Hoo, boy. Well, first of all, the A-arms have to be replaced if the bolt
holes have become oval instead of round. Used ones are cheap. I got my
frozen bolts out with lots of liquid wrench and about five straight hours
of banging away with a hammer and various case-hardened drifts. Jack the
wheel slightly to take the tension off the bolt; that will help quite a
bit. The best way to go IMHO is with complete remanufactured kingpin
assemblies. No machine shop work, no mess, just knock the bushings in,
lube it up and bolt it on! I seem to recall spending something like
$250-300 for a complete rebuild kit. Last important note: when you have
the A-frames apart, take the opportunity to install the V8 bushings!
They last forever and give you a tighter ride.
I had to take the air cleaners off to get to the steering U-joint, but
from there, rack removal including tie rods is pretty straightforward --
and if you '77 has its original carburetor, you may not even need to do
that.
I hope you have a nicer place to work than I did; I had to break every
day for a seemingly-endless spate of summer storms that happened for six
straight weeks (no fooling -- Atlanta, GA, last summer!). Made an
already-unpleasant job into a nightmare.
Best of luck.
-- Marc
GHN3/8214
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