FE upper pivot pin and rubber bumper don't fit

[texmorton]

G'day all,

I started putting the front end back together for my FE restoration last night with rare spares parts at the ready. Not sure what is going on but the outer upper pivot pin is a bit smaller than the original one (which is still a nice neat fit int he control arm so the holes are not flogged out) that I pulled out so not a good fit into the threads of the upper control arm, anyone have any thoughts what is going on here? it is an early build FE (2236M) so did they change the size of the upper pin when they got further into production? I guess I will put the old one back in as they are pretty good for wear anyway. The other issue is the rubber bumpers x 4 that fit into the sockets under each of the control arm don't fit the sockets with the base part of the bumpers not big enough and lacking the shoulder that locks into the socket bit; any insight on what is going on here? thanks Al

[ardiesse]

My insight:  Your car has had an FB or EK front suspension fitted.

The upper outer pivot pin was enlarged when the FB was released, and if you bought an FX-FC replacement kit, it'll be loose in the upper control arm like you describe.
And you probably bought the ball-shaped rubber bumpers.  These are correct for FE-FC.  The FB-EK rubbers are conical, wider at the base, and have the shoulder.

There are a couple of other give-aways for FB-EK front suspensions -

The front crossmember will be rectangular in cross-section for the full width.  FE-FC front crossmembers slope down toward the rear.
In FB-EK lower control arms, the attachment for the sway bar pin is an integral part of the suspension arm, rather than spot-welded on (FE-FC).

Oh, and from FB onwards, the king pins were increased in diameter.  The stub axle and upright look the same as for FE-FC, but they don't interchange, except as entire assemblies.

And another off-the-wall question: what's the width of your front brake shoes?

Rob

[texmorton]

Thanks Rob, that will be what is going on.

What a bastard. I have sandblasted, painted everything and didn't realise it was not the original front end. Trying to keep it as original as possible so this presents a bit of a dilemma. Not sure about the brakes, I will measure them tonight. It still has early stubs on it as has the earlier front wheel bearings. Any other complications with running a later front end (apart from not looking original to the trained eye) that I need know about?? Al

[ardiesse]

Al,

So it sounds to me that the replacement front suspension has had the early FE uprights and stub axles fitted.  Your front brakes will be 1-1/2" wide in this case.

You'll have no problem with the later front suspension.  The improvements that GM-H made are, in fact, improvements.

Rob

[texmorton]

G'day again,

I assume the torsion bar is going to be different between FE-FC to FB? there was not a torsion bar on the car when it was bequeathed (disassembled) to me from a mate 20 years ago. I have both so assume I will need the FB one? Al 

[ardiesse]

I think front sway bars are the same from FE to EJ.