Going to attempt to remove my front LCA's to clean up/paint, and replace bushings/ball joints. The bolts to the K are rusted to no end, and I know they aren't going to be coming off without them breaking. Any tips/tricks/suggestions? With the amount of rust on my arms, I wanted to sand blast prime and paint with POR15, but is blasting overkill? I have the cheap blaster from sears, works, not great but works. Thanks guys!

 

I just did mine.As long as you got the right tools for the job it is easy. my cay has no rust what so ever so it made it easy.But if you dont have the right tools it will be tough.

 

more so referring to the rusted bolts and how to remove them once they snap, was wondering if anyone had anything like this before. Also does anyone know the length/thread pitch/grade of the bolts?

 

U could use a grinder an grind the bolt head an threads down to where it is flush with the k member then easily pry it out after that just drill the remaining bolts out an reinstall everything

 

Maybe get a cold chisel and cut a slot in the top of the bolts, then use a large flat screwdriver to get them undone.

WD40 would help too.

 

The bolts (some or all) will be seized to the bushing sleeve. I used a flood of WD-40, a chisel under the bolt head, and a four-pound sledge. Hammer the bolt head out and knock it back in over and over until the bolt is free. About an hour per, accompanied by a storm cloud of foul language. I slathered the new bolts with anti-seize to forgo future issues.

EDIT: Forgot the bolts.

http://www.spohn.net/shop/1982-1992-...dware-Kit.html

JamesC

 

Sounds like I'm in for some fun! That storm cloud I can feel starting to form already haha! I didn't even think to check Spohn, I ordered a set of UMI's from summit, but thanks for the heads up! Now I just need to figure out if I want to go with the poly's or the del-a-lums. Can't wait to get cracking on this! Thanks for the responses

 

Or not, didn't realize how expensive the del's are. Maybe on a really tight budget thats not the best way to go, damn!

 

Front a-arms dont see all that much twisting motion anyway, they literally only do a straightforward hinging motion on one axis, so you're not giving up nearly as much (if any) with poly up front as you would with the rear LCA's. The worst thing that can happen with poly is noise, and mine dont make any noise at all up front, although my rears make my car sound like its about to fall apart sometimes. I'd love to get some of the delrin type bushings on my rear LCA's.

 

What rear arms are you running?

 

I just did mine.. Factory originals so 250,000 miles and the bolts came out fine.. Recommend powder coat.. Only cost me $75 for blast and powder coast.. I got the bolt kit listed above from Spohn and reassembling everything today to get it back on the road...

 

I dunno. Just some generic tubular rear LCA's with poly bushings. I would like to swap them for something with better joints, but it will be a little while.