SC impossible to work on

Randy N Connie

Registered User
Is it me or just my SC,or all SC birds.. every 5 minute job I try to do,
turns into a 5 days. :mad:

I am going on two months to rebuild suspension,front and rear.
And I do not have one wheel done yet.

I gave up on the rear suspension could not get the last two nuts off
either lower control arm.Got down to the last nut,both the same
nut.One on each lower control arm.

So I went to try and rebuild the front suspension.I started on the drivers
side,& I finaly got it apart.Started to install Mach VIII SPINDLES.Got
down to the swaybay end links nuts.Could nut get the lock nuts to tightin with out the ball spining.So I went to town and bought non locking nuts.
I got them to tightin down then.Now I am on the nut on that holds the
spindle to the lower control arm.I have tried every thing to get this nut on
with out spinning the ball joint.I tried the jack hammering,ect to stop
the ball joint from spinning.I went to town to find a non-locking nut
to use but this metric size crap is hard to find in my area.

In another week I will hit the beginning of three months to do this job.
I started this to job of up grading to the MACH VIII suspension parts.
So I could put bigger brakes on.I am totaly freaked out that I will
have to spend a 1/4 of a year for a brake upgrade.

Every time I get to the point of giving up .And posting my problems
on this worthless engineered car.And making a assss-out of me.
I can then go out ,and this worthless car will just fall together.
So I am writing this to make an assss-of-self so my car will be workable.

Fingers crossed Randy :)
 
It must just be you Randy. I did all new front and rear suspension in about two days, working evenings after work.

My most difficult part was trying to educate the yahoo's at the local tire place on how you do a 4 wheel alignment on a T-bird with IRS.
 
Randy N Connie said:
Is it me or just my SC,or all SC birds.. every 5 minute job I try to do,
turns into a 5 days. :mad:
No, its not just you. Its par for the course in my experience.

I think the only things I have ever done which surprised me in terms of time was the upper control arms (1/2 hour per side) and rear shocks (1/2 hour per side as well). Everything else seems to take twice as long as I thought it would... I've even started to plan for it. :rolleyes:
 
Oh Randy its not that bad. Try rebuilding the entire suspenssion, rewire most entire inside of the car, build and swap in a different engine and a few other things here and there. Thats what I am faced with. I wander how long its going to take me to get'er done? Oh Randy dont forget my offer lol!

Shane
 
Randy N Connie said:
Got down to the swaybay end links nuts.Could nut get the lock nuts to tightin with out the ball spining....

Now I am on the nut on that holds the spindle to the lower control arm. I have tried every thing to get this nut on with out spinning the ball joint.
I can't exactly remember what I did to solve this problem as well, but I did figure it out.. I think what I did was to raise or lower the whole assembly with a scissors jack to put pressure on (by using the weight of the car) the stud.. A few love taps from a hammer and some pulling with a 2x4 here and there also got me through the jobs... I always try to think of how I can do something/anything to gain some leverage in some way to solve a problem, and sometimes the light bulb goes off and the idea actually works. :cool:
 
Last edited:
TbirdSCFan I have done all that,and more.

Shane.There is not one bolt on this car That I have not touch.
If this car had a frame.I could say its had a OFF FRAME
RESTRO.

Well my look like an assshole post did not work this time. :confused:
I have tried ever thing but tack welding.

If I could replace this balljoint for a heim joint I would.

I did get some good news just know.They shipped my brake parts
today that I ordered 1 1/2 months ago. :rolleyes: They should
be here in a week or so.To bad I have nothing to bolt them to.
I ordered them from www.brakesrus.com They are the 13''
front Cobra,and 11.65 rear Cobra brakes.The calipors and rotors
are chrome PC.

Looks like all the parts I have,I will be installing on my 95 LX bird.
don't know why,but I have no problems working on it.I will see
if I can make me a manifold and bolt my A/R & all my other
parts on it.I am at the point that I think I should not be around
this worthless SC bird.I have enough monbey just in parts.That
I could of had a 03,04 Cobra with money left over.This is by
far the most expensive car I have ever owned.I had a Pantara,
It cost less to buy and rebuild than a SC bird.Plus It was 100 MPH
faster.

