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Front End Rebuild Steps

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abnovak

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Finally got my '79 1500 running, well actually, and took I out the other day. Going from an Excursion to a Midget is quite an experience.

Bad news is I am pretty sure the suspension is going to need a rebuild. 40 MPG and over is down right scary. I jump all over the road and the steering is very touchy.

I put new tie rod ends on prior to taking it out. My amature inspection shows I also need new bushings on the trunion, A Arm and sway bar as well as end links. I will replace bearings while I have it apart as well. Before I go with the Major Suspension Rebuild kit, I need some advice on the King Pin rebuild.

Seems to me I saw a reference some where to a reamer and steps to do that but I can't find them now. I searched the whole forum and must be missing it. Is this something I need a machine shop to do or can I do it myself? Do the metal bushings need to be pressed in? I worry about finding a good shop to do this for me.

Any other items I should check out first before I drop $200+ in the kit?
 
IMO, You will need the special reamer to ream the bushings properly. and yes they must be pressed in. How many miles are on the car? You may find that there is not significant wear/play in the king pin/swivel axel area. It is possible that all you need to do replace the bushings and fulcrum pins and king pin. Many people like the poly bushings instead of rubber. You may also want to be sure that your inner tie rod ends do not have excessive play.
 
mileage is 75K. Found a shop to hone and press in the bushings for about $60. i dont understand how the king pin could wear and not the metal bushings. I dont get much time to work on the car so i will probably have the bushings replaced so i dont have to go back and do it later.
 
abnovak,

The steering on a midget is very twichy to begin with. if your used to power steering and a Excursion sized vehicle, "nite and day" would not even begin to describe it.
here is a link to another forum topic on the same idea. If your swivel bushes are worn to badly then it is most likely that your king pins are worn as well. The biggest pains in this job are lower a frame removal, and lower fulcrum pin removal. The lower fulcrum pins tend to become one with the king pin and can be a real bear to remove. there is a small tapered pin the locks the fulcrum pin to the king pin but that can be carefully punched out. after that the pin needs to be freed from the king pin and unscrewd from the aframe, sounds easy....

the inner a arm pins will sometimes pop right out and sometimes may require forceful eviction. note that the pins need to be driven towards the center of the a-frame. lots of pb blaster and a large evicting tool (hammer) are needed.

the major suspension kit is not a bad deal, but does not come with the better poly bushings.

hope this doesnt scare you away from the job, there is lots of help available on this forum.

mark

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
thanks, doesn't scare me away. rebuilt the suspension on my 66 mustang with success just didnt have to deal with kingpins - prefer ball joints.

overall, its not been good day. not only was the suspension worse than i expected but i failed emissions, pretty bad - and i have a brand new carb tuned for high altitude (i'm in denver) from joe curto, the carb guy. :-(
 
I was refering to wear at the fulcrum pin/king pin area. The fulcrum pin is supposed to rotate in the A-arm, but if the fulcrum pin freezes in the A arm, then the binding dowel wears and the king pin starts to pivot on the fulcrum pin (Which it shouldn't). *sigh* I'm not doing to good with words here. On one midget that I rebuilt the front suspension I thought I'd need new king pins and bushings, but after I tore it apart I found that there wasn't excessive play. I inserted the new king pins in the old bushings, and they were actually snug, requiring a little bit of a press. We decided to just leave the old bushings because the local machine shop didn't have the appropriate stepped reamer required to get positive location. (although they believed they could get it "close enough for a British car"). However, on my own car I borrowed a reamer and replaced the bushings because there was obvious wear in the bushings and king pin (including wear around the fulcrum pin). Hope I haven't confused the issue.
 
no, you've helped, thanks for the input. i order parts today. dont get to work on it much so may take awhile to get this done.

then i need to tackle emissions - suggestions?
 
[ QUOTE ]
....then i need to tackle emissions - suggestions?

[/ QUOTE ]

Welcome.
The advice regarding the front end above is good.
But also be sure that you have correct toe-in and reasonable tires with proper pressure. Also, a lack of proper fluid in the dampers (shocks) will make the car handle very "darty". As for the king pins, the best way to handle them may be to join your local MG club....many clubs purchase these items or work out a deal with local repair shops.
Regarding the emissions question, use the "search" feature of this website. If you type in "emissions" and limit the output to "newer than 1 year" and "older thna 1 week", you'll see a ton of information (and you can also look back to earlier dates if need be).
 
I know nothing about a 1500 emissions. Does it still have the air pump and catalytic converter? Which part of the emmisions test did it fail? There are several tricks that can get you through. You should start a new thread with the details of your problem.
 
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