At long last a LITTLE progress!

Post by **bruce** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 12:37 pm

Well, looks like all the Saturdays I've spent working at US Car Tool might be paying off. This is all powder coated and reassembled using mostly poly bushings (rubber for the lower control arm pivots). I also used some heavy-duty aftermarket strut rods since mine were bent, like so many factory strut rods are...

They offer this as a complete service for their customers if anyone is interested. Check their website: www.uscartool.com.

Post by **Eric** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 1:32 pm

looks great Bruce!

Post by **bruce** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 2:23 pm

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with it. Some of the colors aren't dead-on correct--due to a foul-up at the powder coaters. The "raw steel" stuff like the lower control arms and sway bar are too dark. But since I'm not looking for a concours resto it's cool. It sure looks a thousand times better than it ever has! And now they've gotten better with matching the proper sheen that the black of the k-member SHOULD have so it just keeps getting better and better for the customer's cars.

mopar71 · Post by **mopar71** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 8:00 pm

Looks good Bruce, They sell whole assemblies like that?

Post by **bruce** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:06 pm

No, they refrubish, rebuild, powdercoat and reassemble yours with your choice of rubber or polyurethane bushings.

72Rdrnner · Post by **72Rdrnner** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 2:19 pm

Bruce,

Are those the bigger strut rods that are offered? My stock ones don't have that stepped down section.

Just for my own edification...do most people install/remove the entire front suspension/K member as a single unit?

I took mine apart and put it back together piece by piece. I figured it would be easier as with the K frame bolted in place it was more solid for attaching all the other stuff. Plus I had a lift for the car.

Post by **bruce** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 2:28 pm

Hey Jon!
Yep, those are the bigger strut rods. If you saw the stock ones next to these you could tell how much bigger they are in diameter--they seem about twice the size.

We removed my k-member as a unit. Simply took out the torsion bars, took the upper control arms loose from their mounts and then dropped the k-member. Yep, the car was on the lift at US Car Tool when we did this, but it was REALLY simple...

And now that I have the k-member at home in my garage, I'm going to mount the engine and trans to it on one of the US Car Tool k-member stands and then we can refit the drivetrain the way it was done on the assembly line--up from the bottom...

72Rdrnner · Post by **72Rdrnner** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 4:46 pm

Bruce,

I thought about pulling the whole thing out, but I was taking pictures, cleaning, bead blasting, tagging & bagging as I went along so just left it in the car and nibbled away a piece at a time until at last I dropped the K frame. I considered a combined engine/K frame installation, but I wasn't too sure about how I would support or move that whole nine yards from below. Also the more I put in the car, the less I had to store or trip over!

I thought about building some sort of a lift rack with a hydraulic ram and the ability to roll around on the garage floor, but figured that would be more time consuming than just dropping the engine in from the top and the transmission from below. (I do have a tall boy transmission jack)

What made all that easier was not having any fenders on the car during the entire process.

I did the engine first and had it on an engine dolly for over a year before it finally got dropped back in the car. Biggest pain in the butt was when what was left of the car was on a dolly I had to move around by hand if I wanted to use the lift for something else. 20/20 hindsight I should just have bought a rotisserie.

You mention US Car Tool. Is that some sort of a tool rental place? Or a place you rent working space with a lift and all that? Never heard about it before.

Post by **bruce** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 5:13 pm

Jon, go to their web site I mention above: www.uscartool.com

They are a Mopar restoration shop, and they feature a video on their website on how they remove the engine, trans, k-member and front suspension as a unit on cars they restore. This is what we did on my Runner except that the engine and trans had already been pulled.

US Car Tool also manufatures rotisseries and k-frame cradles--tools to help with your restoration--in addition to doing full-on restorations. They also make some great subframe connectors.

Using their process you drop the engine, trans and k-member assembly onto one of their k-member stands. It has casters which allow you to move the assembly around as a unit and that also eases disassembly.

My specialty at the shop is stainless trim restoration.

72Rdrnner · Post by **72Rdrnner** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:41 pm

bruce wrote:My specialty at the shop is stainless trim restoration.

Ah yes, now I see your connection. I'll check it out.

I'd never done a restoration before the Roadrunner although I had done a lot of automotive, RV and motorcycle work experience, so I had a lot of tools. Then I built the garage, put the lift in, and the rest is history.

So I had just about all the tools (I say "just about" because one NEVER has "ALL" the tools!) so I just started at the front and went to the back. I built a dolly to roll it around on, plus all the front end special tools. I didn't realize Miller Tools was still around and you could get the factory ones. I motorized my engine hoist so I could do some stuff solo, along with a couple of jib boom electric hoists to pick heavy stuff up and to also store it in the attic. I tend to over engineer stuff I make as my workbench will probably support the Roadrunner if I could get it up there!

EDIT: Just checked out the web site. Pretty neat stuff. Had I known all about it I probably would have spent some money there. The K frame gizmo is what I had in mind building, except I was looking at making it capable of lifting the whole shebang up to the car when it was up on the lift. That way you don't have to be working down under the car as you lower it down to the carrier. Just raise the car, raise the K frame/engine/transmission, and toss in the four big bolts to hold it all together. (that's the kind of over engineering zeal I am cursed with!)

I made a top rail/holder for my tall transmission jack that would pick up the whole rear end for installation. Worked pretty good...all I had to do was pick up the rear end with one of my electric winches, put on top of the retracted jack, fasten it to the jack and hit the air supply...up she went! Total one man operation, just like with a transmission.

One question...are adding the frame rail boxes worth the effort if you are not going to race the car? Especially considering what all you have to do if the car is all assembled, including the interior and carpet.

Post by **bruce** » Fri May 11, 2007 9:40 pm

More progress! No, this isn't paint in body color, it's epoxy primer! Still have plenty of sanding to do--especially around the master cylinder area where brake fluid managed to rust the metal. Also need to use some filler on the areas where I welded patches in and rework those areas... but PAINT isn't too far off! YeeHaw!

rr6pak · Post by **rr6pak** » Sat May 12, 2007 12:54 am

Hey Bruce- Do they sell the front connector with the casters(not sure what to call them)..
Thanks

Post by **bruce** » Sat May 12, 2007 4:31 pm

rr6pak wrote:Hey Bruce- Do they sell the front connector with the casters(not sure what to call them)..
Thanks

Probably so. The one I'm using is actually on loan from the shop.

I won't see John again until NEXT Saturday, but I'll ask. You could also email him about it: john@uscartool.com

71440 gtx · Post by **71440 gtx** » Sat May 12, 2007 8:24 pm

Hey Bruce, I noticed that your ds inner fender has the bump in it for the 72 and up battery hold down. Is your car a late or early 71. The earlier 71 cars don't have it or did you change the inner fender?

Post by **bruce** » Sat May 12, 2007 8:52 pm

Sharp eye! Driver's side inner fender has been replaced. It had the typical Mopar rot in the battery area... the rest of the unibody is what the car was born with--albeit with some patching here and there... fenders have been replaced, and of course I added the air grabber hood.