The shock can be removed by removing the two bolts under the lower A-arm that holds the bracket that holds the lower end of the shock. The upper end is undone by taking off the two nuts that are on the top. You may have to put a pair of vise grips on the very tip of the shock to hold it while you unscrew the nuts. You do not have to compress the spring to take off the shocks.
Taking off the lower A-arm is quite a project. It is not an easy job for someone who has very little experience. I do not use a spring compressor but I know others do.
This is how I remove the lower A-arms.
You must raise the front end high enough so the lower arm can go all the way down. Put the car on sturdy stands, not the cheap three legged kind. It is also advisable to put something under the frame behind the front wheels as an extra safety precaution in case the stands fail.
Remove wheel, shocks and sway bar links.
Get a piece of chain and put it through two or more coils of the spring and around the frame. This is to prevent the possibility of having the spring take a trip through the garage wall.
Place a floor jack under the arm up to the arm but do not put any pressure on it. Remove cotter pin from ball joint and loosen the nut. Run the nut up only as far as having the top of the nut even with the top of the threaded part.
With whatever means you are comfortable with loosen the ball joint from the spindle. I usually use a pickle fork. You need two sizes for the TBird ball joints if you are doing both upper and lower ball joints. If the various spacers and seals get broken or distorted they are available from the TBird parts houses.
Now jack up the arm until all tension is taken off the ball joint nut. Remove nut.
slowly lower floor jack so the arm lowers and all tension on the spring is gone. Now you can remove the spring.
Before removing the arm, note all spacers and washers usually located at the front of the arm so they can go back in the same position. You will probably need lots of penetrant to remove the long bolts holding the arm to the frame. Start soaking these bolts prior to removal of the arm. The bolts are available from the TBird parts houses in case they get butchered up.
In reinstalling the arms I have found that they sometimes need to be slightly compressed to get them between the crossmembers. I use a rachet hold down to do this. When reinstalling, position the arm in a horizontal position (ride position) to properly locate the bushings and tighten to spec . Once set, the arm may be lowered for reinstallation of the spring. Or leave the front and rear mounting bolts loose and when the car is back on the ground tighten them to the proper torque spec. To prevent bushing failure, the bolts should not be tightened until the arms are in the correct position.
When putting the spring into position, be sure that the end of the spring goes into the "pocket" in the arm.
Raise the arm with the floor jack, guiding the ball joint into the spindle. Again, use the chain for the coil spring. Put on the nut and torque to spec.
Check all bumpers and replace where necessary.
Hi. I'm a new '57 TBird owner and this is my first visit to the TBird forum.
I've just imported a '57 TBird from Texas - very original and rust free, but it needs a fair bit of suspension work. Otherwise it's quite tidy. Right now, I'm replacing upper and lower control arm bushes and shock absorbers. My standard spring compressors don't seem to work on the front coil springs. I'm guessing there's no other way to change the lower control arm bush? Also, it seems that compressing the coil springs is the only way to remove the shock absorbers. Is that right? I'm use to driving old Dodges and Valiants which of course typically have torsion bar suspension.
Cheers,
Lloyd
Fremantle, Western Australia
