1966 Rearend Woes

[Jim S.]

Well At the risk of bragging I tackled and mostly accomplished my largest "single handed " project to date, and my title reflects both the mechanical and the physical problem , since I did it from underneath the car !!!

My goal was to remove the entire rear end over the weekend. Because It has always been an Arizona and California Car , and I sprayed PB on every nut and bolt Saturday Night , I had little problem with the nuts and bolts. I was able to remove the right hand side of the Shock ,Strut rod , Half Shaft,Trailing arm etc.
...........but the left hand side remains in tact.!

My Problem ... I can not remove the lower Shock mount . therefore I cant get the strut out, Etc etc. The right one came out with one whack of the hammer. The left however has been whacked so many times I am afraid I will permenantly blunt the end !! So now what, you Well -learned Gentlemen ?

Since I am not able to go to the Archives . I ask for your help !

Jim

Ps. How "bent" is "bent" on a Strut rod ? The left one appears to have a "Ever so Slight" bend in it !!

[Joe L.]

Re: 1966 Rearend Woes

Well At the risk of bragging I tackled and mostly accomplished my largest "single handed " project to date, and my title reflects both the mechanical and the physical problem , since I did it from underneath the car !!!

My goal was to remove the entire rear end over the weekend. Because It has always been an Arizona and California Car , and I sprayed PB on every nut and bolt Saturday Night , I had little problem with the nuts and bolts. I was able to remove the right hand side of the Shock ,Strut rod , Half Shaft,Trailing arm etc.
...........but the left hand side remains in tact.!

My Problem ... I can not remove the lower Shock mount . therefore I cant get the strut out, Etc etc. The right one came out with one whack of the hammer. The left however has been whacked so many times I am afraid I will permenantly blunt the end !! So now what, you Well -learned Gentlemen ?

Since I am not able to go to the Archives . I ask for your help !

Jim

Ps. How "bent" is "bent" on a Strut rod ? The left one appears to have a "Ever so Slight" bend in it !!

Jim-----


A tool is available that will allow you to "whack" the shock mount shaft without damaging it. You can also make up such a tool from a 5/8-18 coupling nut and a 5/8-18 bolt. With the coupling nut run down about 3/4 of the way on the shock mount shaft and the bolt run down into the coupling nut so that it seats on the end of the shock mount shaft, you can pound away without risk of damaging the shock mount shaft.

The strut rod should be perfectly straight. If bent, it's sometimes possible to straighten it. If so, it should be done COLD, not with the use of heat.

[Jim S.]

Re: 1966 Rearend Woes

Geez Joe ,

You stay up even later then I do ! I will give that a try and thanks for your help !

So even slightly bent is too bent huh. I will endeavor to have it straightened .

Jim

[Joe L.]

Re: 1966 Rearend Woes

Geez Joe ,

You stay up even later then I do ! I will give that a try and thanks for your help !

So even slightly bent is too bent huh. I will endeavor to have it straightened .

Jim

Jim----

Attached is a photo of the tool I made. It's made from a 5/8-18 X 3" bolt with a coupling nut. I have the bolt pinned to the coupling nut so that there is 3/8" of thread between the end of the nut and the bottom of the bolt. Pinning is not absolutely necessary, though. With this tool, one simply threads the nut onto the shock mount shaft, run it down until the bolt bottoms on the shaft, tighten it slightly with a wrench, and whack away on the head of the bolt. This will prevent any damage to shaft threads or the end of the shaft. As I mentioned, a commercially available tool is also easy to get and quite inexpensive. But, it might take several days to get. This tool is as close as your local hardware store.

[Jim S.]

Re: 1966 Rearend Woes

testing 1233

[Jim S.]

Re: 1966 Rearend Woes

Thanks Joe,

The picture is exactly what us "Mechanically Impaired" types need !

Jim