I ordered a spring shackle kit from one of our linked parts suppliers for the front of my 39. This should be the same kit for 39 through 46. After pressing in the four shackle bushings, I discovered that the shackles would not work because the holes were oversized and not tapered where they fit on the pins. Thought I would use the old shackles and discovered that the pins/bolts also had the wrong taper (no shoulder) allowing the shackles to press on too far, not leaving room for the rubber/cork seals.
Not wanting to press out all of the bushings I tried to cut my losses by ordering new pins from NAPA (1954 ½ ton). The pins are supposedly the same from 1939-54. Wrong again. Perfect taper and shoulder but approximately ¼” to long.
Chevys of the 40’s has a shackle rebuild kit (no shackles) that contains just the pins, bushings and seals. Maybe the third time could be the charms but have my doubts. This is getting to be a major time and money expense for what should have been a simple project (typical). Anyone else have a similar problem and know of a solution? The GM parts book shows that the pins and bushing for the front spring shackles the same for 1939-54.
