RIBS 71 convertible build JUNE 21 till??

[RIBS]

Update; front suspension started.
I got the front end stripped, next rust removal and paint frame and inner fenders, then rebuild with all new hardware.
it took about 12-15 hours to remove the old parts. Some came out in pieces, it’s obvious it was time to do this.

 

[RIBS]

More views, I am cleaning up the reused bits with a wire wheel and soaking in acid….all the pads were gone, and the torsion bar mounts came out sheered in half….

 

[71ProjectJunk]

I just did that exact same job about 3 months ago, what a pain.

 

[RIBS]

I just did that exact same job about 3 months ago, what a pain.

Did you replace springs, I bought a new set sized for my car and options and they are an inch longer than the ones I pulled out. Curious what you saw with yours….

 

[71ProjectJunk]

Yes, I replaced the spring with the Elgin 8356 from NPD. Car sits high, but my springs were only about a 1/4" longer than the ones that were there.

 

[RIBS]

Yes, I replaced the spring with the Elgin 8356 from NPD. Car sits high, but my springs were only about a 1/4" longer than the ones that were there.

That’s what’s concerning me, I did a lot of research and bought 8330 springs for mine. my old spring is 16” unloaded, the new spring is 17” uncompressed. The new spring visually looks a bit thinner in the windings. I had a great ride height before, I don’t want the nose in the air. I guess i will install them and see what I end up with and go from there…

 

[RIBS]

Used wire brushes, wire wheels, sandpaper, then phosphoric acid, no coated with Mastercoat silver rust encapsulator…

 

[RIBS]

More stuff, painted over the Mastercoat Silver with Mastercoat Chassis Paint. Started installing the new parts..this is going to take me all week. Maybe I can test drive it next weekend.

 

[RIBS]

More parts..

 

[RIBS]

Passenger side partly put back together, it’s all in hand tight.
also picture of first install attempt, the spring was bulging so I backed it all apart, and reset it.

 

[timachone]

Nothing better than to put on some fresh steering and suspension parts!

 

[Zill]

Nothing better than to put on some fresh steering and suspension parts!

Very nice job! I just finished spraying chassis black over Eastwood rust encapsulator on the driver's side. I have to spray a little undercoating and start reassembly.
I'm with you guys, it is a very dirty and time consuming job to clean and strip everything. Used the same process (wire wheels, sand paper and lots of elbow grease), I did have to use chemical stripper to get some of the 50 year undercoating off.
I went with SD 1" lowering springs and Opentracker perches. The spring is thicker and shorter than the stock springs but my car was on jack stands for almost 15 years so the front end sat very high when I put it on the ground. Great job with all the pictures.

 

[RIBS]

These springs are trying to kill me….not for the faint of heart for sure. One went in on second try, the second seated 1/8 off past the lower stop, when I tried to reset it, it got all wonky and bowed and Is not on the perch correctly…I have an internal compressor pulling it tight but it’s at its limits and bowing it and sort of stuck in there, I rented and external compressor to see if I can wrangle it back into submission to the point I can release pressure and start over…..

 

[vintageman]

Definitely not for the faint of heart brother, I ended up using the coil compressor that bolts to the spring perch, worked out great. I am only a couple hours from you in Augusta, if you can't get it in, message me and you can drive down this weekend and borrow mine.

Tom

 

[RIBS]

Definitely not for the faint of heart brother, I ended up using the coil compressor that bolts to the spring perch, worked out great. I am only a couple hours from you in Augusta, if you can't get it in, message me and you can drive down this weekend and borrow mine.

Tom

Thanks, I have one a friend loaned me. I had the spring in, but it rotated 1/8 inch past the lower perch stop. When I tried to pull it out, things got real sideways, it ended up in the shape of a banana, with the lower end under the spring rest…I ended up getting external strut compressors and pulling the bow out of it, and then using inner and outer compressors to pull it back down, then out of car, then uncompressed. It’s safely uncompressed and out of the car, I will regroup and try again tomorrow…one picture of passenger side using tool you described, even that side bowed out.

 

[Hemikiller]

I have the Snap On version of this compressor, works really well on these cars. Put the fork on top of the shock tower upside down and compress the spring up into the car.

https://www.autozone.com/loan-a-too.../p/oemtools-coil-spring-compressor/555573_0_0

 

[71ProjectJunk]

Thanks, I have one a friend loaned me. I had the spring in, but it rotated 1/8 inch past the lower perch stop. When I tried to pull it out, things got real sideways, it ended up in the shape of a banana, with the lower end under the spring rest…I ended up getting external strut compressors and pulling the bow out of it, and then using inner and outer compressors to pull it back down, then out of car, then uncompressed. It’s safely uncompressed and out of the car, I will regroup and try again tomorrow…one picture of passenger side using tool you described, even that side bowed out.

Those internal and external spring compressors are a pain to use and dangerous to boot. I bought one of the spring compressors that lift the spring with the spring saddles, very safe and easy to do and it will not apply differing forces to the side of the spring making it bow out. When doing this job I had to redo the passenger side 3 times and the drivers side twice, by the end of this ordeal I could pull the springs out and back on in less than 10 minutes with this tool, LOL.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/264306294293?fits=Model:Mustang&hash=item3d89e1fe15:g:OpoAAOSwojJhR7lo

 

[RIBS]

Yeah I actually used the internal bolt to lower perch type to start, but the spring spun 1/4 inch during tension release and the lower end slipped past the stop on the lower perch.

here’s where I screwed up, I tried to use the internal hook style to compress installed spring enough to spin it back into place, that didn’t work, and caused the spring to curl like a banana and no longer seat itself. so I tried removing the inner tool but because I inserted it while the spring was in the car and partly compressed, I didn’t have enough threads to release that tool, and it was curled too much to reinstall... So I got the outer tool and used it to straighten the spring, then release tension so I could pull the internet tool out. Once that was done, I went back to the perch mount tool and reinstalled with no problems. So it’s in, done, never want to touch one again!

I was a bit stressed through the process but never felt like it was out of control and to the point it was going to have a catastrophic event. just worked methodic through it till it was resolved…

 

[RIBS]

Alright, front suspension is installed, test drive complete. It’s way high, and the outer edges of the tires squeal over 20 mph.
I will let it settle a bit. It’s missing hundreds of pounds of fenders, hood, bumper supports, ac parts, etc….

 

[RIBS]

I do of course have questions. Is my idler arm suppose to turn and touch frame at full right turn? Was I supposed to leave LCA a bolt loose till I dropped it to ground, the shop manual reassembly did no mention that, so I did not..this thing is like a 4x4, how long do they take to settle?