So this sucker really stuck. Got everything out...drive/half shafts, strut rods, rear spring, front diff mount hardware and 2 bolts in crossmember bushings. Been hitting the crossmember bushings with PB for a number of days and prying like crazy and I can't seem to free the crossmember. Any suggestions???

 

Two large cold-chisels or a large 2 jaw puller. Leave the bolt partially in so when it pops it doesn't drop completely off


M

 

I used some really long pry bars and really cranked on it

 

I loosed the bolt a bit and grabbed it with a 2 jaw puller and it came right out and the bolt was used to catch it when it breaks loose. No effort required.


Bill

 

How long of a pry bar are you using?
I bought a 3 footer for mine, it got it.

Pry bars are like hammers, bigger is better, if you can control yourself.

 

Mine popped right off with a 3 jaw puller

 

I left the loosened bolts in place to catch it and after letting WD40 and PB Blaster do their "thing," a pickle folk easily broke it free.

 

Same: penetrating oil; loosen bolts but leave them in; more penetrating oil; good pickle forks; 3 pound hammer for the forks (regular hammers don't give you much power in a case like this); move the pickle forks around a bit; and soon you will have the 'boom' of success.

 

Thanks all. Can't wait for that boom of success. I was/am aware of the leave loosened bolts in concept. Also have my motorcycle jack with blocking in place 1/2 inch or so gapped to accept the one day loose diff. In attached pic you will see the cold chisel and pickle fork with a 3 foot pipe on it. I put all my almost 200 lbs on the end of pipe and nothing. Still PBing at least once a day.

Just picked up a 2 jaw 2 ton puller from OReilly. will give that a try. wanted bigger one but center would not fit in the bolt hole. Obviously can't keep bolt in on the side being worked on with puller but my setup along with bolt in other side should handle that just fine.

Edit: Well I figured out to put the bolt in just a few turns and I got the bigger puller on it that way. It just keeps stretching out with no boom yet...well...except first time when puller slipped off. I am leaving it stretched for now and gave another good dose of PB. Seems to me the inside rubber is 100% fused to the mating surface.

 

What now brown cow? So I got the large 3 jaw puller on ...when I put the center on the bolt it slipped off. So I took the bolt out and put the center adjacent to the bolt hole. This is not particularly effective as the jaws and center are pulling on essentially the same assembly. That said...i kept at it and discovered that I was just pulling the rubber of the busing apart. Not sure if it shows well in the picture...but the round steel part of the bottom of the bushing where the bolt inserts appears effectively welded to the surface it mates against. I put a piece of wood in to keep the separation and removed the puller. you will hopefully see that the bottom of the bushing is still where it is when fully installed. You may also note the cinder block hung from the crossmember for further convincing to no avail. Options I see at this point are two. One is to drill out the rubber around the circular plate and the other is to put the puller back and keep pulling until the rubber is completely shredded. Either way I will be left with that round part welded to deal with. I guess that will require heat and/or cutting. Grrrr...no satisfying pop or boom for me. For now I put the wood in there and moved to the other side...not sure why.

BTW...anyone else out there done this process to a 50+ year old car that would appear to have never had this crossmember apart? I think that is why I am having such difficulty. Well...at least I have discovered that a cinder block can be a restoration tool...

 

You have to have the bolt in when using the puller. Leave the bolt loose about 1/4 inch out. Maybe put a socket on the bolt if you have a pointy tip on the puller to keep it from slipping. But you don't want the socket to touch the crossmember so you might need a longer bolt.

 

I understand what you are saying but mine seems like a more complicated situation. The bolt purpose is to hold the bushing to the crossmember. What you are saying is to have the bolt unthreaded enough to be out from the crossmember but threaded into the bushing. Set up this way with the jaws on the crossmember the center of the puller will be pushing the center of the bushing against the crossmember...to which in my case it appears fused. And you can see in my pic the crossmember is an inch and half away from the frame and still will not release. Was I suppose to bend back the tabs of the bushing first? I am so confused.

Edit -disregard part about threads in the bushing...looked in my new one and saw the hole is not threaded.

 

Went out to the garage to check on it...et voila. Seems the concrete block was more effective than I was. Probably smarter than me too!!

 

Very cool..i would have thought the differential would have been enough weight.
slap some silicone grease on install

 

Ya..AFAIK the diff is a good hunner lbs. Was touch and go for a while...would have been better if I had the puller on the bolt. Life is a learning experience. Thanks again to all. I would not have thought of a using a puller.

 

Now you need to remove the CM crusty rubber and metal holder. Then install the aluminum end disks kit. It raises the CM and differential @3/4 inches.

Very positive mounting of the differential and superior half shafts angles. Never any more stuck on cm.

When ever you assemble stuff on our old vettes even the wheel studs. Put Anti Sieze paste on the threads and metal to metal contact. Years later it comes right apart

 

I would just buy new rubber bushings from Zip......you don't need racing parts on your car.....but its your choice.

 

Already done.

 

can't wait to see how hard it is to remove those donuts from what i have read!.. how bad are originals?
re-use?
(edit) nevermind i see where torn.. good luck on replacing.. i recall a few threads with tricks there too..

 

yep. Thanks man. Not keeping any 53 yr old rubber in this car!!