65 through 70 Cad DeVille front suspension

[hedotwo]

I haven't had any luck so far sourcing these replacement pieces for my 65 DeVille rebuild so I'm going to try and save what I have and get it together as best I can.  Would anyone have close ups of these pieces in unbuilt condition?  Especially the brake drums.  I have the drawings from the Fotki instruction site but seeing the real pieces would help.  I think any annual DeVille kit (not the 64 Oldies or any Eldo) from 64-70 might have these pieces as well as AMT 49 Mercs.

Thanks!

[Foghorn Leghorn]

That suspension is very close to the real 1965-70 Chevrolet big car. (Big Olds, too) The parts from the AMT 1967 Impala SS427 (modern issue) might be adaptable.

[hedotwo]

I looked at a 67 Impala kit and I can see where I might be able to cobble up something with parts of that suspension, but at this point I really would rather not raid a full kit to finish this Caddie.  If I can see what the Caddie parts look like on the sprue or off, but not installed, I might be able to save these Johan pieces.  I've drilled out the brake drums so far and stripped the chrome from everything (chrome Cadillac suspension??? ?) and am ready to give it a shot.  I know I need to come up with some round stock for the tie rod center piece.  The way the brake drums attach to the spindles are what I'm hoping to understand better.

Thanks Ron

[Foghorn Leghorn]

[Foghorn Leghorn]

The distance between the bosses is .610"

[Mark]

Break down the individual parts into shapes, and they could be duplicated with Plastruct rod, or even sprue filed to shape.  The brake drums and wheel inner rims might be a pain, but then again you should be able to save the original parts.  The tie rod definitely will be a pain if you insist on keeping the working steering feature, even then you could bend one up from some thin/stiff music wire and keep the steering.

[hedotwo]

44 minutes ago, Mark said:

Break down the individual parts into shapes, and they could be duplicated with Plastruct rod, or even sprue filed to shape.  The brake drums and wheel inner rims might be a pain, but then again you should be able to save the original parts.  The tie rod definitely will be a pain if you insist on keeping the working steering feature, even then you could bend one up from some thin/stiff music wire and keep the steering.

I hadn't planned on working steering, but rather just getting the pieces together and straight without having to resort to kit robbing ?  I'll need to mostly fab one new spindle but the other isn't bad.  The center section of the tie rod will be fiddly.  
 

And Ron, thanks a bunch for the pics and the tie rod measurement.  These will help me cobble this together and still use the kit wheel backs/covers/tires.

Thanks guys!

Edited June 27, 2021 by hedotwo

[Foghorn Leghorn]

4 hours ago, hedotwo said:

And Ron, thanks a bunch for the pics and the tie rod measurement.

Hey, you're welcome. All your pieces look fixable except that the front wheels may never roll again ?

Before you glue that steering linkage together you may consider checking the toe on the front wheels. Steering linkage spread is one thing that the factories seldom got right.

Good luck!

 

 

[hedotwo]

So a little update on saving the suspension pieces I had with this builder.  One spindle was good to go but the other had to be massaged and holes drilled/rod installed, and the same for the brake drums.  The tie rod ends were ok but the assembly was broken.  Kinda fiddly, but I ended up with an acceptable (for me) assembly and the wheels are level and straight.  Now, I know the angle of the tie rod isn't kosher and it's orientation isn't correct but I chose to reverse it so I could use the lowered stance per the instruction sheet.  Happy I didn't need to scrounge up the pieces.  Lord knows I have enough pieces to look for my many other builders.  Took a bit, but worth it.

[Ctmodeler]

Put a straight axel under it lol

[Foghorn Leghorn]

That came out real nice. It's good to see when someone has the skill and determination to pull it off.