Blasted... Part 5

Well went over today to finish removing the rear sway bar links and brackets from the frame and started breaking down the rear end.

First order of business was to remove the rear sway bar links. During the building of the Gran Torino's, Ford assembled the frames before they attached the body because removing the sway bar links and brakets was a real PITA! There is just NO ROOM the get at the nut holding the sway bar link to the bracket...


















and swing the ratchet, so what I had to do was get a ratchet and socket on the nut, wedge it up against the frame and use a breaker bar to spin the link out of the nut.....

I was sucessful removing the passenger side with incident...

but the driver side snapped just below the nut so now the search begins for a replacement...

The next challenge was removing the frame brackets....

As with the sway bar links, there isn't enough room to get good access with your ratchet and socket and get a good swing so you have to really pump the ratchet to get the brackets off.....

I think when I put things back together, I'm gonna put the stud plate inside the bracket (left side) with the nuts on the outside of the frame crossmember to make things easier to reassemble...

I also got the lower control arms, brake lines and sway bar removed from the rear end.....

The upper control arm bolts were really on there tight, so I soaked them good with PB Blaster and hopefully next weekend using a BFI I'll be able to get them removed as well.

Until next installment....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Blasted... Part 4

With line wrenches in hand, I set about finishing up dropping the rear end assembly from under the Tomato. I removed the brake line from the brake hose, removed the hose clip and then freed the brake hose from the crossmember...

With the brake line free, using an impact and open end wrench, I unbolt the upper and lower control arms from the frame mounts and lowered the axle assembly to the floor...

I then slid the assembly from under the car and placed on 3 jack stands for further disassembly and service.

That's all for this installment.

Until next time...

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Blasted... Part 3

Well today the ole girl finally got into position, lost her wheels and the rear end started coming out. I got the springs, shocks, parking brake cables and the sway bar unhooked and ready for the big drop only to discover that I had my line wrenches at home in my other tool box, so about 90% of the rear is ready for removal. Here are a few pics of today's progress.

The new jackstands in position and the wheels and ramps removed....

and I got under her...

and started removing the rear suspension...

So hopefully next weekend with my line wrenches in hand, I can break loose the brake hose, remove the control arm hardware and roll the rear end out from under the Tomato.

Until next installment...

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Blasted... Part 2

Have made some progress since last installment. I got the firewall and door posts stripped.....

and also got the ole girl moved into the booth and up in the air so the sandblasting of the chassis can begin....

While she's in the booth, I'll drop the front and rear suspensions from the car so I can get the chassis blasted really good and rebuild and detail everything as necessary as I put it all back together.

More to come....

ZEBRA 3 OUT