1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

[Elwood A.]

I'm in the process of restoring the rear suspension on my 1970 coupe and have had no problems removing the spring, half-shafts, and trailing arms, but when I removed the attachment bolts (one at each bushing), the crossmember won't drop off the frame mounts. I've tried hammering with a heavy brass hammer, and attempted driving a ball joint "pickle fork" between the frame and crossmember, but nothing moves. Looking at the new bushings I bought, I can see how the inside of the bushing could rust onto the sockets on the frame. One restoration manual I looked at suggested using heat (torch) on the bushings, but that spooks me with the gas tank sitting relatively close to the bushings. Plus the fact that the bushings are mostly rubber, and would probably light off fairly easily. If that is the way to go, where does the heat get applied to do the most good?

I'm sure many restorers have gone through this, but I just want to be sure how to do it without damaging the parts involved, or worse, the whole rear end of the car. Thanks for any help you can give.

[Michael G.]

Re: 1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

Elwood,
I know this was discussed not too long ago so check the archives. I don't remember enough to be helpfull other then it was definitely a hard item to pop loose. Couldn't be more than a month or so back. Mike

[Greg L.]

Re: 1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

You can beat on it all you like and it will just bounce back because of the rubber mounts. What you need to do is get a pry bar of some sort in there and pry the crossmember down from the frame. I don't think the crossmember can rust to the frame because it's a rubber contact surface from the bushing to the frame so a good steady prying action is all you should need.

Just to be safe, reinstall the two bolts that you removed a few turns or use a longer bolt so that when the crossmember drops away from the frame it won't drop on the floor or worse, bean you on the head.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

I'm in the process of restoring the rear suspension on my 1970 coupe and have had no problems removing the spring, half-shafts, and trailing arms, but when I removed the attachment bolts (one at each bushing), the crossmember won't drop off the frame mounts. I've tried hammering with a heavy brass hammer, and attempted driving a ball joint "pickle fork" between the frame and crossmember, but nothing moves. Looking at the new bushings I bought, I can see how the inside of the bushing could rust onto the sockets on the frame. One restoration manual I looked at suggested using heat (torch) on the bushings, but that spooks me with the gas tank sitting relatively close to the bushings. Plus the fact that the bushings are mostly rubber, and would probably light off fairly easily. If that is the way to go, where does the heat get applied to do the most good?

I'm sure many restorers have gone through this, but I just want to be sure how to do it without damaging the parts involved, or worse, the whole rear end of the car. Thanks for any help you can give.

Elwood-----


You need to get a LONG, STOUT prybar. I'm talking one about 4 feet long or longer. Wedge this between the differential crossmember and the welded-in crossmember just behind it. Do it in a way that you can apply leveraged downward force to the differential crossmember. Then, go at it. You may need to get at least one other person involved to exert enough force.

One tip: make sure you loosen the bolts through each cushion but don't remove them. Or, remove them and install longer bolts. This way, the crossmember with attached differential carrier will not fall on the floor. Afterwards, put a jack under the differential carrier, remove the bolts, and lower.

[Elwood A.]

Re: 1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

Thanks for the quick replies folks. I've already taken the precautions of reinstalling the bolts, and I've got a floor jack under the differential, and jack stands about an inch below the crossmember at each end to catch it when (if) it drops, but apparently I haven't been putting enough force on the crossmember to get it to break away from the rubber-to-steel contact inside the bushing. I've got some "heavy artillery" pry bars I can try, so that will be next.

Thanks again.

[Tony H.]

Re: 1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

Hi Elwood,
Keep us informed on what finally works for you. My goal is to have mine out by Flag Day. My restored rear end is ready to go in, I just have to remove the current rear from my 70.
Good luck.
Tony

[John H.]

Re: 1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

This is the kind of REAL prybar that works - not the kind you find in your toolbox; this is Rick, one of Werner Meier's techs, with his pride and joy.

[Elwood A.]

Re: 1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

Well I can finally report success in getting the crossmember off the car! Two days ago I got the passenger side mount to break free with a 2 foot pry bar and a heavy dead-blow hammer. That went fairly easy, but the driver side mount wouldn't let go even when I used a long bar like the one in the photo. At that point I thought I had better back off before I did some major damage to the crossmember or the frame. A fellow Vette owner (and mechanic) suggested that I soak the top of the rubber bushing with WD-40 for a while and then try again. After 24 hours and two shots of WD, a 3 foot pry bar and a quick downward push broke the bushing loose from the frame.

After going through this I think I would suggest starting with the WD-40 soak, and then use the longest pry bar you can get your hands on. Prying from the wheelwell side with the tip of the bar behind the crossmember bushing seemed to work best.

Thanks for the advise and I hope my experience can benefit someone else.

[Elwood A.]

Re: 1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

I forgot to mention that the WD-40 will probably deteriorate the rubber bushings to the point where they won't be reusable. I wasn't concerned with this since I had already bought new bushings and had intended to replace them at the start of the project. If you don't want to buy new bushings, try the pry bar without the WD first to see if you might get lucky and have the bushings pop off with just some brute force. Just be sure to support everything before starting to break the bushings loose so the crossmember and differential don't bounce off the garage floor. That would ruin your day!

Good luck!

[John H.]

Re: 1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

It'll help you (or the next guy) a lot if you apply anti-seize to the inside of the bushing upper cup before you bolt it back together; it won't require Godzilla's prybar to get it apart next time.

[Elwood A.]

Re: 1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

Thanks John. When I put the crossmember back on the frame you can bet I'll have put some sort of anti-sieze inside the bushing cups. Hopefully I'll never have to take things apart again, but someone down the road may appreciate not having to fight to get things apart the next time.

Have a great holiday weekend.

[Alan S.]

Re: 1970 Rear Crossmember Removal

Hi Elwood,
Mine was just a little stuck... I didn't think (newbie) to leave the bolts in. I was sitting under the frame and the crossmember ended up in my lap. Fortunately, 'things' were arranged in a safe manner and I could continue peeing standing up.
Regards,
Alan