Spring Into Action : Parts Are Flooding In

The Boxes of parts have been flooding in this week! Coil Springs, wheel cylinders, Brake Shoes, Spring Kits,star wheel adjusters  & Brake hoses are all here.

I sandblasted the backing plates & spindles and coated them with Eastwood’s Rust Capsulator. After a 24 hour drying period, I then sprayed them with Eastwood’s Chassis Black Gloss early this morning before work,  which gave them a mirror like finish.  It got to 90 degrees here today, so the heat was good for baking that paint on real nice by the time I got home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then began assembling everything by attaching the backing plates to the spindles. Followed by the wheel cylinders, Brake shoes, star wheel adjusters, brake adjuster spring, and finally the return springs.  I had an expensive set of brake  spring removal/installation tool. It actually was such a pain in the butt to use,  I went back to my trusty old $3.00 spring tool I bought 20 years ago when I worked on my old Datsun pickup. It was so easy, and fast. I think I’ll give my brother the expensive/complicated brake tool. One less contraption to have to store.

One problem I did come across is that the brake shoes I ordered were about 1/2 in too wide. I actually think they sent me rear shoes. The ’58 wagons have wider brake shoes for the back, and the drums are wider also. This is unfortunate, as I don’t have time to send them back and exchange them for new ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh well. Now I have a set of rear shoes.  I inspected the old shoes, and they looked fine. The pad surface was very thick, not cracked, and looks like they had been replaced before it was parked in the late 1980’s.  I will purchase new pads at another time, but for the meanwhile these will suffice for driving it in and out of the garage.

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Spring Into Action : Coil Spring Removal Using Internal Coil Spring Compressor

I picked up an Internal Coil Spring Compressor to use on the Ranch Wagon. After fiddling with it for awhile, I got the hang of using it and its function.  It has 4 arms with hooks that are inserted through the middle of the coils spring, rather than the ones that mount on the outside of the spring.  My opinion is that the internal Coil Spring compressor is a safer tool, and works better.

Working with coil springs is always dangerous. They are under enormous tension, so be careful and always take safety measures to ensure that you will not get  hurt.

 

Now that the Spring is removed, carefully set the spring aside. It is still under tension with the spring compressor attached to it! I carefully loosed the tension by loosening the nut on the compressor until it loosed up. I ran out of daylight, so I will have to do the other side tomorrow evening.