[DeTomaso] Intersting observations on bushings and ball joints

[asajay at asajay.com]

Hi gang,

I purchased very original a-arm bushings and ball joints from Steve  
Wilkinson.  These are truly beautiful pieces.  The upper ball joints  
even have the deTomaso logo stamped into them.  Okay, so I don't know  
they are strictly OEM, but they do look darn good.

However, I ran into a couple of interesting observations as I was  
putting things together.

The a-arms came out pretty easily.  The bushing had a certain amount  
of rubber, about a sixteenth inch maybe, protruding from each side of  
each one.  The new ones did not, and once installed, they protrude  
about an eight inch from one side only.  Well, overall this created an  
a-arm that was not dimensionally the same from the end of one bushing  
to the end of the other.  In short, the a-arms didn't fit anymore.   
What to do?

Well, I figured I just needed to squish the arms in anyway and they'd  
settle things out.  That didn't go to bad but my goodness are they  
tight.  As I did this on the drivers side, I noted how the car must  
have been hand made (go figure), as the rear upper a-arm mount was a  
lot closer to the footwell than the passenger side, -and- the  
rear-most ear seemed to be slightly bent toward the rear of the car.   
It was at that point that visions went through my head, something like  
"Yessa, we yussa ussa bigga hamma to meek it feet."

Okay, so all the a-arms are back in, coil-over shocks and ball joints  
installed, and I'm working on putting the spindles back on.  I get to  
the drivers side upper ball joint and I'm tightening the nut when the  
whole taper starts to turn.  I figure it's not enough friction the  
taper hole so I whack it with a hammer and keep tightening, only the  
taper keeps turning.  What the heck?

Well, I remove the nut to find the shoulder of the taper is protruding  
past the end of the hole.  Not by much mind you, maybe a 1/64" or so,  
just enough for the nut to bottom but not keep the joint tight.  So,  
either the taper on the ball joint is too narrow, or the tapered hole  
has become too big.  Now what?

I see two options:
- Get a new spindle, but if I get one, I might as well get two.
- Use a washer to space the nut out further on the spindle, allowing  
the taper to fully engage.

Ideas?
Asa Jay