Begin front end Evolution (big brakes, etc)

[85crownHPP]

also, some burning questions of mine........

do calipers "dry out?"
say i have the crazy idea of re-using these I have off the junkyard car, which have been stored for over a year with the far end of the brake hose uncapped
Should I expect the seals to be shot??

would I be crazy to re-use the hoses??
if nothing else becuase of dirt contamination Im sure...???

also - whats good to use as far as a protective oily substance to smear on new and/or used-and-cleaned chassis parts as an alternative to painting them??
I never liked being able to "tell" that something's been painted... (aside from originally...)

[mrltd]

If the stuff looks OK, then reuse 'em. The stuff is pretty cheap, it's your decision....

[gadget73]

Calipers don't dry out, they do however rust if they've had no fluid at all in the. Brake fluid isn't exactly much in the way of corrosion protection but its probably better than nothing. If they don't stick after you put them on, and they compress OK, they're probably fine.

TRW would be OEM ball joints. If they're not floppy you're good. The lowers wear out faster than the uppers anyway. Handily they're also the ones you absolutely must change, so its not a big deal. Uppers are pretty simple to do, don't even need a press or special tools.

I wouldn't smear any greasy stuff on the chassis parts. It'll just attract dust and look horrible. Paint them with rust-oleum or something and it should be OK. Semigloss or flat won't be real obvious that its been painted like a glossy paint is. If you really don't want to see fresh paint, then spray some undercoating on after the paint dries. I didn't paint my lower control arms and they're rusty as hell. Need to get under the car and paint them.

[Nathan in MI]

There's that "fresh casting" paint you can buy too that's the color of freshly made cast iron. Maybe that would be the look you'd want?

[85crownHPP]

hhmm I might try the used calipers... hoses are pretty cheap and I can turn the rotors at work.
Im thinking it would be easier to hold off on the steering parts for now, to shorten the downtime and since replacing all the steering stuff at a later time would be just as easy, and fast enough to do it at the shop.

cast iron paint eh??
I just hate prepping greasy rusty parts for paint... and feel like an asshole whenever I just wire brush something and spray over whats left.
Whats that super degreaser/rust stripping method with the buckets of crap and electric current????

and I just ordered the Speedway Motors springs lets do this. I have some more old bushings to melt...

[Nathan in MI]

Electrolysis. Not sure if you'd want to use that for the calipers, though--any non-ferrous material will get eaten!

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/andyspatch/rust.htm

[gadget73]

mine got degreased with the big torch. Just get it hot enough and any garbage on there cooks right off, and takes the paint with it.

Cast coat iron is the color of my upper intake, and the one on Monty's motor. Sort of a dark metallic grey.

[85crownHPP]

I made a vid burning bushings out with a little torch - this one just happened to be the most trouble free one lol

[P72Ford]

I made a vid burning bushings out with a little torch - this one just happened to be the most trouble free one lol

This heat? Doesn't it affect the temper of the control arm? No?

Just curious, is the heat the best way to get the old ones out? They can't be mangled or something?

Also, don't PI's just have grease fittings, no bushings? I know my '90 just has grease fittings on the top.

I'm not to sharp with suspension stuff. Just a few curiousities that this thread has brought about.

Also, I have the entire front suspension off of a '99 PI (everything, brakes and all). I can swap this (brakes, control arms?, spindles etc) onto my car? I know I'll have to run larger wheels in the front, but other than that its a bolt on procedure?

Sorry to set the thread off track a little.

[Nathan in MI]

PIs still have bushings in the upper control arms, but they're a solid metal bushing instead of a rubber bushing.

[P72Ford]

PIs still have bushings in the upper control arms, but they're a solid metal bushing instead of a rubber bushing.

Yeah, thats what I meant. Is this on the newer cars too? The newer (98-02) control arms can be swapped or no?

[85crownHPP]

its not off track at all... feel free to talk about your big brake inquiries here

Burning is the method reccomended by Energy Suspention, the supplier of the poly bushings some of us use. Scottmang has built 5 or 6 panthers with this extraction method with good results.
Upper contorl arms on the box's police cars had the grease fittings, not sure about the bottoms.
And yep, your parts sound like most of what I have in the pic - I think you can use the lower arms, but be sure to get the police kit. The upper arms are the only thing you cant use - you need the 92-95? style upper arms that use the frame mount shaft in the arm.

[P72Ford]

Good info. I may do something the next time I have to fiddle with the front end.

[Nathan in MI]

Upper contorl arms on the box's police cars had the grease fittings, not sure about the bottoms.

The lower control arms have conventional rubber bushings.

[Lincolnmania]

i hated those upper control arms on my cop car.......had to grease em once a week or they would squeak
yea big brakes are much better......and no youre not gonna damage the arms with that little heat.......i have completed 9 big brake swaps so far!