Project X....old guys and a torque wrench, it's not pretty

carl

carl

True Classic
Removed the rear A-arms to paint them and hide all the surface rust. Spent a day reinstalling and fiddling with all the shims...no problem. Books says 72 lb/ft torque for those pivot bolts. Picture an old guy with no upper body strength laying on the floor trying to pull down on the torque wrench to get to 72. It was not pretty, I almost said screw it and just fire up the air gun....but I didn't. Those were the rear pivots, the forward ones are going to be even worse due to crappy access. Rear wheels on some 6x6s on my wheel dollies. A lift would have made it easier.
 
carl said:
Removed the rear A-arms to paint them and hide all the surface rust. Spent a day reinstalling and fiddling with all the shims...no problem. Books says 72 lb/ft torque for those pivot bolts. Picture an old guy with no upper body strength laying on the floor trying to pull down on the torque wrench to get to 72. It was not pretty, I almost said screw it and just fire up the air gun....but I didn't. Those were the rear pivots, the forward ones are going to be even worse due to crappy access. Rear wheels on some 6x6s on my wheel dollies. A lift would have made it easier.
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OGs are supposed to be able to substitute experience, wisdom and if necessary, cheating, for brute strength. Cheater pipe? 🤔
 
If you didn't replace the bushings while you had it out, you gonna need to take it apart a gain and do that.;) Actually, I just dod this, too. But I hit the 72 ft-lb click with a big torque wrench. Can't do it with one of those skinny 3/8 drive wrenches. Half-inch and long handle, no problem.
 
Mine is a 1/2" drive with a clicker. I got the rears and the forward driver side but just couldn't generate enough oomph to get the forward passenger side. The problem is I didn't have the car high enough to get a decent swing, near vertical on the wrench would do it but I wasn't even close. Pretty tight but not to spec. When I get the car up higher I'll get it or use my son in law who lifts weights.

There is "spec" and there is "good enough". I drove my 78 spider for years, including track days and then found out the two upper engine to transmission bolt were missing.
 
carl said:
Mine is a 1/2" drive with a clicker. I got the rears and the forward driver side but just couldn't generate enough oomph to get the forward passenger side. The problem is I didn't have the car high enough to get a decent swing, near vertical on the wrench would do it but I wasn't even close. Pretty tight but not to spec. When I get the car up higher I'll get it or use my son in law who lifts weights.

There is "spec" and there is "good enough". I drove my 78 spider for years, including track days and then found out the two upper engine to transmission bolt were missing.
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You could always use a jack to lift the wrench, all the torque you will ever need and reasonably controllable.
 
Ya, I just picked up a new 1/2" that is around 30 inches long. I lose the strength but make up for it with leverage.
 
It's odd that one of the easier jobs I can do on my X is installing/removing the power train. With dollies, engine hoists and jacks it's no problem at all yet it's the heaviest "part" in the car.

I like the idea of a jack under the torque wrench handle, never thought of that.
 
carl said:
It's odd that one of the easier jobs I can do on my X is installing/removing the power train. With dollies, engine hoists and jacks it's no problem at all yet it's the heaviest "part" in the car.

I like the idea of a jack under the torque wrench handle, never thought of that.
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I am not as old as you but I have thought of a few tricks :)

I had a frozen shoulder a few years ago and my strength in that arm has not come back so I have had to be creative a few times to deal with my kids rusty dailies. I have my tall deep reach jack which stays under the car and use the smaller, lighter aluminum Harbor Freight one occasionally to be the brute. Easy to modulate with a large rubber pad so once engaged it doesn’t slip.

Good luck and be safe.
 
What's funny (after the fact) is that while I was torqueing up these bolts I put a 6X6 on the rear wheel dollies to get the car higher. Now the rear wheels were not in the pocket of the dolly but just sitting on a flat beam. The front wheels were also on dolly. I did consider the fact that if I got the torque wrench pushing forward or backward I might actually roll the car off the rear dolly and crush me. Soooo....I kept my ears tuned for the wrench "click" and my eyes on the rear tires to make sure they did not star rolling.

Stupidity does not go away with age and experience, you can just better predict in advance your own demise.
 
carl said:
Removed the rear A-arms to paint them and hide all the surface rust. Spent a day reinstalling and fiddling with all the shims...no problem. Books says 72 lb/ft torque for those pivot bolts. Picture an old guy with no upper body strength laying on the floor trying to pull down on the torque wrench to get to 72. It was not pretty, I almost said screw it and just fire up the air gun....but I didn't. Those were the rear pivots, the forward ones are going to be even worse due to crappy access. Rear wheels on some 6x6s on my wheel dollies. A lift would have made it easier.
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What brand/model wrench do you use? The one I just purchased got panned in a recent review :(
 
A 1/2" drive Craftsman I have had for years. No model number. Has 19" arm.

Anyway, success! I jacked up the car a bit higher and found I could work the torque wrench a few degrees while standing next to the car. A mighty heave and "click"....usually that would be my shoulder but it was the torque wrench this time.

On to the next step. Before I install the radiator hoses I wanted to straighten out the engine bay wiring. With the FI removed and the AC removed by a previous owner there were a bunch of wires I could pull through the firewall (I have this thing about unused wires hanging about and just getting in the way and looking terrible). Wish I had done this when the motor was out but it's done with way fewer wires in the engine bay.
 
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