Finally back to the a-arm repairs. The thread inserts were TIG welded on both sides. The shock mount areas on the a-arms also needed some attention. The right side a-arm was completely broken and had pieces missing. I fabricated a large washer out of some 1/8 steel plate to fix the damage. I decided to add a washer to the left a-arm even though it wasn’t broken. I wanted both a-arms to match and also for strength.
This shows the thread inserts welded onto the a-arm.
The washer is ready to weld in to repair the shock absorber mounting area.
The washer is welded in.
After the washer was welded. The next step was weld in some studs for the lower shock bracket to attach to.
After all of the repairs were finished the welds were bead blasted. We then primed and painted the a-arms. They turned out great and look like new. The best part is that they should be as good or better than they were originally. Suspension restoration and rebuilding should really be taken seriously…. especially for safety concerns.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Bryan // Jun 24, 2009 at 9:08 pm
What did you do about the lower shaft and the bushings. they are soft and probably should get replaced as well. Did you have to do anything to that?
2 Steve
// Jun 24, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Bryan,
A front end rebuild kit was purchased from Kanter Automotive. It came with all of the necessary bushings, shims, camber eccentrics and the large spindle bolts. I will post again real soon about the lower threaded spindle bolt.
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