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New tie rod ends came today -- perfect timing. Reassembly was a snap. These particular TREs appear to be self-sealing as there was no grease zerk hole on the bottom. Two less zerks to worry about? I'm good with that. Before I took the TRE off, I measured the length of the exposed threads with a caliper and then locked the caliper. I think I was able to pretty accurately get the TRE back into the exact same spot that it started with. Finished up the left side by hitting the three zerks with the grease gun, cleaned everything up and put the tire back on. Now, it's off to the right side of the car.
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SaxMan's Winter 2016 Overhaul Thread
- Thread starter SaxMan
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Worked on the right side. This side is just as bad, if not worse, than the left. On the left side, I could turn the locknut. I can't even do that on the right. To add insult to injury, the shock at Peter C.'s being fixed, so the kingpin is keeping the swivel axle in place. Well, it snapped back and caught my ring finger between the backing plate and the area where the shock mounts. OUCH!!! My finger is purple and about half again as big as its opposite on the right side. All I could do was hit the TRE with some more PB Blaster and move on. I took the generator out so I could replace the bearing. Got it open, went hunting for the bearing and couldn't find it. Going through my orders, I realized I never ordered the bearing. Ugh. Also checked out the spare generator. It's rough and it, too, needs its bearing replaced. I'll get around to that eventually. Not a great night in the garage, but there's always tomorrow.
Hit the TRE with a torch tonight -- no change. I think part of the problem is with the shock out of the car that energy I am putting into loosening the parts is being dissipated through the swivel axle not being secured by the trunnion. I do hope that the torch at least allowed the PB Blaster to penetrate better. At this point, until the shock comes back, I might as well keep hitting it with PB Blaster. I'm not ready to concede defeat and replace the entire rack.
Spent the rest of the evening disassembling the generator. I managed to have the Woodruff Key (the little piece of metal that holds the pulley in place) hit the ground and bounce off into oblivion. I figure worst case scenario is that I will take it off the spare generator. Spare generator needs a new bearing as well. I can tell just by spinning it by hand. The bearing on the original one is pretty fried. It probably would not have lasted the season without seizing. The real worst case scenario is that I just buy a new generator.
Spent the rest of the evening disassembling the generator. I managed to have the Woodruff Key (the little piece of metal that holds the pulley in place) hit the ground and bounce off into oblivion. I figure worst case scenario is that I will take it off the spare generator. Spare generator needs a new bearing as well. I can tell just by spinning it by hand. The bearing on the original one is pretty fried. It probably would not have lasted the season without seizing. The real worst case scenario is that I just buy a new generator.
Trevor Jessie
Yoda
Offline
For the TRE .... in this case take it out of the steering arm. Clamp a pair of vise grips on the inner TRE. Use your pipe wrench on the TRE. Allow the vise grips to push up against the cross member to keep the innerTRE from turning. Use padding to keep from scratching the paint.
The vice grips I own have curved jaws, so they wouldn't stay on the flats. I'll go out and get another one tomorrow with the flat-type jaws.
I did find the missing Woodruff Key off the generator and successfully got the old bearing out. I have the new bearing, so I should be able to reassemble in the next couple of days. I sprayed the whole armature down with Deoxit 5. It's a cleaner and conductor. I use this stuff on band gear, like faders and volume pots. Works fantastic, and I expect similar results with the generator.
Did some other necessary tasks like change the engine and transmission oils. I always have a hard time refilling the transmission oil without making a mess inside the car. I finally found using the articulated neck only of a two-piece funnel yielded the neatest results. I figure I'll take notes of the "right" way to do this so I don't make the same mistake next year.
I did find the missing Woodruff Key off the generator and successfully got the old bearing out. I have the new bearing, so I should be able to reassemble in the next couple of days. I sprayed the whole armature down with Deoxit 5. It's a cleaner and conductor. I use this stuff on band gear, like faders and volume pots. Works fantastic, and I expect similar results with the generator.
Did some other necessary tasks like change the engine and transmission oils. I always have a hard time refilling the transmission oil without making a mess inside the car. I finally found using the articulated neck only of a two-piece funnel yielded the neatest results. I figure I'll take notes of the "right" way to do this so I don't make the same mistake next year.
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This is the nice thing with sticking to one car for a while -- you learn good methods for all the necessary tasks. Make good notes, and next year's work becomes easier.
Maybe I should try to stick with one car for a while, sounds like a useful plan... :grin:
John_Progess
Jedi Warrior
Offline
No Drew! Variety is the spice of life! Trust me you need at least two of these LBC's. Have a good day!
John
John
So I picked up another set of vice grips -- they are too big and wont hold the flats. Grrrr. At this point, I'll probably just wait for the shock to come back so I can reattach the trunnion. Failing that, I had two more radical ideas I wanted to bounce off everyone:
1. Use a cutting wheel on the locknut first to see if that relieves some of the pressure on the TRE so it will move - I am not reusing the locknut or the TRE, so if I ruin them, it's not a big deal. The only downside is if I cut too far and hit the threads of the tie rod, I'll have to replace the entire rack.
2. Pull the rack from the car so I can get a better angle and grip on the tie rod as well as being able to use larger pry bars to get things turning. If this fails, well, at least I took the rack out to make room for a new one. On the upside, it would make the rack boot installation a whole lot easier.
