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Back to Kind of bad. When messing with the T/L, I did notice that the rear load arm appeared to be cocked and not true in the bracket. Of course after getting unloaded and broke loose, still can not get the Load Bar to tap out of the arms. I have destroyed two 1" brass drifts and even rounded a steel bar beating on those things. Hate to say it but might have to cut yet.

Took a break from the T/L and began taking the Control arms apart so I can put them in an Electrolysis tank I build for de-rusting. In doing so, the bushings were defiantly shot and the inner sleeve was almost worn through. The right side is so out of whack, the top control pin is actually bent (a little hard to see in the pic). Front and Rear shocks frozen, upper and lower control arm shafts frozen, could not rotate with a steel bar. Took awhile but finally got them broken loose then taken apart. Had to Carefully cut the old bushing out rusted solid to the control arm and the shaft rusted to the inner spacer.

I went back to the frame and really looked at the T/L bars and they themselves have quite a bend in them and hit the top of the frame in the front frame hole, and the rear is hitting the bottom. If you step back, you can see the bow in the bar.

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That car must have been in a lake or something for awhile. I think you'd be money ahead to buy that black one, even though you've done heroic work on this car. Strictly economics.

The challenge has been thrown down, This is no longer a Rebuild Project, this is a Mission!!!!

Contact PackardSouthWest through this site.
He has torsion bars on Ebay right now that say Local Pick Up only but he has posted here numerous times that he can ship his parts to us with no problem.
He may have some out-riggers too. I recall not long ago you stated how much fun it was when you were fabricating parts so you might be able to repair the out-riggers that you have.

The really, really hard part is getting past the fact that your Patrician is not going to get back on the road as soon as you hope (Like me and my 400). I don't attend many car shows during the summer because it makes me sick with envy.

Thanx Stewart, I actually already use Gerry at Southwest. Gerry has good serviceable parts at very reasonable prices.

It is frustrating that I wont have it on the road in the time frame I had planned, I was hopping to use it in my Daughters Wedding next June but, their is also a thrill that I will take this basket case 100% apart and reassemble from the ground up.

Historically speaking, it is a thrill the last time the car was in its current form was when it was on the line.

This is defiantly a labor of love.

More fun in the sun. due to the excessive damages I am finding, I am going to proceed with a complete disassembly and inspection instead of repairing in sections as I go.

The rear end should have aprox .006-.010 backlash in the rear yoke, Well, I have 1/3 rotation of back lash, cant wait to get into that one and see if it is a shim job or re-gearing. Based on how things have gone, I am betting on the re-gearing.

Regarding the rear load arms - these can be difficult to remove from the torsion bars.

I have done this for 2 different cars and for the first one did it with the units in place by making up a fairly heavy 2 piece bracket to mount in front of the load arm and using a gear puller to apply force to the end of the torsion bar inside the load arm. This took a long time and a lot of soaking with penetrant. Finally had to use heat to get them to to break loose. Did try using a drift and hammer on these first before the puller but with no luck.

On the second set, the torsion bar and load arm assemblies were removed from the frame of a parts car by cutting the rear mounting brackets. I then used a 12 ton shop press to separate the load arms from the torsion bars.

Three days of soaking, heating, beating, soaking, heating, beating, soaking, heating, beating, I think I am about to the point of cutting the torsion bar, it has not budged a millimeter. I am afraid I will loose the temper in the bar if I keep heating the arm. On a side note, the bearing in the load arm is rusted solid..... I have a feeling I will have to cut and then have a date with a 20 ton press.

Had no choice but to cut the torsion bar.

As you can see it is rusted solid and will take a large press to break it free. After soaking overnight, I finally got the needle bearing to break free.

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That car had to have been sitting for a loooooooong time in some very damp conditions for that kind of rust. Hopefully you have one already lined up or else Mike D. can set you up with a new bar.