So I've been working on redoing my front suspension. Pulled the whole thing out and derusted, painted. Bought new bushings from everywhere include Jolly Old. Finally ready to put things back together. Got top wishbone together nicely. Lower wishbone..... Ahhhh.

I managed to pull the fulcrum shafts out when I disassembled, without damaging either. One side goes back in through the new bushings with a minimum of fuss, a bit more fuss than I would have liked, but minimum.

The other side..... ERGGSNARL...The bushings sleeves turns out to have been manufactured just a hair too f'ing small. Fulcrum shaft jams 1" from all the way through . No amount of oil or anti seize works to make it though.

Then I break rule #1. Never force parts!!! Never? Never!!!!. Jams solid when I try to persuade it to go all the way through with a hammer. Now I need to hammer it out, which I finally managed to do, but not before stupidly hitting the thread end and bending the threads rendering my magnificently preserved fulcrum shaft junk.

So now it is off to the interweb to buy new bushings...which hopefully will have been manufactured properly... and a new fulcrum shaft ... and at least another week's lost time.

End rant

 

John Lennon said it best:

NOBODY TOLD ME THEY'D BE DAYS LIKE THESE!

 

Aw, Dang! I HATE it when that happens!
(';')

 

Oh, yeah!! There are those days. I like the term, "at times, I win, at others, the bear wins". Or, back when I was a kid, very long time ago, my donkey would toss me ! Followed Dad's counsel,, dusted off and got back on!!

Same stuff, sorta in my professional career. A colleague praised me, "better and stronger than ever".

Judicious use of a thread file might just save those threads. I did something like that on an ancient Lausen one banger. My son; fixed them. skill and the right tool. It powers antique Roto-Hoe. It works (?). But, not anywhere near enough "grunt" to actually till soil!! Mix soft stuff at best !!!!

Carl,

 

Try the file and then run a die over the threads. Might be able to save it. Bushing may be able to be filed, or drilled out.
I have some king pin bushing reamers from the 30's & 40's. One fits my '48 Chevy truck. Same principle. Ream out prior to install.

I feel your rant pain. Thought I was at the finish line with installing the Chevy LT1. Finally fired it up five weeks ago, ran for 20 minutes to break in the cam, etc. Shifted into gear; no-go.
New transmission ordered, received two weeks later...what, no torque converter? Still waiting for it.
It's been 5 years since I've driven Boomer. 4 years since starting the conversion, started back on it earlier this spring.
My patience is being tested.

On the bright side, in the last month I've been able to install:
a new "modern" stereo,
replaced the headliner,
loomed up all the wiring under the hood,
undercoated the wheel wells and underside with truck bed liner,
reassembled the interior,
wired in the OBDII tester into an ash tray,
installed a dual USB fast charger unit in place of the cigar lighter,
cut the drivers side floorpan out, fabricated a sheet of steel and welded it in,
installed RH fuel tank after re-lining it; along with reinstalling all the lower wings (with new bed liner painted on the insides),
and other miscellaneous stuff.
It's been a busy summer. "The summer of the Jaguar" as my boys have dubbed it.

 

Had to chuckle a bit at the "no go".
Misery loves company!!!!!

Decades ago, after much travail, my Lt1 fired!!!! But, the car just would not move!!!

Son and I decided the 4L60E was a bummer. Got the car up on stands and stabilized. Ready to pull the reluctant trans. Off with the lower tin dust cover to undo the converter bolts! Mere words failed us!! whomever had mated the trans to the engine did not install the three critical fasteners !!!! )(&(*&^^^

Got a measure and I off to a NAPA parts store. None their dedicated as GM converter bolts. But, a huge selection of fasteners. Selected tree premium priced ones that fit the spec.

A bit of jiggle and jaggle and the 4L60 e was mated to the LT1. Test trial on the stands. Passed !! On to the ground !! Victory lap around the block. Exhaust was only down pipes. Very pleasant!!!

Carl . .

 

Thanks for all the understanding! JagCad, I was thinking about saving the the threads, but when I went to buy next bushings (something different from URO->PolyThane?) XKs.com had a minimum $10.00 order and I looked and they had a aftermarket fulcrum shaft for reasonable so I bought it. I'll keep the old one in case. I thought about buying a die and redoing it, but the damage is right on the end and I think getting the die to start correctly would have been part of the problem.

