signalsparks
Active Member
1970 Satellite 4 door 318/2bbl/904. Factory Air and P/S. Manual drums. Stock all around, in/out.
I took it in to a local mechanic that has a reputation of being a wizard at adjusting carbueretors, since mine just wasn't dialed in very well. I asked him to have a look at the front brake adjustment since I neglected to adjust them on my last inspection/bearing re-pack. He said he put 'er up on the lift and noticed that I had "quite a bit" of wheel movement (caster) and was able to tighten things up a bit, but basically told me "The whole front end looks original; you should probably re-do the whole thing."
I asked for a list of what should be done, and he started asking for another hour of labor to come up with a list. He's quite obviously a Chivvy guy ("I like coil springs better; I've seen torsion bars break."). I doubt I'll be going back to him, even though he's conveniently close.
Thanks for reading this far. I'm assuming I should do a full set of bushings. Steering feels pretty solid, even at 65-70 mph it's pretty precise, and I thought the handling was pretty good all things considered, but there are rattles and clunks from the front end over bumps, etc.
Has anyone done front-end service recently on their comparable machine that's willing to tap out a list of what I should take a look at, what I should replace regardless of how it looks based on age, and what special tools I might need?
While I'm an idiot with carbueretors, I'm competent at electrical, engine, cooling, brakes, etc. and I have done front-end work on several vehicles (a 1991 Nissan Sentra and a 1994 Dodge Dakota 2WD) in the past. I know I'll have to have it aligned after...
Thanks in advance!
I took it in to a local mechanic that has a reputation of being a wizard at adjusting carbueretors, since mine just wasn't dialed in very well. I asked him to have a look at the front brake adjustment since I neglected to adjust them on my last inspection/bearing re-pack. He said he put 'er up on the lift and noticed that I had "quite a bit" of wheel movement (caster) and was able to tighten things up a bit, but basically told me "The whole front end looks original; you should probably re-do the whole thing."
I asked for a list of what should be done, and he started asking for another hour of labor to come up with a list. He's quite obviously a Chivvy guy ("I like coil springs better; I've seen torsion bars break."). I doubt I'll be going back to him, even though he's conveniently close.
Thanks for reading this far. I'm assuming I should do a full set of bushings. Steering feels pretty solid, even at 65-70 mph it's pretty precise, and I thought the handling was pretty good all things considered, but there are rattles and clunks from the front end over bumps, etc.
Has anyone done front-end service recently on their comparable machine that's willing to tap out a list of what I should take a look at, what I should replace regardless of how it looks based on age, and what special tools I might need?
While I'm an idiot with carbueretors, I'm competent at electrical, engine, cooling, brakes, etc. and I have done front-end work on several vehicles (a 1991 Nissan Sentra and a 1994 Dodge Dakota 2WD) in the past. I know I'll have to have it aligned after...
Thanks in advance!