Re: [Amc-list] AMC Heritage Cars -- Willys Aero/58-63 American suspension bracing

["Swygert, Francis G MSgt 436 CES/CECM" <Francis.Swygert3@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Date: Thursday, April 26, 2007 12:59 AM
From: orlinpettit@xxxxxxxxxxx

I noticed one of the AMC heritage collectible cars on the list was the
Aero
Willys. If you ever buy one examine the front suspension lower A-frames
very
carefully for cracks. 50 years on I can take you to the spot were the
front
suspension collapsed in the Aero my dad owned. Worn shift linkage will
get
the transmission hung in reverse and first gear at the same time as
well.
The Aero was made into the '60's in Brazil.. should be easy to find one
down
there.
-----------------
I printed an article on the Aero in AIM back in the first year or two
(8-9 years ago!). Neat little cars! The 58-63 American is of similar
size and can have similar problems. The lower arms don't crack, but the
rails where the front suspension mounting reinforcements weld on do, but
can be MIG welded. Once welded a hard brace needs to be mounted between
the suspension reinforcements. 

There is no solid crossmember on the 58-63 Americans. The easy way to
brace it is to drill a piece of 2"x2"x3/16" angle iron to fit lower
suspension mount bars where the stamped steel "K" brace fits (replacing
the K brace) then drilling so that a 3/8" or 1/2" steel rod will fit
between them under the engine. The rod needs to be hardened, not
hardware style all-thread. I prefer a 3/8" rod inside a length of 1/2"
or 3/4" (inside diameter) steel pipe (water pipe is fine), but the pipe
need to be threaded on each end and have a coupling in the threaded end.
Why? The brace will have to change length to accommodate suspension
alignment. The couplings screwed in 3/4" will allow 1/4" +/- adjustment
on each end. The pipe secured with the threaded rod prevents flexing,
whereas a 1/2" threaded rod with a nut on each side of the angle can
flex a bit when the suspension is unloaded. This is why the welds crack
in the first place -- flexing and metal fatigue due to weight (the 195.6
L-head or OHV weighs 500-550 pounds!) over time. It took 15 years of
hard use for my first one to develop cracks, usually takes over 20 with
moderate driving (I was a teen, and a teen owned it for a while before
me...). On that one I drilled the reinforcement and bolted a piece of
angle on vertically, then ran the rod and pipe between that so it didn't
have to be moved for front end alignments. The angle could be welded
onto the reinforcement plate also. 

The K-brace has slotted ends to allow for lower arm bar movement. It
works fine and keeps the car together well beyond its designed 10 year
life. You can't complain about the engineering when a car is over 20
years old and starts to come apart! To many of us do just that -- I've
been guilty also. And remember, most Ramblers were poorly maintained and
driven hard by the third (sometimes second when the original purchaser
kept it a long time) and subsequent owners. With that in mind, it's
amazing engineering that keeps 40+ year old cars with 100K+ on them
together at all!!

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