. all of them asked about my 'car with the spikes' lol, i love that they want me to finish it and miss seein that thing.

so those galaxie coils will definatley raise my front end a few inches to get those headers to clear? i know i cant order the stock v8 fairlane springs because that still wont be enough to raise it about 6 inches

 

i ordered some new front coil springs last night, should ship here by friday at the latest. also got some u-bolts for the back, shorter than the ones i have now. gonna get rid of the 4 inch lowering blocks and bring it back to stock height. gonna see how much it'll raise it. as much as i love the lowered look.... unfortunatley i just cant go that route. gotta do whats best for the life of my car, and if i plan on taking this places, i need this thing more than an inch off the ground.


i do need a request though guys. i've googled it and found some answers, but removing the coil springs. my dad explained it to me and it seems easy enough.... is this something i can do in roughly a few hours you think? the new springs i am getting are 17.77 inches in height. am i going to need a spring compressor and what not to get them to squeeze in there? i havent found any "how to" threads on replacing coil springs, so im assuming its just soooo easy it doesnt need a thread of its own lol

 

Actually removing the coils is the opposite of easy. Yes, you'll need a spring compressor. If you rent one be sure to read the instructions if they come with it. Compressing a spring generates a lot of kinetic energy and if its not done right can hurt you or worse, or cause damage to the car. I saw a guy send a spring across a hobby shop because he didn't use the tool properly. Luckily no real damage was done but I bet he crapped his pants when that thing went flying.
The tools I've used inserted into the center of the spring and compressed it. Once you've done that, you'll need a pickle fork to separate the ball joints from the spindle, but just loosen the nuts at first until you get actual separation. Then SLOWLY lower the A-arm with a floor jack until all parts are loose and movable by hand. Once you've done that you can disassemble everything. Just take your time and be careful. It wouldn't hurt to take pictures as you go so you can see how all the parts go together.
If anyone else has any pointers please chime in as I don't want this young fella to hurt himself. I'm not trying to scare you Jay, just pointing out that you need to respect the power in that spring.
Also, this would be a good time to replace your ball joints and A-arm bushings if they are questionable. Good luck, be careful and know a lot of us are pulling for you.
Eli

 

This will work great, and should not be any expense at all, exept a few minutes of your time. As mentioned, make sure to use jack stands to stabilize the car, and it makes it a lot easier, with a lot more room to work, if you remove the rear wheels, and disconnect the rear shock absorbers from the axle. This will allow the spring to bow farther and allow the shackle to "over center" easier. Just take your time, and be carefull! Spring related projects can have unwanted surprizes, and we don't want to be adding you to a statistic list.

 

As mentioned before, be carefull!!!
Just take your time and think out what will happen on each step. I get scared everytime I deal with springs, And I aint scared of nothin'.

But it isnt hard. Sometimes you have to figure out how to clamp your spring so it will fit back in the hole, with the least amount of compression.

I really havent done a old ford spring to give any real details. All mine have been mustang2 stuff.

 

Yeah, if anybody is with you when you try to reverse the shackle, do NOT let them lay under the car! If crowbar (my dad uses an old model t axle shaft) slips, it can cause some damage. Its not hard, but always safety first! Oh, and dont forget... We want pix!


-LUKEY-

 

This may sound stupid, but has been done many times. Do not place your jackstands under the rear axle. place them under the frame, so your rear axle can hang free after your shocks and tires are removed. It is kinda' fun watching someone try to reverse shackles with the car weight on the axle, but its not much fun for the person doing it!!

