Well im changing out the upper balljoints on my car (66 mustang). Well on the upper control arm there are four RIVETS holding the ball joint "plate" or whatever you want to call it to the upper control arm. How the **** do I break them? It says in the manual to use a chisel. Yeah freakin right. I got the heads off of 2 of them with a grinder. The other 2 are not accesible with a large tool. Need some ideas.
Who here has done thier upper ball joints?
- Thread starter 66nightMARE
- Start date
dennis112
15 Year Member
Drill a hole through the center of the rivet, then use your chisel. Start small and work up to a larger size.
dennis112
15 Year Member
blue65coupe said:
65' and 66' are the same and both had rivets from the factory.
Yours has been replaced sometime in the past. The Mustang upper ball joint is a common wear part. Once the rivets are removed, they are replaced with 4 bolts and nuts.
This was one of the first things I did for my restoration, and was pretty intimidated beforehand. I found doing this isn't really a big deal afterall. With no experience, I drilled the each rivet out, used a chisel to punch the excess metal through that was stubborn, and away they went without any butchering of the holes.
...also, if you're lowering your a-arms or already have them done, now would be a good time to consider a negative-wedge kit...just a thought.
...also, if you're lowering your a-arms or already have them done, now would be a good time to consider a negative-wedge kit...just a thought.
Because I'm also going to race my Mustang, have my arms lowered more than 1", and others (66nightMare) may use his car for something other than normal street use. Even on certain public roads, I still reap the benefits of such modifications...as I said, it was only a suggestion. That's why, and that's why it's not a waste of money in some (like my) cases.
Do yourself a favor and change the whole upper arm assembly. They don't cost much more than the ball joints themselves. New ones will be stronger, not having been subjected to 30-40 years of wear and tear. Changing them also get you new upper bushings too, sometimes it's easier to do the whole front end, instead of piece meal.
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