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Removing Wheelbox

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vping

vping

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I took these off a parts car once & destroyed them & the cowl doing so.
Any suggestions? I have them soaking with penetrating oil right now.
 
Now what do you supose is a wheel box?
 
The assemblies that transfer motion from the wiper cable to the wiper arms.
 
What kind of suggestions are you looking for? When I've removed them it seemed pretty straight forward. I have some spares if you need them. What model are they for?
 
Soaking the nuts on the bezels is a good start. Give them several days like that. Each day apply some fresh oil and use a flat faced punch and hammer to whack the nut gently to "shock" the oil into the threads. After several days of that, use a box end wrench. First try to loosen the nut. If it moves at all, change directions and tighten it a bit. Then apply fresh penetrating oil and work the nut back and forth between tightening and loosening in wider and wider arcs. This will clear the threads of the corrosion without galling the threads together. Work slowly and you should be able to get them off without loosing the threads.
 
I have a 1972 Midget.
I know it seems fairly straightforward but I guess all the ones I have worked on have been stuck.
I've done the back & forth & added oil but still nothing. I get about 1/4 turn of nice & free & then rock solid. I let them soak last night so today after work I will give them another shot of oil & see of they are free yet.
 
I have a set off of a '70 that you can have if you ruin yours. I didn't think about those nuts locking up. I must have had a car that dripped enough oil "up" on the spindles to keep them lubed.
 
I'm not sure what else to try if the oil didn't help. If there are exposed threads covered with corrosion you could try cleaning them a bit with a steel wire brush but go gentle with it so you don't smear the threads away.
 
I have had stuborn wheel box nuts a few times.
heat and oil sometimes work but when all else fails, grind a slit in the nut with a dremel or cut off wheel, careful not to slit the post but even if you do a little, they still work.
 
I got 1 off, 1 is totally stripped & the other is starting to loosen. This is another one of those take your time patience operations. I took one off then removed the entire front end and tried the others, Still nothing. I think I'll find another lengthy project to keep me busy while the oil penetrates some more. It's always the little things!
 
Not that you want to hear this but I got my VB winter sale catalog yesterday and Spridget wheelboxes were for sale in there. I think the price for new ones is $40/each. They didn't mention if that includes the nuts.

I'm sorry you're having such a time with this. Good luck with the second one.
 
Maybe someone could hold the bottom of the wheelbox with a slip joint pliers while another tries the nut? Unless it's stripped as you mentioned, in which case dremeling off the nut makes sense.
 
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