Goodbye 44 year old Front Suspension

[Cudaragtop]

Well my 70 Cuda convertible's 44 year old Front Suspension, Manual Drum Brakes, Manual Steering and 14" Rallye wheels days are numbered.
The New Wheels and Tires are on but I've been accumulating parts over the winter and this is what I have so far.
Year One   Aluminum 17x8" front, 17x9" rear Rallye Wheels
Tire Rack   Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500 245/45R17 Front, 275/40R17 Rear
QA1   Tubular K Member - Allows me to build out of the car and not much more than sending mine out to be welded and powder coated.
QA1   Dynamic Strut Bars - I just liked the way they look and they were less than PST or Hotchkiss
PST   1.03" Torsion Bars - Improvement over stock without being too stiff
PST   Fast Ratio Pitman/Idler Arms - Bought these before I knew about the Borg box, will see if I like the combination
PST   Complete FE Rebuild Kit - Some will be rubber some polly... Thoughts? Don't want a harsh ride
PST   11/16" Solid Tie Rods - why not?
PST   LCA Stiffening plates - Cheaper than tubular and most people swear by them...
PST   Greasable Control Arm Pivot Shafts - A few more bucks but longer life and no squeak?
Moog   Offset UCA Bushings - More Castor Scotty!
Hellwig    1.125" Tubular Sway Bar bigger than stock and I liked the price
Bilstein   RCD Bilstein Shocks - Came highly recommended by a good friend / mechanic, said can't go wrong with these.
OEM Reman   Saginaw PS Pump/Brackets/Pulley - Tired of the manual steering
New Replacement   High/Low Pressure PS Hose Kit
60 To 0 Brake Systems   Mopar Disc Brake Conversion Kit - Going to be Manual until I can get a Hydro boost... Kit or DIY???
Bergman   Borgeson PS Gear Box - Just ordered last night!
Bergman   Steering Coupler Kit - Ditto
TTI    2.5" Manifold to Tips w/H pipe - in a big box on my garage floor waiting for a sunny Sunday.
Dynomax   Ultra Flow Welded Mufflers -  Love the sound of these... check out "69 cuda tti exhaust, ultraflows" on YouTube.
I have purchased a pair of LCA / UCA and a Center link so I can assemble the complete new front end without taking my car apart.
This way I can keep driving it until it's ready for the swap.
I'm thinking I can do this in my garage with a little help from my friends... Not sure about the best way to support the engine. Don't own a hoist...
I have a buddy that is going to help with the Exhaust install at his shop on a Sunday but the rest I want to tackle myself and involve my 14 year old son.
Safety first! Heavy duty jack stands, and a nice high lift floor jack. Air tools and a pretty decent set of home mechanic tools that I have acquired over the years.
This will by far be the biggest undertaking DIY project for me in a very long time.
Wrenching on cars laying on my back on concrete at 52 is not the same as when I was a 20 something...
While I have the K member and complete front end out I would like to get the frame and fender wells cleaned up.
There is 44 years of build up under there. Never going to be a trailer queen but I would like to get the underside looking better.
Any advice here? going to make a mess...
My 340 was completed a few months ago and is now 418 CI Full roller solid lifter, Edelbrock Heads, Quick Fuel 650 DP, 10.5:1 Dyno - 511 Torque and 480 HP on pump gas.
Passon prepped A833 4-speed, 3.55:1 Sure Grip. While the engine was out I painted the engine bay and if money were no object I would have done the FE at the same time... But I have been ordering what I can without going into debt.
This is my Sunny Day Driver but there may a trip or two to the track in its future to really test it afterwards.
 
All words of wisdom appreciated. Share your project pics and links. I'll post pics when I get started. It's all in boxes now.
----o00o--'(_)'--o00o----

[moparman82]

Sounds like some serious upgrading!  Keep us posted, I'm really interested in the tubular k-frame, when u get to that any chance u could weight each of them?  I've heard a LOT of different versions of the weight difference.  Good luck!

[shawge]

It's going to be a good project.

