First order of business is getting the car up on jack stands and getting
the wheels off. This is hard work. I recommend a good pair of thick leather
work gloves, and good quality hydraulic jack and jack stands. Be really careful
when getting the car on the stands. You won't survive if the car falls on
you. I remember when I was a kid one of my friend's father died when his
pickup slipped off jack stands on him. Second, take all the brake parts
off, including the wheel cylinders.
This is a top A Arm. Notice the size of the bolts. You'll probably need
to buy some larger size sockets. I had to buy a 1-1/4" socket to get the shafts
out. A butane torch is also a must. Heat works wonders on tight bolts and friction
fittings like ball joint shafts and tie rod ends. I Also recommend a good heavy
ball peen hammer. I used Air Impact Wrench, and Air Chisel too. 59 Cadillacs weigh
about 4500 pounds, so the suspension parts are built accordingly.
This picture is worth at least 1K words. Look at that rust, 39 years
of road dirt and grease mixed on rusty steel. This is a great example of
when you really should use Aluminum Oxide vs Glass Beads when blasting.
Here's a lower A Arm after I release the spring. Be super careful when
releasing the springs. I used a hydraulic jack to compress the spring, and then
loosened the top ball joint nut. A single spring contains enough power to lift
the entire front end of the car off the jack stands. You could be seriously hurt
if you release an arm on your hands or legs. After the spring is out the rest
of the job is pretty easy. Again use an Impact wrench and torch. You probably
won't free up the bolts any other way.
The Top A arms are smaller than the bottoms. you can see the ball joint
in this picture. A couple of the ball joints were installed with rivets. I had
to grind the heads off with an angle grinder. Drill through them with a 1/4" drill,
and heat them up until the glowed before I could force them out with an air chisel.
I felt like a blacksmith.
