I am in need of new A-Arm bushings in the front end of my 76.
I have limited tools and experience with front end work. Is this something that I shoul attack on my own, or job it out to a garage?

It looks like things are pretty straight forward, but I have made that mistake before and had to tow it to the garage to fix my mess.

One more project for the "TINKERTOY".

 

Arms aren't a real easy job, but technically it isn't that tough. The most dangerous part is getting the springs out. The rest of it can be done with common hand tools, if you use polyuerathane bushings you don't need to have them pressed in, and you can remove the old remnants of the old bushings, by drilling around the the inside of them with a hole saw or a quarter inch drill bit (make multiple holes, until you can dig out the old rubber.) Some people burn the old rubber out with a torch, but that is a horribly smelly job, I'd rather drill!
Go to the Corvette Faq at http://www.corvettefaq.com and search for write ups on front suspension repair.
Good Luck!

 

Not knowing your particular level of experience, it is difficult to say whether you can do it yourself or not. The job does require the removal of the front springs, which can be dangerous. Also, you should consider whether you are replacing the bushings with rubber or polyurethane (there are a lot threads dedicated to that one) because in my experience the installation of the poly bushings don't require a press but the rubber ones do. Also, sometimes the old bushings are hard to remove and that can be a task (I burned mine out with a propane torch). It is not a small job and there are a lot of "while you theres" that everybody likes to consider (new springs, new upper and lower balljoints, new shocks (heck while you're at it why not replace all the tie rod ends and the idler arm) see what I mean).

 

If you aren't really front end savvy then just spend the bux and have it done. It's gotta be aligned after the work is done anyway.

If you do decide to do it, do all of them. uppers on both sides and then lowers on both sides. While the arms are loose, replace the ball joints if they have more than 60-75K miles on them. No reason to NOT replace them if you are already in there.

You will buzz the old bushings out with an air hammer. Drive the new ones in with a dead-blow hammer, after putting white lithium grease on the outside of the bushing. A couple of blows with an impact socket on the collar of the bushing will get it in there. That, assuming that you have cleaned up the hole in the arm and removed all dirt and rust.

OEM ball joints are riveted to the control arms. Chisel the rivets off, and replace the joints ... then be sure to use good hardened bolts on reinstallation with LocTight on the threads. Then stand back and go like this: :hurray:

Next step is to go to an alignment shop that can do a 4-wheel computerized alignment. BTW when you remove the uppers, put a rubber band around the shim packs and be sure to reinstall those shims in the same position. On each upper control arm shaft, you will have forward and aft shims. Mark which is which. RF, RR, LF, LR you can even just wrap them with masking tape and write on the tape. After you have the shafts in place, and the nuts started, put the shim packs in and tighten things up.

Front end work is not all that difficult if you have the tools and patience. You will also need a solvent tank to clean things up ... not the least of which will be your tools.

Good Luck :flag

 

You will need a coil spring compressor, ball joint fork, big hammer, and a press. You will also need to make some fixtures for the press to avoid distorting the control arms when pressing in the new bushings. I'ts not that big of a deal if you have access to the tools and equipment. Getting the old ones out can be a PITA, most guys will take them outside and burn the rubber out with a torch, then chisel out the sleeves. Pressing the new ones in is a piece of cake, but be sure to use a fixture of some sort to avoid distorting the distance between the forward and rear parts of the control arms. You will probably want to replace your ball joints as long as you are at it, they will need to be disconnected anyway so the job is half done. GM shows a special tool for pressing in the control arm bushings in their service manual. Looks sort of like an oversized roller chain link tool. I know this subject has been covered here often, if you do an archive search you will come up with a lot more info.