Rotor and caliper installed

I went and grabbed some wheel bearing grease this afternoon. I got the
bearings and seal installed and bolted on the caliper.

Passenger side suspension done

Today I went and rented a ball joint press from Autozone and assembed
the passenger side suspension. I had to wrap a chain around the frame
and the jack to get the spring to compress. I have to pick up some
wheel bearing grease and then I can get the rotor and caliper on.

Passenger side A-arms are done

The passenger side upper and lower arms have been repainted, new bump stops installed and new cross shafts. The passenger side is now ready for ball joints. The drivers side arms still need to be painted. I just realized I got rid of my grease gun when we moved to Texas. I'm going to have to pick one up.

Installing new cross shafts

Bolting on the new lower cross shafts was quite a procedure. The only way I could get enough leverage was to start the threads by hand, mount the arm and then hold it in place with some straps. I put some red loctite on the threads and used my 24" crescent wrench to tighten the nuts.

Lower a-arm cross shafts

I was starting to question whether it was worth the effort to change out the lower cross shafts. Once I got the first one apart I realized it was. One of the cross shaft bolts was broken and the seal all torn up.

Lower A-arm u-bolt replacement

GM replaced the u-bolts that connect the lower a-arms to the cross member with much larger units. The bolts on my truck were 7/16" and the new ones are 9/16". I figured GM increased the size of these for a reason and I'm guessing these have never been replaced since my truck was built 44 years ago. So better safe than sorry. The old u-bolts look pretty wimpy next to the new bolts.


I had to enlarge the holes to accommodate the larger u-bolts.


Here is the first one in place. Only three more to go

Grill / Radiator support panel rust repair

Today I repaired some rust on the Grill / Radiator support panel.

This section was below the old battery tray. The battery leaked and corroded this part.		I marked it off with a sharpie and then cut it out with the cutoff wheel.
Next I made a cardboard template and then transferred it onto some sheet metal.		Here is the metal piece cut out and bent.
Here is the piece set in place with the mounting hole drilled in it. I ran out of time to get it welded today.