well got the oil pans installed, of course now cant get the control arms to align

jrenda

im ready to scream.  ok the afternoon off to get this buttoned back up.  2 more hours and at least all the oil pan bolts are in, tho not torqued yet.  i guess its prob a blessing that i didnt get the control arms in just in case there are leaks on the pan.  but i figured the could would go in easier since i cut 1 inch off,  no matter what i try i cannot get the lower control arm holes to line up with those on the crossmember.  i tried dropping the crossmember, tried it with the crossmember locked down in place, tried compressing a coil with a set of compressor tools but then the tools are in the way.

what am i missing?  

thanks all

- jason

jrenda

hmm i was using a strut type compressor - all i have - and just searched and found a better option may be an internal type.  guess its back to the parts store lol

jrenda

i give up.  just spent 40$ on an internal coil compressor and another 1.5 hours and nothing.  the control arms dont even align with NO coils in place.  all i can think of is to loosen all the crossmember bolts, try and align the a arms with no coils and then tighten the crossmember and hope that did it.  i really have no idea why this is so challenging.  i had the coil super compressed but its not the coils - the damn locating holes on the a arms do not align with the crossmember - about 1/2 in off. any ideas?

Jon B

Have another beer.  Take deep breaths.  Relax.  All will be revealed, eventually.

ken1962

How is the car supported - is it bending slightly - after all the chassis can flex cheers Ken

Jon B

I forget...did you mention where you're located?  It's possible someone with some Hudson expertise might live near you and could come over and lend his expertise.

triman62

Jason, If you had both control arms off for cleaning and painting. is it possible they got switched left to right? the arm on the spindle for the tie rod end will go to the rear of the car. If you could post some pictures of the control arms it might help to identify the problem. Hope this helps and good luck with your project. Keep us posted thanks. Preston-triman62

triman62

Finally got a couple pictures to load, hope this helps.

jrenda

thanks all.  nothing was removed, simply followed the book procedure to get the coils out.  did more research on here and it seems to be fairly common to need to use longer bolts to locate the control arms to crossmember then replace with correct ones to cinch it up.  for all the "easy" stuff i had done before this past week has really questioned my choices lol.  ill get to it but there will be moments of doubt and frustration, but it will get done.

thanks for the continued help.

- jason

jrenda

thanks Ken,

made some progress last night.  I have an internal spring compressor on the coil to keep it under control.  Then I used varying lengths of all-thread and bolts to get the lower arm up and aligned with the crossmember.  Going to get a little longer than stock grade 8 fine-thread bolts today so I can try and cinch it up.  Then I'll slowly release the internal compressor tool and put the wheel on.  THEN i can finally try and start the thing lol!!

Per

Jason,

I think the bushings are eccentric.  Maybe you can get the little bit you may still need to get the bolts in by turning the bushings.  Naturally the alignment will need to be reset.

Per

Jon B

It's a little late to be mentioning this, but I just stumbled onto an on-line car manual website with a section on removal of the Hudson Eight oil pan.  They do mention compressing the springs; I didn't read it that closely, but maybe (having gotten as far as you have) some of this will make sense to you and might be helpful.

http://www.manualslib.com/manual/822698/Hudson-1948-1952.html?page=51#manual

Per

Ken,

Thanks for the explanation!

Per

Quadster

Jason,

Your car seeing daylight for the first time since 1958.

Sept. 2014

jrenda

thanks all - and thanks Quadster for that pic!

I have made a good amount of progress:  coils are cut 1 inch and installed, crossmember back in place, control arms installed, dipper tray cleaned and installed with new oil, oil pan installed with new gasket (havent added oil yet).  

Going to hopefully attempt to fire it this week.  trying to find a 6v battery to use to test.

also made up some door panels last night.  have to make an extension for the window crank to extend past the flat panel.  i have saved all of the original parts and doing my best to walk the line between hot rod and stay true to the car and not do anything that cannot be undone in the future.