 

my coils got here monday. they are SO NICE, and much bigger than the ones in my '58 now.

i have jury duty this week so im not sure if i'll get to it or not, but ill rent the spring compressor tool from o'reilly's, and give it a shot...

i had a photo of my front end and i asked my dad how to do it. he kinda made it clear on how to do it, but still, all these things im seeing about 'be careful! its dangerous!' is kinda makin me nervous. i dont wanna do it wrong obviously, but i've never done it before, so im trying to find the most detailed instructions with photos i can before going over there, but so far no luck with the photos, just everything you guys are describing (which is helpful i should mention, thanks guys)

also ill be getting my new u bolts this week for the rear, and ill take out the 4 inch lowering blocks. i took this picture on christmas eve for a comparison. i started on this april 4th of 2011, looking back, i accomplished alot in 2011 and 2012 should be the year it gets to see the streets again:

 

Here are the best instructions I can come up with for the front springs.

Looking at the picture posted on your thread on 5-31-11 by mike miller.

1. remove shock
2. remove sway bar link from bottom a arm
3 put jack stand under a arm just to help catch it if needed
4 loosen nut on ball jount about 2 turns.
5 hit the area on the spindle below the nut with a BFH. that should pop the taper loose and seperate the spindle from the ball jount stud.
6 raise the a arm up with the floor jack until weight of car is on it.
7 put the spring compressor up through the shock hole and compress spring.
8 make sure spring compressor wont slip off. wear leather gloves for safety.
9. remove the nut and lower jack stand and you should be able to take the lower a arm down out of the way to get spring out.
10. Just reverse everything to re install.

Its really hard to do a step by step but i hope this helps.
If anyone want to add anything feel free.

you might even be able to loop a small chain through the spring for safety, just to keep it from flying at you if it happens to get away.
Im not trying to scare you, just dont want you to get hurt.

 

THANK YOU! you couldnt have posted this at a better time..
i went over there today and rented a coil spring compressor today.
i jacked the front end up and started looking at everything and had no idea where to begin.. so i stopped :/

but ill be off work tomorrow and try it out. i've come this far and done 95% of everything by myself, so this only makes me more determined to figure this out.
thanks again, ill keep you all posted

 

man today blew. i did exactly what you said, but didnt even get past number 1.

okay i took pics but im charging the battery on my camera right now, ill load them later.
but the two bolts at the bottom of the shock.. well, there was an issue.

on both sides, one bolt came out.
the other two kept turning as i tried loosening them. yes i tried putting a wrench on the other end, but thats the thing, it wasnt a hex head or anything, it was like a clip thing. i tried pushing a screwdriver against it, vice grips, everything to stop it from turning but to no avail.

i considered gettin the grinder out, but i didnt wanna risk that before posting on here to see if there were any other solutions.

 

So hows it going?????


-LUKEY-

 

eh.... its going. i've been over to my grandmas about 5 times since my last post. i've rented a coil spring compressor 3 times, each time, a failed attempt at getting them out. i ran out of time for the rental period so i returned it. i cant seem to get it, nor do i have the time with school and work. it sucks. i really wanna raise it but i'll be darned if i cant get it. and my dad cant help because of his condition obviously. so its just trial and error and re-reading everything i've posted on the hamb and everyone's answers

 

Next time you rent the compressor ( or just go to the store) get a pic of it so we know which style it is and we can tell you how to use it. Or just ask the guy at the parts store, they should be able to tell you. Most of them you remove the shock ( 2 bolts from the bottom and a nut on the top of the a arm) the compressor goes in where the shock was and just compresses the springs. When it compresses the spring enough that it is loose between the a arms, you can unbolt the lower control arm from the spindle and remove the spring. U will have to compress the new spring when you put it in also.

 

the one i got the first time was your basic compressor with the two moveable adjustable arms on the bottom, and on the top a fork like thing slid between the springs. i never used that one yet but it looked like it would work better than the other ones i had rented.

i had one with the adjustable arms on both the top, and bottom. which made it impossible to tighten it and keep the coil compressed. wasn't enough room. so today ill go rent the first one i got and never had the chance to use. the guy at o'reilly's name is Jay. he's been seeing me for almost a year now buying parts. he loves my story and lets me go in the back where the employees work to get my parts. so he's been helpful and has told me how to use it.



