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Just an update for the hive mind.
Since the taper pin was mangled, I used an air cut-off tool on the ball joint and removed the LCA (where the taper pin is on these cars) entirely.
I brought the LCA to my friend’s shop, and we put it in the hydraulic press – even then it was amazingly stubborn. But the pin finally let go, with a report comparable to a .45 going off in an enclosed space. No obvious corrosion or deformation inside the taper… go figure. (The mechanic friend, who was quite skeptical before I brought it to him, agreed after that it was the most stubborn taper he’d ever seen.) Most importantly, the LCA is intact and was put back on the car!
Shop press FTW.
lol, you’re comparing it to a gun which costs $500. And in a thread by a guy who doesn’t even have an air compressor yet.
There’s no economic analysis on earth which would justify the snap-on unit for anybody who isn’t a full-time professional mechanic.
On the other hand I would expect an uber-credentialist to place a premium on a brand name.
The Harbor Freight Earthquake 1/2″ drive impact wrenches are where it’s at (check out the reviews if you don’t take my word for it). Buy one. They’re on sale right now (I saw a coupon, anyway: $75).
This is the one I got:
It works well enough. I use it with my MacBook pro and the free version of a piece of software called “Movi”.
Well, I don’t think the hammer is going to cut it. Maybe if I had an acetylene torch, or a lift, or enough money to buy these things (or pay someone else to do it)…
I’ve managed to bang on this thing with the 4 lb. engineer’s hammer enough to begin deforming the metal on the control arm (yay!). Heck, the ball joint itself is now loose in the knuckle – and freely sliding up and down, absorbing my hammer blows I imagine – so at least I guess I won’t need to buy a press to get it out.
But the ball joint won’t separate from the LCA.
It’s getting to the point where I seriously think cutting the think off and replacing the entire LCA is a better option than “bang on it with a hammer”. Cheaper than an acetylene torch, too (though I’d like to own one of those).
Come on, guys. Nobody has any good suggestions?
Alright. All I have is a propane torch, though. I hope that’s adequate. Should I bother/risk hitting the pin (since it’s already trashed)? Or should I continue to only hit the side of the LCA where the ball joint connects?
[quote=”Hollumsd” post=167407]I watched the video on ETCG1 carburetors vs fuel injection. It was a good video. One comment made was about how some people look at carburetors as “yesterday” technology. That got me to thinking about something. Is the challenge in the automotive repair and modifying gone? Eric talks about enjoying the challenge of working with the carb on his Fairmont modification project. I’ve watched every episode of Wheeler Dealers, at least once, and Ed China has mentioned about the cars Mike Brewer brought in and loving a good challenge. Numerous times on the show China would show something he had to make to get something to work. Like the episodes with the VW splitty-van and the Polish car, in fact both dealt with the steering column. Today cars are so over-computerized that the human equation of working on them seems to have disappeared. It’s basically unplug the old part and plug in the new part or it is more cost effective to replace the whole engine than to rebuild it. I’m finding that to be the case with my wife’s 1999 Suburban. That’s another long story. Anyway, is this making any sense? Society has gotten to the point that everything has got to be “right now” and the automotive world seems the same way. I’m in a whole other profession, but I like working on cars though. The tools in my hands, taking something apart and putting it back together. Have I gotten frustrated? Oh yeah and not just a little bit! My wife has heard me cussing and she would ask me, “If you get frustrated at it why do you do it?” I’d grumpily reply, “Because I love it!” After I’m finished with the repair that was getting the best of me and all is working well again I can’t wait to do it again.[/quote]
No, the challenge is just different. These days, you’d be better learning off how about programmable ECUs and valve and ignition timing than carburetor tuning. These systems can still be worked on, tuned, modified – it’s simply a more specialized process. If anything, though, that’s more challenging.
That’s called a banjo bolt, and it’s used to connect a hydraulic line to the device it controls. For instance, connecting brake line to brake calipers.
In this instance, based on what you said, that would be the power steering pump. Since (I assume) you probably used a solid bolt in its place, I imagine you’ll want to correct this. 😉