Ha! That's funny! (thanks BTW) I found that article last night. They have the 4 nuts at 45 lbs. I'll weld up a "beater" tool for the shock mount tomorrow. The tie rod puller doesn't fit. 

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My Christmas present to ME! Bought Sat 11-30-2013. 72, 350 4 spd, Silver with blue interior...Can't you just hear Pablo Cruz playing in the background?

wish you luck with the strut/shock absorber mount.... by the time I got my first one off(way back in 1992-3ish) I think I could have laid about 7 miles of railroad track(driving spikes).... I could not get it to budge and ended up taking the camber bolt off the rear chunk to get the bearing housing off....  just couldn't get enough of a swing with a baby sledge under the car while on my back...  :) 

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StingrayJim
NCM Lifetime Member #1936

Stingray's '76���������������������������� StingrayJr's '78���������������������������Lil Red '94

(click each one to see a bigger version)

 What normally makes these things so hard to remove is the inner strut rod bushing sleeve rusting/corroding to the shock mount. The splines on the one end don't really cause a problem, since they are not very deep/long. It's best to spray that puppy down really well with WD40, or whatever you use before attempting removal. Be sure to spray as best you can up inside the strut rod end.
I've never really had any problems getting the mount out, but....we don't really have that much of a rust issue in these parts. Just a little pre-preparation will go a long way to lessen the stress level on this job.

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
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"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

I've been soaking with Kano Aero Kroil. If you have not used it get some. Its' the most effective rust disolver I've found. It turns the rust into a paste and pretty fast I'd add. I was able to remove all 10 machine screws from a rusty 82 year old model A ford fire wall without stripping a single one. Flat blade screws...crazy good. But, it has to make it to the rust to work. Hope that bushings has some clearance for the liquid. I think the other issue is backing up the bearing support so that your blows are effective. I'll see if I can get someone to place a large sledge head behind it somewhere to back it up. If that doesn't do it...well I dunno. Rethink the process. Thanks for the help boys!

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My Christmas present to ME! Bought Sat 11-30-2013. 72, 350 4 spd, Silver with blue interior...Can't you just hear Pablo Cruz playing in the background?

Here's my tool. Still hot from the welder. The gold nut will thread onto the shock adapter, its welded to a .25" thick steel tab. The rear large bore nut will take that .75" diam grade 8 bolt to be used as an extension to pound on. Or I can run that steel solid rod inside the nut for a longer extension and if both of those fail I can slip that large pipe around the big nut and bang on it. The nut will help hold whatever I'm pounding on. Hopefully one of them will work. I'll let you know.
Dave




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My Christmas present to ME! Bought Sat 11-30-2013. 72, 350 4 spd, Silver with blue interior...Can't you just hear Pablo Cruz playing in the background?

 

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Worked like a champ! The long grade 8 bolt survived as well. It placed the head in a good position for hammering. I just needed to jack the end of the leaf spring up a few inches so it pulled that support rod away from the bolts path. And yes, it was the rusted steel sleeve inside the bushing that hung up.

Now, I have the spindle with bearing support sitting on the floor but I cannot get that conical spacer to budge thus releasing the spindle. I have it pressed out tomorrow. Will I be able to assemble the new parts? I'm going to guess that is a large crush spacer that will probably slip on ok and will collapse and lock in place as I draw down the large spindle nut. Is this correct? Or will it need something more specialized to assemble? My assembled spindle and half shaft bearing adapter will be here tomorrow. Bairs said I would just bolt all the pieces back together.

|UPDATED|7/10/2014 10:11:30 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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My Christmas present to ME! Bought Sat 11-30-2013. 72, 350 4 spd, Silver with blue interior...Can't you just hear Pablo Cruz playing in the background?

No.. There is no crush sleeve on these. There is a solid spacer, and shims are used to get the correct clearance. There is no "pre-load"....
This is not like a ring/pinion set-up at all. Your new set-up will/should come preassembled and the clearance is set already. All you do is install the support to the t-arm, and put the halfshaft flange on, and tighten the flange nut to spec. You will NOT be able to crush that spacer in there. If you DO....well....you must be a Marvel Superhero with super-human strength!

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Yup, sometimes I ask to many questions. It was just as you described...I was overly satisfied with the assembly from Bairs. It came with a new backing plate, a spring loaded e-brake shoe pin that didn't cause any assembly issues, nice blasted/painted bearing support, caliper adapter and half-shaft adapter. It assembled like butter. The hardest part was trying to get a proper angle on the half shaft bolts that allowed the torque wrench to fit. Once you figure out how to approach the e-brake shoes its not that bad to install.

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My Christmas present to ME! Bought Sat 11-30-2013. 72, 350 4 spd, Silver with blue interior...Can't you just hear Pablo Cruz playing in the background?

  

On the halfshaft flanges.....you DID replace/re-install the french locks, dint ya? If not, you really should have them on there....they'll keep those bolts from backing out....which they always seem to do at the worst possible time. Glad to hear ya got it back together, anyway....now on to the brake problem....






torque wrench? whaz that?




|UPDATED|7/15/2014 9:52:58 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Yup, the tab locks are in place. 

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My Christmas present to ME! Bought Sat 11-30-2013. 72, 350 4 spd, Silver with blue interior...Can't you just hear Pablo Cruz playing in the background?