Thread: 39 Ford (Coast to Coast) Rebuild

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On the bottom, I think there should be another "washer" to capture the rubber.. and protect / support it from the mount on the frame.

A washer on the top side of the lower rubber bushing would not be correct. The bolt going through the bushings looks to be a lot smaller than the holes in the sway bar and the mount on the A-arm. The bushings need to be centered on the mounting holes and the nuts tightened to produce some squash on the bushings. If the nuts won't squash all of the bushings, it's not the right setup.

I would disagree that a washer doesn't belong! If you put that bushing against that little tube.. it's toast!

Here's a picture of a stock setup.... note, there's a washer to "capture" the bushing top and bottom. One end would go to the sway bar, and the other end the frame.

34_40

Your picture shows just what I intended to say - there's only two washers for what I'd call a pair of bushings- one on top and one on the bottom. The sway bar or A-arm mount goes in between the two bushings and tightening the nuts provides the preload to hold everything in place.

In the picture posted by autotec, you can see both washers on the top bushing pair, where it's mounted to the sway bar, but the A-arm obscures the view of the upper half of the lower bushing pair. You can't see the bushing or whether there's a washer on top of it.

Originally Posted by autotec

Alright, I'm stumped. I just went back to the front suspension after spending some time on the engine and I can't figure out how the sway bar links are supposed to work on the front. As you can see in the picture, the front link goes through a sleeve in the control arm. I could just butt the bushings up against the sleeve, but I bet they will tear over time. I quickly installed the link just to show what I'm talking about. The only thing I can think is I'm supposed to use a different type of link, but this is what it shows to use.
Thanks, Justin

Justin,
Can you show us a picture of the sway bar link alone, with all of the bushings, washers & nuts that you believe to be right, and a picture of the sway bar & A-arm where it fits?

When I see this picture.. something is missing! That little tube on the bottom is going to eat that bushing for lunch!

If you go back to your post #52 it looks like your sway bar link has a solid shaft with two washers captured in the middle with threaded shafts top and bottom. The picture shows only one bushing on top with a dished washer pulled down into the top of the sway bar which I don't think is right - IMO it needs a bushing on the captured washer, the sway bar end, another bushing on top with the dished washer atop that bushing, then the lock nut to pre-load the bushings.

The bottom is not shown as well, but I think it is the same except the sway bar end is replaced by the welded bushing on the A-arm. I don't care for the design much, because as the suspension travels the sway bar link is going to "lean" in those bushings. You won't want to over tighten the nuts, leaving enough cushion for the bushings to compress & rebound.

Here's the image you posted back at dis-assembly time.

Obvious mistake in the picture above. The upper bushing was omitted and the washer that goes on top of the missing bushing was turned upside down.

Wow, I've been busy at work. Travel, travel and more travel. Plus add the new bike in the stable that needed all the common upgrades (cams, exhaust, intake, big bore kit ect...) I've been busy.

I am still up in the air with the front sway bar links. I don't know what to do with them, besides replacing the lower control arms. I just cant come up with a decent combination. For the rear a made my own, picture is below.photo.jpg

In the last week or so, I had it running. I had leaks coming from the power steering and water pump though. Water pump was easy, but the PS is being a pain. The water pump was just barely hitting on the plastic timing chain cover causing a drip every now and again. I just need to clearance a few things so it seals, no big deal. But the PS is just a pain.

The first set of hoses were just umm, crap. I bought the cheaper ones since they couldn't be seen. But, as I learned I should have just built my own. That's where I'm at now. But after a day of trying to figure out fittings to make the rack seal, I'm just hoping. I might just have to acquire a new rack. I'm using a rack from a 84+ t-bird, and the fittings for the pressure side just don't fit right. I guess we will se tomorrow.

