A couple of weeks back I was getting the old 77 SC spruced up for the summer. I used my TD drivers reward points for one new caliper, new flex lines and a new master cylinder. During the brake work I made the mistake of shining the flashlight at the spring seat of the LCA....oh no!
No sticking the head in the sand so the project is underway. New Moog 6450 front coils and upper and lower ball joints from HSA auto parts in Stratford. I put HD NCP's 277-3195 in the rear 3 years back so I went with the HD for the front too. I find the stock lemans spring a little to "floaty" my other 77 was the same way....nice ride but the handling is not the best.
I hope the new springs don't jack up the front too much, what I am looking for is an even distance on the rocker panels front to rear. She had a bit of a rake before which looked nice but not the best for handling.
I will update again when I complete the job this week. There are two threads on the A body site that are very informative(search "coil spring")
Having I few buds watching the Coke 600.....Cheers!
I would have rather congratulated myself with a cold beer after the brake job instead of this knee busting job!
What brand of internal spring compressor do you guys recommend? The rent a tool at crappy tire looks a little tattered so I am going to buy one. OTC looks hefty. I read the horror stories of the Harbour Freight one letting go and the Princess auto one looks just like it.
I was reading some on the F body and Nova sites about troubles pressing in the Moog serrated lower ball joints so even without my second coat of tremclad on the LCAs I figured I would see if this was going to be an issue. The moog joint is 0.014" bigger than the stock Delco ball joint with the serrations, and no it is not an oversize joint...stock replacement. Got out the ball joint press and off we go! Same issue that was detailed on some other sites, these joints have a tendency to **** over and jam. Knocked that POS out before I did any real damage and off to the parts store.
I read on other sites that once you use the moog lowers you will always need to replace with moog lowers. The serrated joint will tear up and enlarge your nice LCA bore. I have a 50,000 mile car that had never had lowers replaced and they were still tight but one boot had a hole in it and I could not get grease into the other joint.
I ordered 2 AC Delco lowers today that are not serrated. If anyone is considering a coil spring replacement or ball joint replacement on a 73 to 77 a body or even an f body I would recommend Moog uppers due to the one piece casting and AC Delco lowers that you can press in without a 50 ton stand up press!
Bring on the opposing opinions....there seems to be a lack of info on coil spring and ball joint preference on here.
The coil spring project/original brake job has come to a close. The delco lower ball joints worked out perfect....0.008" oversize instead of 0.014" for the Moog lower and not serated so no jamming and after a few hours in the freezer they were a nice tight press in fit.
The Moog 6450 front spring and NCP (NAPA) 277-3195 rears gave me 11.25 on the rocker panels measured at the door ends both front and back. It seems weird in the car as I was used to the rake of the cracked springs.
I might order a set of Monroe Max Air MA717 air shocks to have some rake and adjustable stiffness in the rear.
Insurance tomorrow and I will see how she handles now with all the TLC!
I put new sprigs & shocks & upper ball joints in my 73 when I took it all apart to paint it. I bought new upper control arms from pontiac at that time. Complete arms. I also got front & rear springs from Pontia, when I put them in & even now 10 yeras later they are still to high. I'm going to break down this year & cut the springs at least 1 coil out of them as they sit to high all the way around. I ordered all of the springs according to the chart in the parts book at that itme. I just read about 2 months ago that when ou order from Pontiac or GM that when you get new springs for your car, no matter what you order you get springs for a car with A/C no mater what you ordered because thats how they keep the older cars from sagging no matter what. For me the car sits way to high even now. I didn't drive the 73 for a few years while I was redoing the car but now that I'm driving it , it rides great as it always has but the amount between the tops of the tires & the bottom of the fender wheel is to much. It looks as though I'm driving a 4WD car. It's really not that bad but I think it's to high for me. I'll take the coils out & cut them. I have & used my coil spring compressor & mine came from Harbor freight to. They may look a litte spindley but they do work just fine. I have both kinds , the individule ones for coils & the single sissior type for macfersion strut & have had no problem with either one EVER. I do use them quite a bit to. So don't be afraid of the spring compressors from Harbor Freight, they work just fine.
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