Hello Patrick and Matt:

Thanks for the quick responses. Unfortunately I had to hit the road and I WAS lucky enough to borrow a car. I took a series of photos of my various front end bits and sent them to Ron over at IPD. We spoke while Wendy and I were driving north and he shared your thoughts about the age of bits but once he saw the photos he was surprised by the amount of decay of everything, plus the amount of rust. When I rebuilt my suspension I removed every bit and sprayed the arms, etc. with Krylon. It looked great for a while once reassembled but I live in the northeast and Virginia is a daily driver even in the winter. Combine that with roads that have been riddled with potholes and even with very careful driving I think the fatigue is accelerated considerably. Perhaps I am wrong but I need this car to run - SAFELY. I will hold onto the remaining lower ball joint and both upper ball joints in the event of emergency and just enjoy the new ride. Rear end rebuild is scheduled for October. I have never done that, and it is the area of the car I know least well so I am looking forward to the education.

Thanks again for the advice - I am going to try that channel lock idea.

Cheers,

Pooch