Need help to figure out an easy solution for this one.

[Jim_Gruber]

I put Bugsy back of 4 wheels today to tighten wishbone bolts and lowered him to the ground. LF no problem, Right Front no Problem. Right Rear, tighten up, crap the tang slipped out of the slot, loosen and reposition No problem, tighten down and double check the back tang and aw crap it's all out of position and bent to He_l and back. So everything and I mean everything is all bolted back together. This was the final step. Ideas on how to fix easily. I can drive the bolt out no but thinking since spring is under tension I need to remove the spring before I try and drive out the wishbone bolt to replace or straighten out. Thoughts gents, and the day was going so well. Should have stopped while I was ahead and not have gotten tired to think this out in advance of cranking down the bolt.
View attachment 47757

 

[Jim_Gruber]

So 32 views and no one has a suggestion on an easy solution. So after cogitating over dinner and a glass of wine here goes:

Bolt tang is bent and now will not fit in the slot.
Leave suspension together but remove spring using helper bolts
pound out the bolt using one of the old wishbone bolts to hold everything in place
Straighten out the the tang on the new wishbone bolt and drive it through and get it seated in place.

Hopefully he threads aren't all buggered up, put a new nylock on in.
Reinstall Spring sing helper bolts.
Replace those metal nylocks as well.
Put the weight back on the suspension and tighten things back up.

Move on and change out the Master Cylinder to a resleeved 3/4" Unit.

I will say after inserting brake pads they are a really tight fit. Wheels turn but going to be some hot disks as I am bedding in the new pads. Hopefully they will bed in quickly. .

 

[nomad]

Jim, I can't really see it good enough but I think if it were mine I would try to get the tab lined up with the slot and use a long drift to bend it back into shape and into the slot. Of course I'm not there so not sure if that would work.

Kurt.

 

[Jim_Gruber]

Hmmm not sure if I have the leverage to bend it back into place. But will try that first.

 

[BlueMax]

Don't cut corners, fix it right. Order a new bolt and replace it. Just learn from your mistakes and move on!!

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Or... put it back in place a whack it with a big hammer.

 

[Keith_M]

I think you're going to have to drop the spring pan to relieve the pressure and remove the bolt. You should be able to straighten the tab once the bolt is out. In the end it will be less work than trying to straighten that tab while it's installed. (and you'll never be absolutely certain that you got that tab straightened enough, which will come back to haunt you)

 

[nomad]

Sounds as if no one is interested in my bigger hammer approach!!:rolleye: Guess dropping the spring pan isn't all that hard.

Kurt.

 

[Jim_Gruber]

With a couple of helper bolts and a ratcheting 1/2" Box wrench simple to do. That takes the pressure off of the wishbone. Although you can't see it clearly in the photo, the tang on the bolt is flattened out and no amount of hammering will allow it to be bent down I don't think so it can be hammered back into place. So time to see if I can order individually from Moss vs. reuse an old one. My life is worth more than a few $ to reorder one of these that is not bent. Thanks guys for the help.

 

[HealeyRick]

Once you get the wishbone bolt out, chuck the end with the tang in a vise and tighten it up so the tang gets bent back into shape. Otherwise beat the tang back into place with a BFH. It's not going to break and the tang is only preventing the wishbone bolt from turning when the A-arm moves. It's not like it's under a ton of strain. I doubt anyone is going to break up a set to sell you a single one.

 

[matmire]

Side-note... I found I had to file down the sides of the tangs on a few of mine because they were too wide to seat fully into the bracket slot. Just a hair off of each side worked fine. It's possible that could be why yours slipped from the slot.

 

[Keith_M]

I agree with Rick, but if you really can't get it back in shape, I think I still have some used ones floating around somewhere that I would be happy to donate.

Keith

 

[Jim_Gruber]

Thanks guys I have the OEM pieces from the drum brakes in a bag that I can reuse if all else fails. If I have the energy tonight I'll provide a complete report tomorrow.

 

[Jim_Gruber]

Time available today and Bugsy is now back together on 4 wheels. I was able to jack up Bugsy, remove wheel, use helper bolts on the springpan to loosen the spring but did not need to completely remove. Removed two other bolts and All was nice and loosey goosey. Wishbone bolt popped right out., a few minutes with the vice and the tang was bent straight. A back Bracket Tang received a slight treatment with the bench grinder and all went carefully back together so bolts were seated. I let the Front End end down so weight was on the suspension and tightened up the Wishbone Bolts. Now on to replacing Master Cylinder, Radiator Reinstall, and reconnecting Brake Lamp Switch Wires. 72 degrees and it's so nice to work in those temps even on a very chilly concrete slab. Still shooting for 1st weekend in May to have Bugsy back driving. Complete with new Suspension all around, shocks, and disk brakes up front, and 3.9 Diff in place plus Front Tilt Kit installed. The 1326 and 5 Speed come later in the year. Back to driving first. I need to introduce an important Corallary for Spridget Ownership: "It is much more fun to Drive a BE than Wrench on it!"