When I redid mine a few years ago, I didn't know about the boiling water
trick. What I did, which worked and didn't require cutting of the bushes,
was to lube them up good with Armorall and draw them in with a narrow
diameter bolt and nut from the inboard side of the sheetmetal panel. To do
this, I chose a socket that would let the bush just slip inside. After
inserting the bolt into the socket so that the head was on the back side of
it, I inserted the bolt through the sheet metal from inside the passenger
compartment. Then I placed the lubed-up bush onto the bolt, following with
a flat washer and nut. By tightening the nut, the bush was slowly drawn into
the hole. It's important that the socket support the sheetmetal close
around the area that will be pressed against by the bushing as it is forced
through the hole so that the sheetmetal isn't distorted, yet allow the
flange on the bush to pop through the hole without interference. This just
requires careful selection of socket size and a final adjustment of socket
placement as the nut begins to tighten things up just enough so that you can
slide the socket aroung a bit and it will stay where you put it. I really
was convinced that this wasn't going to work (the bushed are so hard) until
the first one actually popped through. One thing I might do differently is
use a different lubricant, as Armorall dries out pretty quickly. Maybe the
rubber grease you use when replacing brake seals would last long enough to
complete the job without re-lubing yet not attack the plastic bush. I would
also try the boiling to soften trick, as I suspect it would have made
drawing the bushings into the holes easier. I agree that it's best to pull
the accelerator shaft to replace the bushes.
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