Thanks for the suggestions.
I got to go back to the shop and give
my SC a swift kick and a sound cussing. :) havent tried that yet.

How much is a 1990 SC worth with close to zero miles and $30,000.00
in parts, either on it or setting next to it in the boxes they came in?

Randy
 
SilverCasket said:
Hey Randy! Aren't there some good mechanics you can call in your area! :eek: :p

Anthony

HAHAHA!

Yes there are some good wrenchs in my area.But they all
have told me not to bring My SC back to there shop
EVER AGAIN!! But they would be more than happy to
work on my other birds anytime. :rolleyes:

RANDY
 
Its all about having the proper tools!!!
Large compressor!!
1/2 Inch drive impact with min 250ftlb rating
Lift
Torches
Press
Big hammer
10 Jackstands
2 floor jacks
all sizes of pry bars
Air chisel
Did I mention Torch!!!!!!!
These are key tools for suspension,exhaust and heavy drivetrain work on any older vehicle.
 
blackout50 said:
Its all about having the proper tools!!!
Large compressor!!
1/2 Inch drive impact with min 250ftlb rating
Lift
Torches
Press
Big hammer
10 Jackstands
2 floor jacks
all sizes of pry bars
Air chisel
Did I mention Torch!!!!!!!
These are key tools for suspension,exhaust and heavy drivetrain work on any older vehicle.

I have all them tools plus.I have more tools than my local Ford Steelership,
And other auto shops in my area.

Thanks Randy
 
If an impact gun isnt working for you on those locking nuts..Thne your ball joint threads must be stripped or severly nicked at the end. I did a full suspension rebuild on my 94 back in the day..It toook me a full weekend including two broken bolts
 
blackout50 said:
Its all about having the proper tools!!!
Large compressor!!
1/2 Inch drive impact with min 250ftlb rating
Lift
Torches
Press
Big hammer
10 Jackstands
2 floor jacks
all sizes of pry bars
Air chisel
Did I mention Torch!!!!!!!
These are key tools for suspension,exhaust and heavy drivetrain work on any older vehicle.

I have an 1/2 inch impact with 500ftlb rating. Its really nice. My assessory belt tensnor found out its torque the hard way :(

Shane
 
DamonSlowpokeBaumann said:
If an impact gun isnt working for you on those locking nuts..Thne your ball joint threads must be stripped or severly nicked at the end. I did a full suspension rebuild on my 94 back in the day..It toook me a full weekend including two broken bolts

The ball joint threads are perfect.Its the egg shape nut from mars thats will not go on.I have went to every store in my area,To buy a non-locking nut.
No one has this size thread.

So I am going to buy another set of ball joints just for the nut.Then
chuck the nut up in my lathe,cut the locking portion off.Then use it
to tighten the ball joint up.Then double nut it with a locking nut.
This is my last idea,if this do's not work.I guess its time to roll
the SC off in the weeds.And give up on it.Then turn into a crackhead,
this would be cheaper and maybe more fun. :) Do you think a
M90 blown crack pipe would work. :D

RANDY
 
Last edited:
Randy N Connie said:
Then turn into a crackhead,
this would be cheaper and maybe more fun. :) Do you think a
M90 blown crack pipe would work. :D

RANDY

Just think Randy you could crank the boost up on it and get high that much quicker lol!!!

Shane
 
I got the old lock nut off the SC lower control arm and spindle I took off.
And chucked the new egg shape lock nut in my lathe.Cut the lock portion
off,I cut the nut down to a thickness of .250.

The nut I cut down went right on,and sucked the ball joint shaft up and lock it in place.
Then I was able to put a lock-nut on top of the cut down nut.
So the ball joint is double nuted.

With this set up ,the ball joint locknut will come off very easy .
And the nonlock nut should just spin right off if I need to ever
take it back apart.

So I am proud to say it only took around 11 days to get the drivers
side spindle to lower control arm nut on,and the two swaybar end link
nuts on.I had to double nut the swaybay end link nut to like the ball
joint.

Now to the passenger side front spindle.I should be able to get it done
in 6 or 7 days.Now that I have done one.

Would any one like to hire me to work on your SC at an hourly rate. :D

Just call me speedy.Randy
 
Last edited:
Back
Top