I FINALLY removed the frozen spring eye bolt on the right side of my TR3A.
It was a bear of a job, so I thought I would offer what appears to be the
"solution" that worked for me. Having tried so many things, it's hard to know
what
combination actually did the trick, but here's the path that seemed to work
for me.
First, I did everything except raise the body and use a BFH to drive out the
evil bolt. I used PB-Blaster, heat (propane and MAPP), crow bar,
bolt/washers/socket puller, etc. Don't ask me what happens to your carpeting
when you get
that MAPP gas really fired up, because I can now speak from experience.
Using the propane, I burned out the rubber portion between the inner and
outer bushings in the spring eye. Good ventilation in the garage is a must.
With
the rubber essentially gone or loose, I pried the spring assembly toward the
outside of the car some 2 inches, exposing the inner bushing. I then used a
cutting wheel on a drill to slice upward and outward through the bushing and
spring eye bolt. (I had already decided to replace the bolt once I removed it
because of all the heat applications). My theory was that, in cutting off as
much of the exposed bolt/bushing as possible, I would reduce the "gripping
area" by some 35 percent. After cutting the bolt, the leaf spring assembly
could
be completely removed, and it left a diagonally cut section of the bolt
protruding from the frame approximately 3/4 inch. Using a 2.5 lb hammer
sideways, I
was able to tap the bolt inward, exposing the head by a good 1/2" on the other
side of the frame. I was then able to extract it a bit further with a pry
bar. I finished the extraction with a slide-hammer affair I had rigged up by
cutting 5/16-24 threads into a 3-foot rod, threading one end into the head of
the spring eye bolt, placing a lead hammer head on the shaft (after drilling a
hole through it lengthwise), and capping the end with two nuts, against which I
could slide the weight and "hammer" out the bolt. In my case, I believe the
spring eye bushing was providing most of the "grip" that was freezing the bolt
and preventing extraction.
Job finished.
Thanks to everyone for help on this!
Bill Stagg
1969 TR3A
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