Re: Stewart's 1955 Packard 400
Posted by Craig Hendrickson On 2015/5/8 14:46:42
Stewart,
Reconnecting the rear load arms to the stirrup seats is "easy peasy". My Panther frame is in pretty much the same state as your 55 400: Body off, engine & trans out, S-bars and shocks disconnected.
To reseat the load arm tip with the mating stirrup part, just jack up one side with a floor jack. No restraining chains are required. As the frame on one side comes up, it will align the load arm end with the stirrup seat. At that point, just push it on (maybe a tap from a small sledge is required). Once you get it more or less seated, wire the two together as shown in the following pictures. Then repeat on the other side. Works every time for me.
I used cut down coat hanger wire. The stirrup always comes off towards the center of the car (away from the load arm pivot), so that is the part that has to be constrained.
Of course, once you get body weight back on the frame, just cut the wire off for operation.
Craig
Reconnecting the rear load arms to the stirrup seats is "easy peasy". My Panther frame is in pretty much the same state as your 55 400: Body off, engine & trans out, S-bars and shocks disconnected.
To reseat the load arm tip with the mating stirrup part, just jack up one side with a floor jack. No restraining chains are required. As the frame on one side comes up, it will align the load arm end with the stirrup seat. At that point, just push it on (maybe a tap from a small sledge is required). Once you get it more or less seated, wire the two together as shown in the following pictures. Then repeat on the other side. Works every time for me.
I used cut down coat hanger wire. The stirrup always comes off towards the center of the car (away from the load arm pivot), so that is the part that has to be constrained.
Of course, once you get body weight back on the frame, just cut the wire off for operation.
Craig
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