Auto Restoration 101

The next step in our restoration was to disassemble the chassis and prepare it to get sandblasted.
We removed all of the front suspension and the rear axle. I also removed the pedal assembly, brake lines, master cylinder, and the steering column assembly.

I used a spring compressor that compresses the front coil springs and keeps them attached to the lower a-arm for removal. Once the lower a-arm is unbolted from the frame, I then let the pressure off of the springs to remove them from the a-arm. These suspensions are fairly simple to work on and everything came apart very easily. The threads for the lower spindle pivots on the lower a-arms are worn out so I will be looking for some replacement a-arms. The king pins, tie rod ends and upper a-arm shafts are also worn out and will need replacing.

This shows the lower a-arm removed and the upper a-arm still attached to the frame.

Here is the brake drum assembly with the spindle still attached. I will rebuild these as well. Also shown is the coil spring and the lower a-arm.

I removed the rear axle as an assembly for now. Later I will tear it down for a rebuild.

This is the frame attached to my “low buck frame rotisserie“. We are ready to do some cleaning on the frame to remove the heavy grease and undercoating. This will make it easier for the sandblaster to do his job and also make the frame clean up a lot better.