1. Use a cutting wheel on the locknut first to see if that relieves some of the pressure on the TRE so it will move - I am not reusing the locknut or the TRE, so if I ruin them, it's not a big deal. The only downside is if I cut too far and hit the threads of the tie rod, I'll have to replace the entire rack.
2. Pull the rack from the car so I can get a better angle and grip on the tie rod as well as being able to use larger pry bars to get things turning. If this fails, well, at least I took the rack out to make room for a new one. On the upside, it would make the rack boot installation a whole lot easier.
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Get another set of vice grips - what you are describing is a Tim the tool man Taylor (err JP Smit) solution where I (umm he) would risk something expensive because I (I mean he) didn't have something inexpensive - the correct tool. This never ends well - Don't ask me (that is Tim) how I know.
Trevor Jessie
Yoda
Offline
Oxy/Acetylene is the preferred fire. Second best would be MAPP/Oxy. Third place is MAPP, and fourth place is propane.
Not confident in my abilities enough yet to try oxy/acetylene. How long to you hold the flame on the part?
Shock came back from Peter C. That was a two week turnaround, including shipping back and forth. The shock was turned around in a week by Peter C. That's great service!
Hopefully with the shock and trunnion back in, I can get some good torque on these sticking parts now.
Shock came back from Peter C. That was a two week turnaround, including shipping back and forth. The shock was turned around in a week by Peter C. That's great service!
Hopefully with the shock and trunnion back in, I can get some good torque on these sticking parts now.
Shock and trunnion back in, got some solid torque and....nothing. Tried the larger pipe wrenches, no joy. Not even budging even when heated up. I haven't even moved it a millimeter.
On the upside, I did some work on the carbs replacing the fuel line between the carbs, put new gaskets in the float bowls and replaced the fuel filter with no hitch. Also pleased to see that the radiator was still filled to the top, and the system even had pressure in it despite sitting for two weeks.
Still trying to reassemble the generator. I have one of those situations where I ended up with a lockring that I'm not sure if it should have gone on the inside or outside. And the dang woodruff key disappeared again. Fortunately, I have the spare generator, so I can take that one apart and figure out what I did wrong, and snag the woodruff key Worst case, new generators are fairly cheap.
Spring is 19 days away...hoping to have all of this done by then!
On the upside, I did some work on the carbs replacing the fuel line between the carbs, put new gaskets in the float bowls and replaced the fuel filter with no hitch. Also pleased to see that the radiator was still filled to the top, and the system even had pressure in it despite sitting for two weeks.
Still trying to reassemble the generator. I have one of those situations where I ended up with a lockring that I'm not sure if it should have gone on the inside or outside. And the dang woodruff key disappeared again. Fortunately, I have the spare generator, so I can take that one apart and figure out what I did wrong, and snag the woodruff key Worst case, new generators are fairly cheap.
Spring is 19 days away...hoping to have all of this done by then!
Boot is completely shot. TRE is serviceable enough that the car could be driven to a garage.
Jim_Gruber
Yoda
Offline
For peace of mind I might consider a new rack after all of the effort you've put into this one.
Respectfully disagree, Jim.
I've no experience with the new racks but considering most other replacement parts I'll bet that the old is far better quality. Especially where they don't offer a oil zerk on the new rack's. I was thinking of replacing one of mine and that was the kicker that kept me from doing it.The tie rod end is off!
I decided to trust my gut on this one and cut the locknut with a Dremel. I had the old locknut from the other side, so I could measure how far I could cut without disturbing the tie rod itself. I made two cuts two flats apart and then used a chisel to break the nut. As soon as the section of the nut broke off releasing the tension on the TRE, the tie road end begin to spin freely. The tie rod came off easily, although the threads were very rusty. I used a chisel to unscrew the remaining 2/3rds of the locknut, but it came off. There was no damage to the threads and the new locknut and TRE went on without fuss.
Of course, I put the new rack boot on before I put the tie rod end back. I pulled the duct from the grille to the blower to get better access to the rack. Put everything back together, hit the grease zerks while the car was jacked up and tire was off, cleaned the brake rotor, and then put the tire back on. For the first time in a over a month, Baby Blue is back on all four tires again.
Where do you add the oil to the rack? I think I see a bolt where the steering wheel meets the rack, but not sure. I don't see a zerk.
I decided to trust my gut on this one and cut the locknut with a Dremel. I had the old locknut from the other side, so I could measure how far I could cut without disturbing the tie rod itself. I made two cuts two flats apart and then used a chisel to break the nut. As soon as the section of the nut broke off releasing the tension on the TRE, the tie road end begin to spin freely. The tie rod came off easily, although the threads were very rusty. I used a chisel to unscrew the remaining 2/3rds of the locknut, but it came off. There was no damage to the threads and the new locknut and TRE went on without fuss.
Of course, I put the new rack boot on before I put the tie rod end back. I pulled the duct from the grille to the blower to get better access to the rack. Put everything back together, hit the grease zerks while the car was jacked up and tire was off, cleaned the brake rotor, and then put the tire back on. For the first time in a over a month, Baby Blue is back on all four tires again.
Where do you add the oil to the rack? I think I see a bolt where the steering wheel meets the rack, but not sure. I don't see a zerk.