also i was only able to get the lower arm loose where it bolts to the sway bar. the other part hasn't budged yet. i've been smacking it with a hammer countless times but nothing moved. i was hoping maybe if i get the spring compressed enough then lower the arm, since its loose and moving where it meets the sway bar, it'll break the other piece loose too.

ill have to take new photos, im horrible at terminology

 

The ball joints can be stubborn. But dont compress the spring until you get the ball joint loose. If you have jack stands under the frame, then loosen the ball joint nut a couple of turns, the you have the pressure of the spring trying to seperate the ball joint from the spindle. It takes a BIG hammer with solid heavy blows. There are fork tools and maybe pullers that also will work but that is the best way I have found. Soak the taper area with wd40 before might help.
good luck

 

I would suggest not renting the spring compressor until you can get the lower ball joint loose, at least that way you won't have paid for it yet, right?

Take your time, you'll get it figured out. Loosen the nut one or two turns (make sure that the car is securely supported on jackstands), and take some good swings at the flat, raised section just below the nut and it will eventually pop loose....

 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xrL5lgkgZic" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

hopefully this video helps out guys...

 

Jay it looks like you're on the right track, you just have to whack the hell out of the pickle fork. Its a taper fit between the spindle and lower ball joint and the pickle fork will force this apart. Just be ready for the bang when it comes loose. I'd suggest putting a floor jack just under the lower control arm, but you want to leave it just loose enough for the spring to push the lower control arm down a little bit when the pickle fork does its job.

 

try turning the pickle fork over and get a bigger hammer u can also pop the top one

 

i spent a good two hours whacking at that. with the fork, and without the fork. trying every possible way to get it to budge. sprayed PB blaster on there several times. some lubricant, some wd40, kept trying and trying. nothin :/

i guess i just gotta keep whacking away at it. i'll put the jack under it just in case. to be honest, you cant see it in the video, but my spring is very loose already. it FEELS like i could slip it out possibly but there's no way i'd try that. i'm gonna get a chain and tie it to something close so it doesnt fly off just in case.

 

can u put the wheel on it turn it tight to the left on the ground then whack it if the spring is lose it is safe no need for a chain safety

 

How big is the hammer you are using?

The bigger, the better.

I have never used a pickle fork for a balljoint.

By hitting the spindle, you are trying to deform and move the metal enough to get the taper to release.

Find yourself a 1 lb. hammer, and swing the F out of it. If you are saying that there isn't much force left in the spring, that could be part of your problem- using the spring force is very helpful to getting the joint to seperate. You might try to jack up somewhere else on the knuckle (not on the lower control arm) to put some load in the spring, and then try and hit it again...

 

Agreed, pickle fork should be rotated. What you need to do is to support the lower a-arm with a jack or jack stand. This will take the weight off the spindle and make it less difficult to remove. (In place of the pickle fork technique)Take two hammers and put a hammer on one side of the spindle (where the ball joint is) and use the other hammer to hit the other side of the spindle. The hammer blows being stricken should allow the spindle to ball joint to become loose. If after this method the ball joint is not loose, then try the pickle fork. You really need a 4 lb sledge or better to hit the pickle fork with.

Another possiblility is to procure a ball joint removal tool that works similar to a gear puller, except that it operates opposite. What it does is that it slides between the ball joint and the spindle. Then you tighten the bolt and it then puts pressure to move the ball joint and spindle away from one another. Harbor Freight sells these tools and aren't too expensive. Item #99849, with a price of $19.99. Check it out at www.harborfreight.com

Hope this helps. If nothing helps, you can always heat the spindle arm and then use the tools to remove.

 

.. to be 100 percent honest with you, i kind of dont understand how this works lol. right now im using a pretty big hammer to be honest! hammering away blow after blow. ill try some of the stuff you guys suggested, ill try to get an even bigger hammer if i have to and pretend that thing is my first ex.

thanks guys ill let you know if anything new happens. its just gettin frustrating but it'll get done eventually