Believe it or not, I managed to press out the bushings on my "spare" lower A-arms. From what I've read, I expected this to be very difficult or impossible to do with a hand-press. I've also seen several warnings that a hydraulic press (in the wrong hands) will destroy the arms if anything other the utmost care and skill is used.
In about 30 minutes I pushed out the bushings with a $40.00 table-top hand-press from Harbor Freight. A very happy surprise. Maybe I was just lucky, who knows?
I want to clean these up, give them a good coat of POR15 and Chassis-Cote Black, and (finally) properly rebuild the original front end on my 68 sedan. The lower bushings worried me so much, the car is presently sporting a rebushed 1965 front end and the 68 suspension is sitting in the garage.
So, my big question is which bushings to use - Polyurethane or Rubber?
I already have a set of new rubber bushings. Everything but the 68's Lower-A bushings were rebushed/replaced last year.
After initial the nightmare of removing the lower pivots, I think maybe something with greater longevity might be worth my time.
I don't drive the car like a racer, I commute with this car daily and a "modern" car feel is what I shoot for. That usually means rubber, but in this case, maybe I should go with the poly?
|