80 rear control arm removal
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
From: Tampa Fl
80 rear control arm removal
Can anyone tell me an easy way to get the front mounting bolt out of the driver side rear control arm?, my bushing is completely gone and needs to be replaced... Any help would be GREATLY appreciated...
Thanks, Dan
Thanks, Dan
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 2,503
Likes: 33
From: McGrady NC
St. Jude Donor '15-'16
Unless you can soak it in penetrating oil of some kind for several days and then work it loose that way, cutting it is your only choice. I'm doing the same job on my '80 right now. It is truly not the most fun I've have with my car so far.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 2,548
Likes: 379
From: Woodinville WA
It's hard if you follow the buy a box of blades advice..... you only need one, maybe two blades
and one of these
it's a slide hammer with a pin welded on the end to grab the shims and hammer them out.
1) soak the shims in penetrating fluid
2) soak them again
3) remove the cotter pin that keeps the shims in place
4) loosen the bolt holding the trailing arm in place
5) pry the shims up so you can grab the hole
6) slide hammer the shims out
7) cut the trailing arm bolt
the reason I'm not thrilled with the box-of-blades advice is if the shims are rusty enough, they'll get caught in the teeth and vibrate furiously above the trailing arm bolt..... and the bolt won't get even a scratch.
I literally spent days trying to cut through... finally, in frustration, I made that slide hammer attachment. both arms were off in less than an hour.
and one of these
it's a slide hammer with a pin welded on the end to grab the shims and hammer them out.
1) soak the shims in penetrating fluid
2) soak them again
3) remove the cotter pin that keeps the shims in place
4) loosen the bolt holding the trailing arm in place
5) pry the shims up so you can grab the hole
6) slide hammer the shims out
7) cut the trailing arm bolt
the reason I'm not thrilled with the box-of-blades advice is if the shims are rusty enough, they'll get caught in the teeth and vibrate furiously above the trailing arm bolt..... and the bolt won't get even a scratch.
I literally spent days trying to cut through... finally, in frustration, I made that slide hammer attachment. both arms were off in less than an hour.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
From: Tampa Fl
Thanks guys, I've been a chevy enthusiast for a long time, although this is my first 'vette, wish I'd have visited this site before I aquired this one...I didn't even know about the shims, although, now after looking at it, there seems to be enough play with the bad bushing that i may be abe to get with a sawzall without removing the shims...
Thanks, Dan
Thanks, Dan
Pro
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 613
Likes: 11
From: EVANSVILLE Wisconsin
I made a bolt 'knock out' tool from a piece of ~1/4" steel rod I had laying around. I bent it as little as possible in order to get around the contour of the wheel well. If you bend it too much you won't be able to generate the kind of thrust you need to push out the bolt. This worked like a charm, here are the pics.
Best of luck!!
Best of luck!!
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Advanced
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 85
Likes: 0
From: California
I was lucky...
Ok...I spent a lot of time reading on this and was dreading doing it. I suppose I'm one of the lucky ones because I had no trouble at all. I didn't know what to expect from my car so I started by spraying some penetrant and soaking for a few minutes. Then I got the nut loose and used a piece of steel rod to knock the bolt through. Couldn't believe my luck. Both sides. Turns out my bushings weren't terrible and I don't know if that is a factor.
I do believe it can be a giant pain. Lot's of experience here on the forum. I figured I'd share my experience to let you know that it is possible to not suffer on this. Be aware that I have a california car so rust is not such an issue. Though my car sat for 17 years and I did have some unsticking to do on my ebrake cable and my ebrakes were just rusted and rotted.
Either way, I was SUPER happy once those trailing arms were off the car. And though mine was easy, I wouldn't have even started if I didn't know the guys on the forum were here to back me up.
(Thanks guys...)
Good luck with the task......
I do believe it can be a giant pain. Lot's of experience here on the forum. I figured I'd share my experience to let you know that it is possible to not suffer on this. Be aware that I have a california car so rust is not such an issue. Though my car sat for 17 years and I did have some unsticking to do on my ebrake cable and my ebrakes were just rusted and rotted.
Either way, I was SUPER happy once those trailing arms were off the car. And though mine was easy, I wouldn't have even started if I didn't know the guys on the forum were here to back me up.
(Thanks guys...)
Good luck with the task......
Pro
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 613
Likes: 11
From: EVANSVILLE Wisconsin
Racer
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 300
Likes: 3
From: kempton park Gauteng
Hi
Couldnt save any of my shims to measure when i did mine so worked them out with a hammer and chisel until i could get either side of the bushing with a cutting torch and the smallest nozzle i could use .
Had lots of wet rags two extinguishers and buckets of sand at the ready, drained all the fuel from the tank a week before and left the cap off . Put the cap on before cutting the bolt , but it cut fast and with no damage except to the rubber of the bushing .
Quite hair raising and only for the the brave i must confess , i did have visions of my beloved 454 going up in smoke , but all other ways were exhausted and cut fingers and bent pieces of metal bar and the like were a joke . If you cant get some of the shims out to make space for the sawzil you can forget it , although i believe there are some special metal blades that can be bought that will cut through the lot , i couldnt locate any over here .
Good luck i know what your going through .
Couldnt save any of my shims to measure when i did mine so worked them out with a hammer and chisel until i could get either side of the bushing with a cutting torch and the smallest nozzle i could use .
Had lots of wet rags two extinguishers and buckets of sand at the ready, drained all the fuel from the tank a week before and left the cap off . Put the cap on before cutting the bolt , but it cut fast and with no damage except to the rubber of the bushing .
Quite hair raising and only for the the brave i must confess , i did have visions of my beloved 454 going up in smoke , but all other ways were exhausted and cut fingers and bent pieces of metal bar and the like were a joke . If you cant get some of the shims out to make space for the sawzil you can forget it , although i believe there are some special metal blades that can be bought that will cut through the lot , i couldnt locate any over here .
Good luck i know what your going through .
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 5,339
Likes: 546
From: Central Texas
My input on the subject was a while back.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...-arm-hell.html
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,839
Likes: 45
From: nassau co. new york
like mario mine came out relatively easy so no need on my part to make a special tool.it was my enjoyment to create these special tools during my rebuild and great to see forum members SuperBuickGuy and gbarmore's creativity.great work !
Racer
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 300
Likes: 3
From: kempton park Gauteng
I cut either side of the bushing once i got enough of the shims out to see the bolt , i cut mine from the top of the bolt towards the floor with a small cutting torch and nozzle , but if your too scared you can use a sawzil .
Once you have cut either side you can pull out your trailing arms and then carry on with getting out all of the rust and debris from the pockets and take out whats left of the bolts .
If the trailing arms are so badly rusted and seized , i would do the bearings at the same time , not an easy task but there are some great guys that you will come across on the forums who will tell you how , like Gary Ramedei .
You will need to get yourself a shim set , which should come with new trailing arm bolts as well , these are all available from vendors such as zip and ecklers and the other guys as well , sorry if i offended any of the other guys by not remembering the names .
Good luck ,
John