Any years how to Tighten control arm bolts

[Bpeterson]

Hi All, I just completed suspension rebuild on 1972 El Dorado with new upper and lower control arm bushings, new upper and lower ball joints, new bearings and bushings.  I have the following questions:

-upper ball joint... if I torque to 65 it restricts movement and puts the bolt much higher than the cotter pin hole.

-the service manual says lower car to normal driving position and then tighten upper and lower control arm bolts.  When the car is lowered to normal driving position it is very difficult to access some of the bolts.  Is it OK to raise the car to tighten the control arm bolts?

-is it recommended to put premium gas in the 500 cubic inch engine or is regular OK?

-best way to lubricate cylindars before starting and after car was sitting for 2 years.

Thanks for any help.... suggestions are appreciated.

Blake

[Dave Shepherd]

Control arm bushing  bolts must be tightened at ride height, car on the ground or drive on rack as the manual  states.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

These cars were designed to run on Unleaded Petrol.

The best way to lubricate the cylinders is to remove the spark plugs, and squirt some engine oil into each cylinder with a pressure (pump) oil can and then spin the engine over still with the plugs out.   DON"T forget to remove the Coil Lead, but also remember to replace the coil lead before starting.

Put in too much oil, and the excess will squirt out the plug holes, which you don't want.

But, when starting, ensure that the car is outside of a garage, as the oil makes a lot of smoke when burning off.

When starting, pour a small amount of petrol down the carby, so you don't have to crank the starter motor for too long to get the petrol into the carby float chamber.   Will take a couple of goes, but it will start.

Bruce.

[35-709]

1971 was the first year for regular gas in Cadillac 472/500 engines.  Regular gas should be fine for a stock '72.  Ethanol free gas is all I use in my '71 and '73 engines, any octane rating ethanol free is OK since it was designed to run on regular gas.

[Bpeterson]

Thanks guys for your help!  More questions:

-once the bottom control arm bolts are tightened at ground level does the car have to be at ground level to tighten upper control arm bolts also or can the car be raised and set on jack stands to do final tightening of upper control arm bolts?

-my shocks are backordered....can I do final bottom control arm tightening without shock installed or do I need to install shock first then do bottom control arm tightening?

-when lubricating the cylinders is fogging oil such as sta bil as good as regular oil with pump oil can?

Thanks once again for helping me with this project.  Can hardly wait until I get to cruise in the caddie again!!

[Chopper1942]

Lets start with the control arms. The vehicle must have all its weight on the lower control arms. If it is on jack stands and the stands are place out by the ball joints, it will be OK to tighten BOTH upper and lower control arm bolts.

[Chopper1942]

Lets try this again. Part of the post was lost the first time .

Lets start with the control arms. The vehicle must have all its weight on the lower control arms. If it is on jack stands and the stands are place out by the ball joints, it will be OK to tighten BOTH upper and lower control arm bolts. AGAIN, THE WEIGHT OF THE CAR MUST BE ON THE LOWER CONTROL ARMS BEFORE TIGHTENING THE BOLTS. Torque them to specs. If you tighten the bolts with the suspension hanging down, jack stands on the frame, you will be replacing the bushings again within a short period of time. The control arm movement will tear the rubber bushings.

Do as Tassie said and squirt just a couple of squirts of oil in each cylinder. Once the engine is running you cae mist Marvel Mystery oil down the carb for additional lubrication.

What Tassie means when he says coil lead in not the coil wire from the cap to the dist. He means to remove the B+ wire from the ign coil and place it so it can't short out to ground.

Shocks are not load bearing and have no effect on ride/suspension height and do not have to be installed when tightening the suspension bolts.

If this vehicle has been sitting for several years, I would drain the gas tank, remove the fuel line at the carb, connect a hose to the fuel line and place the hose in a container, and with the plugs out spin the engine over until it stops pumping fuel. DO NOT CRANK THE ENGINE FOR MORE THAT 15-20 SECONDS AT A TIME. Allow the starter to cool between cranks. Put 5 gallons of gas in the tank and now crank the engine as before until you get fresh fuel from the fuel line. Reinstall the fuel line and spark plugs and start the engine.

Two things I would recommend for longer engine life and drivability is to add a lead substitue to the gas. This lubricates the exhaust valve seats and prevents exhaust valve and valve seat wear. The other is to use a zinc additive in your oil. Prior to 1975 zinc was used in oils to prevent wear in the engines, especially to the cam and lifters. It was reduced and/or removed from oils when the catalytic converters were required to be on all vehicles.  You can buy just the additive and add to your oil or Lucas makes, if I remember the name correctly, Lucas Classic 5-30 full synthetic oil with the additive all ready in it. You can get it in 5 qt. bottles for less than $50. This is a cheap way to extend your car's engine.

[Bpeterson]

Thanks Chopper 1942 for your help!!  Great information!!  So are you saying the car has to be at ground level to tighten the lower ball joints but after they are torqued to spec it is OK to raise the car to tighten the upper ball joints?

[Chopper1942]

You can torque the ball joint nuts with the vehicle suspension hanging down, like when you put the jack stands on the frame rails. All you are doing is making sure that the taper of the ball joint is fully seated into the spindle. The only issue is that without weight on the lower control arm, the ball joint stud will spin. The top ball joint will spin and you will need to have someone pry down with a long pry bar to force the ball joint stud into the spindle.

If you can get the ball joint studs into the spindle and thread the nut on and there is some of the stud below the nut, you can take a pair of vise grips and lock onto the stud. Then tighten the nut, pulling the stud into the spindle. Do this until it is tight enough not to turn. Now torque the nut to specs. If the cotter key doesn't line, tighten some more until it does.

The control arm bushing bolts are the ones that need vehicle weight on them, so the arms are at normal ride height/driving position.

[Bpeterson]

Thank you Chopper 1942!!

[Bpeterson]

I think I have the suspension all put back together except the shock..questions:

-the bottom control arm has to be raised up a couple of inches to put the shock on.  How much stretch do the control arm bushings have?  Is it OK to jack up the bottom of the lower control arm a couple of inches without harming the bushings.  All that work I don't want to rip the bushings. I would think on a bumpy road the control arm flexes quite a bit.

-also when I put the tire on it is not totally vertical....maybe will be fixed when alignment is done?

Thanks again for all your help!!

[Chopper1942]

I responded to your later post, but I forget to mention that the alignment should take care of the camber.  I'm not sure, but it may have eccentrics for the alignment. If not, check that the upper control are shaft shims are in place.  Either way, the alignment will take care of the issue.

[Bpeterson]

Thanks Chopper 1942...finally getting close to firing up the caddie...appreciate all your help!

[Bpeterson]

Fired up the 72 El Dorado today after suspension work and it sitting for 2 years. I did what you all said, put oil in cylinders and a bit of gas in carburetor and changed the gas and it fired right up but a lot of noise from the valve covers probably the lifters not getting oil.  I did change the oil and filter so probably oil has not reached there yet.  Wondering if I should just let it run until the oil reaches that area or pull the valve covers and put in oil.  Will the lifters/valves have damage waiting for the oil?

Thanks again for everyone's help!!

[Chopper1942]

Pull the valve covers and check for bent push rods. The some of the valves may have stuck. If any are bent you will need to pull the rocker shafts and see if you can break the valves loose by tapping hard on the valve stem with a plastic deadblow hammer. If you don't see any bent or broken push rods, push on the push rod side of the rocker arms and see if there is a lot of slack. You could also start it up and let it idle. You can now see if you are getting oil to the rockers. Any questions, give a shout out and we will try to help.