I thought I'd say it twice, since both fronts are out of the a-arms now.
After getting frustrated with the whole thing last weekend, I stopped
working on the front end problem and started painting. Tonight, I guess
I just needed a little more stress in my life, so I went back out and
puzzled over it awhile. I realized two things:
1. The shocks weren't way too big for the hole in the lower a-arm,
just a litle too big, and
2. I was going to throw them away, anyhow.
I pushed down the piston rod, put a long, flat blade screwdriver on top
of the rod, shot some WD40 on the shock body and whack! A couple of hits
and the top rod was clear of the upper a-arm. slid an old box end wrench
under a coil on the spring and over the piston rod and levered the
little suckers right thru the hole. Didn't even have to jack the frame.
Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind :-)
I know this probably won't work in all cases, the shocks on my car were
old Midas units and were just a snug fit. Check the diameter of the
shocks and the hole carefully before breaking out the 6 pound sledge!
Also, the holes in the a-arms weren't perfectly round, they had a few
small flat spots here and there that I'll probably dress up with a round
file before painting and reinstalling new shocks.
So don't make plans to come and sit on my car this weekend...even though
the paint is drying nicely.
Paul
67 1600
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