Funnily enough, I've only used a die 4 times in my life. All on this car making...after market parts fit right. I've had 4 bolts that were supposedly 24tpi not fit. The die fixed with hand turning pressure, so I didn't even need a handle, but they were "off" just enough that a nut wouldn't go on!

 

Good to hear you've got another. I also replaced bushings 4 years ago. Never was able to get the drivers side out. Wouldn't budge a hair. Oh well.

Carl - yes, I had your experience in mind when I was first connecting the TC & trans to the motor. Learn your lessons from other peoples' mistakes as much as possible!
This tranny worked when I pulled it out of the Caprice donor, as I drove it prior to removal. Now, nada. Only thing I did was replaced the front & rear seals along with a new filter. Perhaps I damaged the pump in the process, as it is not pumping any fluid. There was extra space between the flywheel and TC that I learned should be only a 3/16" gap. It was 3/8". That didn't solve the issue, but was interesting to learn. Not $800 interesting (price of rebuilt trans), but always good to learn something new.

 

Freeze the bushings next time and a keep a nut on the threads. Fix the threads with a die!

 

When we did this, we used a loooong brass drift to beat the fulcrum bolt out and it took quite a lot of bashing. NO damage occurred to threads as you can see in the picture below!

Of course, it's a little late now, as you've already boogered up the threads.
But next time..........
EDIT: If this was my problem, I would grind a taper on the threads until I was past all the jimmied ones, and then run a tap. Of course, I do a Lot of things different./EDIT
(';')

 

Not so much. I've ground or filed off battered threads to expose enough healthy ones tot hold a nut!!!

No brass drifts in my stuff. But, some softer ones to bash hardened stuff.

Bashing is becoming less and less in my activities.

But, had a bit of "fun" yesterday. Shreded redwood fence boards, courtesy Billy, to dispose of. Whacked them to size to fit the recycle can. My smaller and newer "skill saw" in action. Lotttsa plastic, lighter.. Much handier than my ancient Craftsman in lottsa alloy!!!

Carl

 

Nothing relieves frustration (and rage) so much as a good Bashing session, Carl.
It works almost as well as killing something (I always feel better after I've killed something; Rats in the pump house, ants in my kitchen...).

I had an alloy body chain saw that I positively Loved, but someone stole it right out of my truck one rainy night!
The closest replacement I could get (I bought the original as a close-out, no longer made) was a Plastic bodied one, *Much* heavier, cost more, harder to start, awkward, less handy; I can say hardly anything good about it.

I would be willing to bet your new saw has a smaller motor and maybe less power than the Alloy bodied one (maybe not the duty rating either), but if you're happy with it, that's what counts!
(';')

 

It is a circular hand saw of the "Skill" model, but not so. Lighter, definitely. Smaller motor, probably. Shorter duty cycle, same, less I suspect. Life span, I doubt it will match the original Craftsman. Did it do the job. Easily !! But, weathered one inch redwood, not much of a challenge!!

In past decades, I had more than a few gas powered chain saws. Most fussy to fire up. I did get a really heavy duty electric one at a garage sale. It left, should have ept it!!

Now, I have a much smaller and lighter plastic electric chain saw. It does the job, but at a much slower pace.

Carl

 

 

Please don't tell us the best is killing something with your chainsaw!

 

Killing rats in the pump house with the chainsaw is a little messy in such a confined space. Not only that, little buggers are Quick!
(';')

 

No idea what people are talking about but i will google it all and thank you! hahah

 

Chris:

Probably rants are not worth researching!
Carl

 

Ohhh I was so excited. My new fulcrum shaft and bushings came. Same F' in problem!! The bushings won't slide over either the new shaft or the old one. 4 brand new Uro bushings and none of them fit!!!

I am doing something wrong here? The lower wishbone bushings should slide up and down the fulcrum shaft freely shouldn't they?

I need to figure out how to make these bushings fit. Any ideas?

 

Then you got the Wrong bushings Again!
They should slide over the shaft and be snug, lubricated with a bit of anti-seize compound, but they should Definitely slide over the shaft. Especially a new, unscarred one.

(dragging out ponderous NIX folder...)
From Welch Enterprises; 03.30.2015:
2) Lower control arm bushings, C-8673 (come as a pair) 6.95 ea.
(';')