If you loosen the lower control arm bolts as suggested they should be retorqued with the weight of the car on them.NOT with the arms hanging down in the air.This is from the Ford Shop Manual.

  

Thanks Rick for the advice. The old springs came out easy because they were 2" shorter than the ones I'm putting in. I'll need to jack up the car a little higher and I'll be good to go.

Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

THis "tool" fits in between the upper and lower balljoints inside the spindle.I had to grind a liitle bit of the long nut to get it to fit inside the spindle.I also drilled a dish on the head of each bolt at the top and bottom so it wouldn't "walk" on the balljoint stud.

  

Here is a pic of a tool I made to separate the ball joints from the control arms.Back off the nut about 3-4 turns so that it will still not come out of the control arm when it pops loose.Turn the top(or bottom) bolt while holding the body nut with a wrench to create tension on the BJ stud.It may pop out as a result of tension only.You may have to strike the spindle to get it to pop.I just left one of mine under tension overnite and the next morning it had popped on its own.This tool is similar to one that Ford supplied when these cars were new.When one stud is out back off the nut on the other one and tighten the tool to create tension against it.

  

Rono, appreciate your concerns etc but all you need to do is safely jackup and support car, remove shock, crack lower balljoint, remove swaybar end links, loosen control arm pivot bolts so arm will not be tight and swing down easily, lower jack slowly and pop spring out , theres not much if any tension at that point, when refitting spring align end of coil with indent in lower arm plate, may need to ease in with screwdriver and jack up slowly and let jack follow arm travel. Soon as ball joint is through stub, fit nut on to ensure safety. Theres just not that much in it. I couldnt count how many i,ve done this way.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Ron, I am not sure about the difference from Tbirds to your car but this is how I get the springs out and in, did this on several Fords including my 65 Galaxie. Jack the car up and set it on jack stands under the frame. Remove the wheel. Remove the sway vertical sway bar link. Remove the shock absorber. Remove the cotter pin from the castle nut on the lower ball joint stud. Loosen the castle nut and thread it up so it is flush with the top of the stud. Don't take it off. Place the floor jack under the A-arm. With a big hammer strike the cast iron spindle at the lower ball joint. Don't hit the castle nut or the dust boot. Hit it hard. If it won't come loose, heat the cast iron on the spindle the ball joint goes through carefully with a propane torch without burning the boot. Whack it again until the stud pops loose but still held in place by the castle nut. Raise the floor jack under the A-arm and remove the castle nut. Lower then remove the jack. You can push the A-arm down to help remove the spring. No need for a compressor. To install the spring, put it in with the insulator and make sure the spring is indexed in the A-arm pocket. Jack up the A-arm guiding the ball joint stud into the spindle, install the castle nut and cotter pin. Install the shock absorber, sway bar link. If I missed anything someone will probably chime in. Hope that helps.



Somehow my thick fingers deleted the step about loosening the castle nut. Fixed it.




57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Thanks everybody for your comments. I feel more comfortable about taking this on now. I'm going to scrap the coil spring compressor idea and go with a combination of using the  floor jack (car is all complete and heavy) and a rod through the shock tower as a safety in case the spring slips off when I first start jacking.

Regards,

Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

If the car is complete with panels bumper and engine a floor jack works fine for putting the springs in. You just have to rest the spring on the edge of the raised section of the A arm and then jack away. When I was rebuilding the suspension on my 55 it was a bare body on the frame and was not heavy enough to compress the springs while using a jack. I had to use a threaded rod through the spring tower with a plate through the spring near its base where I could slide the plate through and then slip the rod through the plate and start tightening nuts. A long slow process but probably safer than the jack method.

Spring compressors won't work because the spring tower is too small.

Regards

Rick - West Australia
Do Y Blocks Downunder run upside down? Gravity Sucks!!

I need to go through the suspension on my Firebird and the method called for in the Helm manual is an attachment for a floor jack, no compressor is mentioned. A compressor sounds much safer, though. Maybe that attachment is designed in such away that it won't just let go - I'm sure I'd never find one to know just how it works.


Lawrenceville, GA

The spring can come out and with a lot of force. You can secure the inside of the bottom coil with a chain or cable just to be safe. Once the spring sets squarely it goes right in. I would advise not doing this job alone just to be cautious. I've done this quite a few times with luck. I can remember watching the spring bounce at least once though! Chuck

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire