1982 300 D resurrection thread

[888]

Originally Posted by Mike D

Laughing at the mental imagery of this!

Once I heard the story, I felt kinda bad for them, they didn't even have a chance (or maybe didn't want to) to wash it off of the rear window. They were pretty young and they had lots of memories about driving the car all over the place while they were on the West Coast. They really wanted someone to try to save it and had resisted taking offers from people who wanted to part it out. I told them I couldn't guarantee we could save it but we would try, and that's what they wanted to hear. I would have been happy giving a little less for the car but they needed the money worse than we did.

I told him I would send photos as we did the work on it.

[t walgamuth]

Its pretty clear to me that your door post in front has been pushed in or back or both. I'd get the car to a good alignment and frame shop and get it checked and straightened before doing anything else. Your car won't be very usable if your doors don't shut tightly. The cost of getting the body shell/frame checked and or straightened is probably less then you imagine.

[888]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Its pretty clear to me that your door post in front has been pushed in or back or both. I'd get the car to a good alignment and frame shop and get it checked and straightened before doing anything else. Your car won't be very usable if your doors don't shut tightly. The cost of getting the body shell/frame checked and or straightened is probably less then you imagine.

I'm actually agreeing with you guys, I'm pretty sure it will need professional help in the front door hinge area. How much may be clearer to me and anyone who quotes it once I get the sheet metal off.

I just want to get the front wheels pointed more or less in the same direction so I can gauge the engine and tranny to some degree by driving it up and down the driveway (250'). If the mechanicals aren't worth saving, neither is the body and it will probably get parted out.

Thanks for all of the input and suggestions.

[kerry]

I can't recall you stating how many miles the car has on it. That may be an indicator of whether it is worth the effort.

[DeliveryValve]

Originally Posted by 888

...

I haven't been able to separate the control arm yet so everything is on hold till then anyway.
...

Don't be afraid of hurting the LCA, just hit the eyelet as hard as you can with a heavy hammer. It will fall out without any damage to the LCA.
If you don't have another arm to put pressure on a crowbar. Just hit it with a hammer alone. I've been successful with that technique too.

[888]

Originally Posted by kerry

I can't recall you stating how many miles the car has on it. That may be an indicator of whether it is worth the effort.

205k miles. It was $500 and I think the surviving sheet metal and interior would probably bring that.

[888]

Originally Posted by DeliveryValve

Don't be afraid of hurting the LCA, just hit the eyelet as hard as you can with a heavy hammer. It will fall out without any damage to the LCA.
If you don't have another arm to put pressure on a crowbar. Just hit it with a hammer alone. I've been successful with that technique too.

Okay, I'm just a little paranoid of tearing up the LCA, I can usually separate joints with some combination of pullers without resorting to the BFH. I really don't want to replace that LCA too.

The pitman arm tool came really close but the threaded section tended to wander off of the top of the stud in the support joint.

Thanks for the info!

EDIT - the other difference between your video and my situation is that I have disconnected the bolts holding the short arm across the bottom of the steering knuckle in place. I don't have much of anything to form a levering action other than the small gap between the LCA and the steering knuckle. I may have to reassemble a bit worst case, but it's getting down to single digits here the next few days so I probably won't be doing much. Thanks again!

[tyl604]

Great thread. Hope you can keep it on the road. Admiration for the effort.

[DeliveryValve]

Originally Posted by 888

Okay, I'm just a little paranoid of tearing up the LCA, I can usually separate joints with some combination of pullers without resorting to the BFH. I really don't want to replace that LCA too.

The pitman arm tool came really close but the threaded section tended to wander off of the top of the stud in the support joint.

Thanks for the info!

EDIT - the other difference between your video and my situation is that I have disconnected the bolts holding the short arm across the bottom of the steering knuckle in place. I don't have much of anything to form a levering action other than the small gap between the LCA and the steering knuckle. I may have to reassemble a bit worst case, but it's getting down to single digits here the next few days so I probably won't be doing much. Thanks again!

Trust me, you can hit it as hard as you can and you will not bend anything. Even if you don't have anything to pry down on, you can still hit the eyelet and the joint will come out.

.

[888]

Originally Posted by DeliveryValve

Trust me, you can hit it as hard as you can and you will not bend anything. Even if you don't have anything to pry down on, you can still hit the eyelet and the joint will come out.

.

I trust you and I'll get it apart. It's single digits now and getting colder the next day or two. If I hit anything hard with a hammer, I'll probably shatter the part, the hammer, my hands, or all three.

[888]

It's above freezing just enough for freezing rain so I had another go at this. I've hammered the crap out of this thing with the baby sledge on the sides where indicated and on the stud up top and and no go.



I thought about trying to use a wheel and cut it somehow but decided against it.

There's no way to pry on this with any leverage to speak of with it disassembled the amount that it is. I started trying to reassemble it to give myself some leverage points and discovered that getting that upper control arm lined back up and getting the bolt through is a two person job. I'm working by myself as usual, so I'll have to wait till I have help. I thought I would breeze right through this via pressing or fixturing and a hammer like I have with other suspension bits or other cars and it's been a real serious pain.

I'll report back whenever I get this thing apart and back together. It may be next spring at this point.

[gmog220d]

Using a propane torch to get some heat into the eyelet would probably help. I also keep the nut loose on the ball joint stud to prevent the pieces from falling apart when it finally separates. Gives you more to hammer on, too, when whacking the stud.

[Alec300SD]

Originally Posted by 888

The pitman arm tool came really close but the threaded section tended to wander off of the top of the stud in the support joint.

Try using the pitman arm puller again.
Spray a penetrant (PB Blaster, etc.) into the joint and let it soak overnight.
Use a punch (or drill) to create a divot in the top of the stud so the threaded shaft of the puller stays in place.
Grease the threads of the puller beforehand.

Best of luck.

[barry12345]

Just my opinion. Waste of time and effort to hit the stud and the side of the eye. Both blows would have to be exactly applied at the same moment.


One impact aids the other. Neither alone can be worth much of anything otherwise on some joints. . I have had a lot of them where some down pressure is needed. Otherwise when you hit the side and temporarily distort the taper fit. It just sits there until the distortion you have caused reverts back to normal and locks up again.


It usually does not take a lot of downward pressure on the stud either. My other concern is using a brass hammer. It may not be transmitting enough shock distortion but giving a little on it's surface. This I do not know though as I have never used anything other than a steel hammer.

[barry12345]

Also if you can get the nut on that thread after hitting the stud end of it with real force either the surface of the hammer gave or there was little applied effective pressure. Normally that is something I would never do anyways as the end could easily mushroom.


I would even be a little leery of putting the nut back on most the way and hitting it really hard. Just believe that some joints do need some constant down force when hitting the eye. Or the joint just will not separate. This enables the taper to slide down a little when the deformation occurs In the eye.


If you are at your wits end you can see if you can locate a new boot for the joint and then use a pickle fork to separate the joint. Effort and time in locating the new boot is the reason my pickle forks remain idle in cases where I want to use the joint again.