1974 Chevy Nova My first project car

Front End Rebuild Kit

I'm gonna start off by saying that I have been a slacker for the past month, because of the lack of blog postings. I haven't been too busy with the Nova, but I do have something to write about. I'm doing my best to keep up on my progress.

After we had removed the ball joints and the control arm bushings, I had ordered the Front End Rebuild Kit, which included 2 ball joints and boots, 8 control arm bushings, 2 tie rod ends, a sway bar bushing kit, bumpers for the control arms, and an idler arm found here. The entire kit is polyurethane and is recommended over rubber by 3 out of 4 uncles. Uncle Kurt, his father-in-law, and I spent an entire evening pressing 4 out of 8 bushings and both ball joints into the control arms with a ball joint removal kit and an impact wrench. We we unable to use this method on the upper control arms, because they both have a bar that needs to be inside the bushings when pressing them in. The ball joint removal kit didn't provide the clearance needed for their removal.

After a short discussion, we determined that a shop press needed to be used to carry out this ordeal. This tool/equipment has been on Uncle Kurt's list for 20-some years now and he said that now would be a good time to purchase one. We went online and found that Harbor Freight had the size we needed for $200. We agreed to split the cost and then I left for the evening. A few days later, I received a text message from him stating that he had just purchased a slightly used shop press (the same one at Harbor Freight) for $120 from a guy that was selling it on Craig's List. Again, I express my infatuation of Craig's List.

A few days later, I scheduled an appointment for the use of the shop press in his facilities. Wouldn't you know it, we installed four bushings in less than 45 minutes. That including cutting a spacer from a piece of exhaust pipe. I wish/he wishes he would have bought the press earlier in the game. I do want to note that I did give him my share of the purchase.

In the mix of the bushing installation, at home, I moved my frame over to the other side of the garage and stood it upright. With the help of Andrew, I tied rope through a few holes on the frame to keep it balanced. I did not want to hang the frame from the garage rafters, but only to balance it. Remembering that painting the frame is a 3-step process, including hosing it off and getting it bone-dry again before the next step, I realized that the rope idea wasn't going to work as planned.

My dad called me the other day and in our discussion about my progress, he suggested using hooks. After our call, I rigged up my ratchet straps, with hooks, to the rafters and frame. I think this method will work a lot better, because the hooks will be a lot easier to remove from the holes, as opposed to rope.

Another thing I do want to mention before I finish, is that the wireless signal from the basement of the house to the garage was very weak and slow, especially with the garage door down. Last night, I moved the wireless router and DSL modem to the first floor of my house. After getting it all connected again, I went out to the garage to recheck the connection. I got a steady 2 out of 5 bars at 11Mbps with the garage door down. Now I am able to listen to my networked music, uninterrupted, in a rainstorm, in the garage, while working on my Nova. Woo hoo!!!

And one more thing...while I was writing this post on my lunch break, UPS delivered the polyurethane body mount bushing kit that I had ordered last week. This may be needed in the next step of the restoration after the frame is painted.