I would suggest to buy/rent/borrow/steal a hoist to lift the body off of the engine/k-frame.  I found it was much easier to drop the engine/k-frame/trans onto a mover's dollies, lift the body enough to roll the engine out from under it than to go lift the engine/trans out of the engine bay.

No tubular UCAs?  Most (all?) have the corrected castor built in.

[brads70]

The car will be a night and day difference!

[Chryco Psycho]

Well dropping the K is easy but with the engine , I have used snowmobile roller pads under the K frame & used jack stand at the front of the leafs & used the rear weight of the car to counterbalance the front end & just lifted the nose of the car using my legs to lift by hand & rolled the engine trans & K out in one piece but you still need a hoist to lift the engine into the new K frame

[Cudaragtop]

Has anyone supported the engine from above with a hoist or from a cieling joist or even a 4x4 resting between the fenders in the engine bay...??  and dropped the K member out either piece by piece or all at once without removing the engine and trans?  Does that sound do-able? Lumber, Chain, Allthread, Nuts and Bolts, I got lots of...
 

[Chryco Psycho]

I guess it can be done , the trans can be supported by the rear crossmember , you would need to safely hold 700 lbs , the K member could be dropped out once the steering column is removed , slide the T bars out , separate the lower ball joints , the whole K & steering can be removed in one piece

[jimynick]

I've changed subframes in Novas and Camaros by loosening off the engine mounts and jacking the engine/trans up tight into the cowl/trans tunnel. It would probably take 2 jacks unless you wedge it up with some of the mentioned gear. Overall though, I'd pay the $20-30 to rent an engine hoist and make it a lot easier and safer. Good luck 

[anlauto]

Has anyone supported the engine from above with a hoist or from a cieling joist or even a 4x4 resting between the fenders in the engine bay...??  and dropped the K member out either piece by piece or all at once without removing the engine and trans?  Does that sound do-able? Lumber, Chain, Allthread, Nuts and Bolts, I got lots of...
 

It's VERY do-able. With the introduction front wheel drive most repair shops have a special tool designed exactly for this porpose. To support the engine while removing things like the transmissions, half-shafts etc...   The tool is basically an "A" frame that sits on top of each shock tower with a cross bar that goes across with a chain to support the motor.

I've done it using a good solid 1/8 wall pipe and some rags. 

[dodj]

There is 44 years of build up under there. Never going to be a trailer queen but I would like to get the underside looking better.
Any advice here? going to make a mess...

----o00o--'(_)'--o00o----

If you are cleaning out undercoating.....a torch, putty knife and a wire brush. Yup, gonna be messy.

[Cudaragtop]

It's VERY do-able. With the introduction front wheel drive most repair shops have a special tool designed exactly for this porpose. To support the engine while removing things like the transmissions, half-shafts etc...   The tool is basically an "A" frame that sits on top of each shock tower with a cross bar that goes across with a chain to support the motor.

I've done it using a good solid 1/8 wall pipe and some rags. 

Thanks Alan, I think I can build something to fit the bill. Maybe go take a look at the rental shop first... 

[Cudaragtop]

If you are cleaning out undercoating.....a torch, putty knife and a wire brush. Yup, gonna be messy.

Thanks Scott, after heating, scraping and cleaning should there be paint left underneath? Should it be body color or black undercoat or undercoat over body color?
I used single stage EF8 from rattle cans to do the engine bay while the engine was out. It turned better than I hoped it would. I could get some more...
 

[Cudaragtop]

It's VERY do-able. With the introduction front wheel drive most repair shops have a special tool designed exactly for this porpose. To support the engine while removing things like the transmissions, half-shafts etc...   The tool is basically an "A" frame that sits on top of each shock tower with a cross bar that goes across with a chain to support the motor.

I've done it using a good solid 1/8 wall pipe and some rags. 

Found this tonight... I love the internet!
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tech/1401_how_to_install_qa1_k_member_suspension_system/viewall.html

[ChallengerHK]

Do you have a thread on your engine build?

[dodj]

Thanks Scott, after heating, scraping and cleaning should there be paint left underneath? Should it be body color or black undercoat or undercoat over body color?

Should be body colour I believe. When I scraped the old undercoating off my car the wheel wells were white underneath.