New guy 79 factory 4 speed wagon.
- Thread starter Mighty
- Start date
This is how the washer is added for extra support correct? Figured while I’m waiting on parts I’ll get that taken care of
The grease on your outboard ballstud looks gritty.
On the outboard ballstud, you should also have a star lock washer to keep the nut from backing off against the frame bracket. If you get the kit from OPGI, you will have one.
I hadn't seen a washer welded there before, but it can't hurt. Where did you see/hear about such a recommendation?
The failure point on these bellcranks is the lower arm peeling off. I have had a few where the weld failed and it looked like it had poor penetration.
I added braces on the tension side of each arm to prevent future failure.
On the outboard ballstud, you should also have a star lock washer to keep the nut from backing off against the frame bracket. If you get the kit from OPGI, you will have one.
I hadn't seen a washer welded there before, but it can't hurt. Where did you see/hear about such a recommendation?
The failure point on these bellcranks is the lower arm peeling off. I have had a few where the weld failed and it looked like it had poor penetration.
I added braces on the tension side of each arm to prevent future failure.
I like your idea better than the washer since I had to spend a little time reaming the washer out to fit. I either found the washer idea from an old post here or gbodyforum.com I can’t remember? So I picked the wrong arm to reinforce it sounds like? Maybe I’ll look around for a little brace tonight like you used instead of a washer.
Oh yea, no star lock washer in my z bar. I didn’t even realize the back plastic ring was still inside for quite a while until I really started scrubbing the grease out getting ready to weld it.
Out of curiosity I’m going to run out and look at the Monte that I took the odometer screw out of. The shifter is on the floor and I’m going to check and see if it has a tilt column in it. How much different would a 85 monte ss column be compared to my 79. Obviously mine has the key lock on it.
I don't recommend putting in the 1985 Monte Carlo column in as you will be defeating a safety feature. The factory set up the columns so that 2 steps are required to put the key into the Lock position. With an automatic, you have to put the transmission in Park before the key can be moved to the Lock position. With a 1979-1981 A body (e.g., Malibu) with manual transmission, you have to push down the lever in order to move the key to the Lock position. By installing the 1985 automatic tilt column in your car, you can move the key to the lock position at any time making for a dangerous ride with no steering ability.
You can make a custom tilt key release column that GM never made. I have made a few, but you need the right donor parts. The basic tube (jacket) of the column is in 2 pieces. The lower piece is unique to the A body with manual transmission and you want to retain it. You need to swap out the upper jacket with one from a tilt with manual transmission; it is different than a tilt with an automatic transmission.
Additionally, your car has the wiper control in the dash, not in the column.
You can make a custom tilt key release column that GM never made. I have made a few, but you need the right donor parts. The basic tube (jacket) of the column is in 2 pieces. The lower piece is unique to the A body with manual transmission and you want to retain it. You need to swap out the upper jacket with one from a tilt with manual transmission; it is different than a tilt with an automatic transmission.
Additionally, your car has the wiper control in the dash, not in the column.
It is good you find the plastic ring. If you bought the rebuild kit, you would have been replacing them anyway if 1 of them melted.
Ordered the rebuild kit earlier in the week. Waiting on it to arrive. I’m having a friend weld up the brackets on my bellcrank tomorrow afternoon. I have a couple welders but I didn’t want to just burn holes in it lol
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