While Paxton was welding the new floor pans in place, I was busy restoring the front suspension. Fortunately, I had another old suspension in stock so that I didn't need to remove the one on the car.
I began by dismantling the suspension. It is amazing what years of neglect will do to an automobile. Some of the 
parts were fused together with rust and required a tremendous amount of work just to seperate the pieces.
parts were fused together with rust and required a tremendous amount of work just to seperate the pieces. When all the pieces are seperated, the restoration process began. I determined that the shock absorbers and the swivel axle assemblies will require rebuilding.
The shock absorbers had been leaking fluid for some time and the swivel axle assemblies were frozen so I chose to send them to Apple Hydraulics for proper restoration. They can be reached at 800-882-7753...ask for Lazar. Their prices are very reasonable and you can have remanufactured parts in your hands within three business days if your schedule requires.
Now it is time to make a list of the parts required to reassemble the suspension. All the bushings, bolts, nuts and lock washers should be replaced without question. I order my parts from Moss Motors at 800-667-7872 and I always ask for Jason Laffey at extension 3126. He is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. The assembly bolts required can be bought from your local hardware store and are much less expensive than buying them through Moss. I used fine thread, grade 5 bolts, lock washers and nyloc nuts just to be on the safe side. I was able to reuse the brake caliper mounting bolts, the steering arm bolts and the shock absorber bolts, but I did use new lock washers. Do not trust the old ones.
My next post will be concerned with sandblasting and painting the suspension parts.
Later,
TD
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