1957 buick super

Hello

I am a new member and need help. I purchased a 1957 Buick Super two door. I am have trouble getting it restored. I need to find a place to obtain Ball Joints at a reasonable price. My car has been in a auto restoration shop for a year and it still is not finished. I am frustrated because I want to drive it. Does any one know of a place that would still have ball joints for this car.

Rich Norman in Connecticut

They are available but they are anything but reasonable. 57 was the only year they were made so they are rare and not very well supported. Kanter lists them at $700 and your old ones. Actually that price is down from about $900. There is someone else rebuiling them but I suspect the price will be similar........Bob.

thanks

One more thing, Richard. There is a possibility there is nothing wrong with your ball joints. Many have been replaced in error. The upper ball joint should be tight in it's socket with very little play or slop. The lower joint, however, was designed and built with quite a bit of play or slop. 1/16" to be exact. In a brand new joint you should be able to move the tapered stud up and down 1/16". This really looks like the joint is way worn out when in fact it is perfectly correct. I hope this helps and possibly saves you some trouble and money.......Bob.

Is there an easy explanation of why the engineers built them this way?

JD

If you're not fussy about originality, are the 58s any cheaper? With some fabrication, the entire '58 A-arms and spindle can be adapted to a '57 frame, at least on the Special as I bolted it up and had it rolling this way. You may need to see if the pivot for the upper A-arm can be retained from the '57 to make it fit properly. Some of the frame including the original '57 shock mount needs to be trimmed away and a donor '58 is helpful as the frame shock mount would be needed, but you could also fabricate one from scratch, since it's just a tube shock mount.

The upper ball joint is spring loaded to 250# preload but the bottom is built with .062 play. The entire weight of the car rests on the bottom ball so the upward play doesn't matter. The explanation given is that if the play were eleminated the ball retainer would bind the ball. If jacked up by the lower control arm the tire/wheel is allowed 1/4" up/down play. In most cars that would be cause for new joints or king pins.

Joints for a 1958 cost about $150 for the set but the whole A arm set up is different using stamped steel instead of forgings for the A arms. While it is possible to convert it's not exactly a bolt in job and in my opinion detracts from the value of the car. If you are having someone else do the work it is probably cheaper to just bite the bullet and buy new 57 joints. As I said it's possible new ones are not needed.

I went through that with my 57. I had the joints out and cleaned but was troubled by the slop in the lowers. I stumbled on the clearance issue in the product service bulletins just before I ordered new ones. I checked the play with a micrometer and it was exactly .062, as specified. The cars rides and drives perfectly with them..........Bob

Hmm. Well, there is a '57 Special on the west coast that has all '58 left front suspension, and the only thing that kept it from being a straight bolt in is the hole in the upper doesn't clear the lip or the original shock mount on the frame, which was fixed in a hurry with a cutoff wheel. Obviously if the joints aren't much cheaper, there is no benefit to such a swap when you can put a frame stub or crossmember in and install an entire different front suspension on the car.