After seeing your work on the rear sway bar.. do that to the front!!! Cut out the BS and save the pain of not being right... fwiw.. my point oh two.. ymmv.. yada yada yada... roflmao... 8-)

Justin,
Looking at what you have to work with it appears to me that your "link" is a piece of tubing with a pair of dished washers welded top and bottom, forming a "mini-barbell" spacer. Through that you have a Grade 8 bolt that passes through the A-Arm, the link and then the sway bar end, right? Why can't you put a dished washer on your bolt followed by a rubber bushing, pass through the sway bar end, add another rubber bushing then the "mini-barbell" spacer followed by another rubber bushing that sits atop the A-arm. On the bottom finish with a fourth rubber bushing, another dished washer and your lock nut. Tighten just enough to compress the rubber bushings out to the OD of the dished washers. Seems like it would work?

As another idea, this is a picture of the front sway bar setup on the TCI front end on the Deuce roadster. The sway bar has a threaded hole in the end for the top connection, and at the bottom they simply used a longer bolt through the lower coil-over mount with a spacer to get things out away from the spring. A pair of Heim joints with a lock nut makes the link.

DSC00766.JPG

Maybe you could use a pair of bushings & washers on top and an extended bolt to a Heim on the bottom for a little more flex?

Post the specific fittings that were used on the pressure side of the power steering. I went through the same issues with my Flaming River rack. Both the low and high pressure fittings have O-ring seals, not crush washers that seal against a flat face. I've got a left-over T-bird rack that I took off my car. I suspect it's a rebuilt, but it's never been used since it came installed on my roller. I replaced it because one of the steel lines hit the lower radiator hose fitting on the radiator and I just wanted a new rack, rather than a rebuilt.

Here's a link to the type of fittings that I used, at the rack.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fra-491963-bl

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fr...2-bl/overview/

Thanks for all of the advice guys. The front sway bar links still haven't been sorted out, but I'm working on them. I think the final product will require some cutting and welding, but I don't see any other solution. I'm still doing research on that problem.

Power steering is still leaking and is presently out of the car. Dave, I tried the fittings you had a link to, plus 8 other sets. All leaked just a little. So I ordered a new (reman) rack, still leaked at the pressure fitting while it sat. After going to the local part store and looking at a few racks, I think I see what's going on and what I'm going to do. All of the reman racks aren't flat where the o-ring is supposed to seal. On both of the racks I have, it looks like the threads were repaired and the sealing surface was damaged in the process. Same with the 2 I looked at in the parts store. It looks like they were chamfered just a touch, so I thought it was normal. But I'm thinking a flat surface would seal. The picture below shows what I'm talking about. I cleaned the surface up a touch just to show the chamfer. rack.jpg I'm betting if I machine this flat, it will seal. At least that's what I hope.

Now on to the fuel injection. I finally found the PCM after a lot of digging. I don't think whoever installed it ever wanted anyone to find it. What I found was a old Holley Commander 950. After fixing a few wiring issues and hours of tuning, it actually runs good. No more lean backfires or hesitation, it just goes. I still have to do a few tweaks with the cold start-up part of the map, but it's really close.

I actually drove the car the other day just to see if I could feel any other problems. Besides the ride height being way to low in the front causing the front shocks to bottom out, it felt pretty good. The shocks have been adjusted and I'm waiting to fix the power steering leak to drive it again. The brakes felt great. Not over-boosted or touchy, almost perfect. The trans shifted good, but I still have to put my gauge on it to see if I have the line pressure set right with the cable.

I'm seeing the end, well for this year. My goal is to have it at the Hot Rod Power Tour on Fri. I'm not sure if that's possible with my work schedule, but we will see. I still have to fix the exhaust and do the alignment, but we are close.

I wish I would have taken more pictures with everything I've found wrong on this car, but there was just so much. I still think to make this car right, it has to be taken apart and reassembled, but that will have to wait. His wife really wants to drive it now.

Now over to the CNC to mill this rack down. Till next time, Justin

BTW, that's the rack I'm NOT using. That's the $53.00 junk reman rack I bought, it will be going back to the local part stare.

And just for proof it was out of the garage, here is a picture just after I ran it out of gas. I almost made it around the block.

On the road.jpg

I now know that when it says 19 on the gas gauge, it's almost empty. At least on a big hill. I thought it read in gallons, but it reads in percentage I guess.