Car restoration is full of exhilarating experiences—like breaking in the cam on a fresh motor, rolling the freshly painted shell out of the body shop, or setting off on the maiden shakedown run. Rebuilding the front suspension isn’t that exciting; in fact, it’s usually a greasy, thankless job, but the results can be just as rewarding. Many of us learn to live with a worn-out suspension, just as we rationalize our failing eyesight—it’s not great, but it gets the job done. But just like donning that new pair of glasses, testdriving your ride after a thorough suspension rebuild may leave you awestruck over how bad things really were.
Follow along as we tear apart the front end of our ’65 Biscayne and rebuild the tired suspension with Energy Suspension bushings from Performance Suspension Components. Doing this job yourself is a cost-effective weekend project because it’s very labor intensive, and labor costs money. Your labor, of course, is free, but before you get giddy with your sledgehammer, realize this job isn’t for everyone. If you’re not prepared to spend a weekend covered in grease, or if you’re fanatical about keeping your driveway clean, we’d recommend you get someone else to do the job. We’re used to being covered in grease, and our driveway is a lost cause, so check out how we did it and decide for yourself if you want to tackle the job on your own car.
