Page Five: The Rear Suspension… But First!



With the drivetrain in pieces in the garage, removing and refreshing the rear suspension is obvious.

But first…

I removed the emergency brake cables, partly because they were (slightly) in the way but mostly because they were rusty, can’t have that!

So, I removed the brake lines, they were rusty, and neglecting the brakes is plain stupid.

The heater ducts and fan housing were right there, easy to remove and refresh, so out they came too.

The fuel line was rusty…

Next, I disassembled the rear brakes, removing the axles, backing plates and boxing-up all the widgets, springs and doohickies that make drum braking happen.  I removed the springs and the A-arms to lighten the load I would have to drag from under The Ramper.

THEN, I dropped the rear suspension.

Something cool - factory chalk marks.
(I have no idea what they mean though.)

Inspection

My theory is that the 55K miles on the ticker may be accurate; some evidence to back the claim.

Original shocks: The Ramper was sporting some GM factory spiral shocks.  OK, maybe someone put spiral shocks on as replacements, but I really doubt that.

Corvair's got these spiral shocks from the factory
Brake line: None of the brake line fittings, you know the little nuts that require special wrenches that people notoriously (and infuriatingly) chew up with channel locks or Vise Grips, they were all pristine.  Again, maybe someone used the right tools and knew what they were doing, OR no one has ever monkeyed with them.  (I used copious WD-40, wire brushed away the rust and muck.   With fitting wrenches and/or crow’s feet wrenches I carefully worked each fitting back and forth gently to break them loose. No ham-fisted cranking that rounds off the little buggers.

I had hoped that I could clean up the A-arms, spray some black paint and throw them back in, but the bushings were loose and the rubber cushions that dampen vibrations and sound were “perished,” as the Brits say.  I’m this deep in it, so The Ramper gets all new rubber parts.

Cleaning

Believe it or not, cleaning the rear crossmember and A-arms isn’t as difficult as it first seems, but you must use one of the more dangerous tools in my arsenal, an angle grinder with a wire cup.  Oh, it looks innocent enough, but it’s a two-handed beast that will jump, bite, kick and snap out your hands and peal your hide in bloody streaks if you slacken your grip even a little.  But it cleans up 60+ years of dirt and rust in no time.

This is an Angry Beast - DO NOT let go of it!
(Here it's going after the rear bumper.)
Paint

Some “rust restoring” primer and some black “engine paint” and the crossmember and A-arms are ready for another 60 years or 55K miles, whichever comes first.

The After shot with new rubber cushions and A-arm bushings
(and some new grade 8 bolts)

All ready to throw back under The Ramper BUT FIRST…

Refresh the Engine Compartment

I’m not doing a meticulous restoration, but I have my pride.  The engine bay was a bit ratty, not damaged, but I can do better.

Curiously, the engine bay was green,
but the rest of The Ramper is white, hmm?
I risked further injury to the two-handed wire cup/angle grinder beast and cleaned the entire engine compartment.  The rattle canned it pure white.  Looks spiffy, ready for the pretty new engine that’s going in it.

It's white now!

Right side.

Left side
A Sidebar and a Theory

The engine compartment and some of the surrounding beds are painted green.  It appears to be factory paint in that it is green underneath where the crossmember attaches.  The Ramper is 545 Pure White/Cardinal Red according to its color code, so why a green engine compartment?

The theory part, I know that Bell (the telephone company) bought many Rampsides, all painted dark green.  If fact, I read somewhere that the ramp was a Bell request so that technicians could load heavy rolls of wire into the bed.

Maybe The Ramper was built, or maybe painted at least, as a Bell truck that Bell apparently didn’t buy, then someone somewhere decided to repaint it (or maybe paint the outside) 545 white/red and sell it as a regular old rampside.  

Complete speculation on my part, but I mean, it kinda fits, right?


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