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Brian is correct about the front tool. It is not used in unloading the bars. Using it only makes the job harder since that would keep the bars wound tighter. Don't know where my head was other than it's been about 10 yrs since I did it & memory is apparently fuzzy. As he mentioned, there is the other piece to the load tool used as a pivot for the rear arm. That was missing on the tool I used but easily made out of flat iron, some bolts & a bit of welding.

I'm sure you've read the manual on removing the main TL bar. Spray a lot of PB blaster in the TL fixtures on either end of the bar. Do NOT clamp any vise grips or pipe wrench on the bar itself. If you nick it, it will fail somehere down the road. You can make a tool out of oak or hickory to grip the bar and hammer on it to remove the bar. I got this from a Chrysler forum and thought it was a good idea. Drill a 7/8 inch hole through the block of wood and drill four bolt holes perpindicular to the 7/8" hole to clamp what will be two halves together. Then saw the block of wood the length of the 7/8" hole. You can clamp this on the main torsion bar by tightening the four bolts for a good grip and then hammer the block of wood being careful not to hit the bar.

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i have no desire to remove the bar only to wind it back up.....but thanks for that info. ;0)

Hmm, perhaps I've missed something else? Why unload the torsion bars if not to paint them?

i painted them on the frame. i did not let the tension loose on purpose, the straps i had holding it broke and let it loose. it was not my intention. you can go back a few pages and see where the straps broke on my blog.

the frame, etc....is already painted including bars.

Henry, You are correct. I had missed the Eastwood stuff eating thru the straps. I was away for a while and must have skipped that section. I like Howard's idea of jacking them back in, but please be careful.

found someone locally that is willing to let me use the torsion bar winding tool. YEAH! cool thing is they contacted me, makes me feel very good! a Packard dude reaching out to another......the local club may win me over after all.

link to one of my current topics concerning U-Joints and driveshaft paint or no paint...

https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2358&post_id=23274#forumpost23274

p.s. Max has the trailing arm pin. YEAH! again. and they are looking for a correct matched U-bolt. still don't know about the U-bolt yet, so if any of you might have one....well i still need that one.

later,

Hank

fred was not able to find the u-bolt i needed. it is group number 15.992 and part number 445997. please anyone??

weekend update:

lots of cleaning, painted, fixing, mounting, and having lots of fun!

used the sand blast cabinet to clean up the brake parts and then painted them. made sure i painted the springs the right color per the manual, blue....i had a sample of paint left on the spring before i cleaned it off and i was able to match the paint pretty close with some VALSPAR Mediterranean color paint at Lowe's. it is just about PERFECT!

cleaned up the E-brake parts and started mounting them. i didn't finish the passenger's side, because of the clip that i am missing.

HH56 found me a U-bolt, which is AWESOME!! thanks dude!! so no i can actually move on to fitting that side of the rear diff to the trailing arm. got the passenger's side shock mounted. started painted the sway bar center mount, didn't finish that yet.

i got alot of questions answered to day by the great people on this forum! THANKS EVERYONE! i couldn't do it without the support! seriously, Kev, THANK YOU for this forum! what a blessing!

i am getting to the point that i will be getting the rims down. i am pretty sure it should be in Onyx...any suggestion on how i should get them painted, type of paint etc...i am sure i will need them to be repaired first, etc..too. and who, besides discount tire, should i go to get the bias ply tires mounted right without damaging them.

enjoy the pics,

Hank

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Looking good Hank!

For my rims, I had them media blasted, and then primed them, and then painted them inside and out. It made a huge difference as before the tires would not even hold air due to the rust in the bed area. Now they have held their pressure for several months.

No special paint is really required. Just the same primer and paint your would use on the body. Funny thing is all the work blasting, priming, and painting, and only thing you see is the 3/4" edge of the rim when the wheel cover is on. Also you are guaranteed to scratch the paint once you put the Wheel cover on and off one time because of how the cover tabs hold/bite onto the rim. Can't avoid it. But at lease it's not visible. Also if the cover goes on without bitting into the paint, then that cover is probably too loose, and the tabs need to be bent out for a firmer fit. Don't want to lose a wheel cover while rolling down the freeway.

I had my tires put on at the local Sears and had them balance them with stick weights so they are not visible like hammer-on weights would be. I had one rim that was a little off and the tech got it as close as he could, but its just a little warped from some impact in its past life. So until I can get it fixed, or replaced, I made that one the spare tire.