[Tom '74 911]

HI Bob -
I just pulled the front suspension off my '74 yesterday! I fought some of the same battles you mentioned - some successfully, some not.

I had to pound the he11 out of the tapered pins that attach the top of the ball joints to the bottom of the struts. The pins finally did come out, but they put up a great fight. Leave the nut on the pin when pounding away - it gives a larger contact area, and may help save the pin so you can re-use it. To separate the strut and ball joint, I tapped on the top of the a-arm w/a hammer while holding and pulling up on the strut. they separated w/out much drama.

I still have not been able to break the large nut that attaches the ball joint to the a-arm. I've cut it up w/a dremmel tool, PB Blastered it, beat it w/a hammer and chisel, and tried leverage - to no avail. I will eventually win, but I'm not sure what it'll take!

If you've pulled the adjuster, you should be able to pull the torsion bars out towards the back. If they've been in there a while, it may be easier to pull them out w/the a-arm and then work w/it on your workbench. I was able to pry the a-arms off using the cross member as leverage. They were in there tight as well.

You can replace the a-arm bushings. There are a few options - polygraphite bushings (basically hard plastic) or Polybronze bushings from Elephant Racing - both available from Pelican. I noticed that Chuck @ Elephant Racing is also offering a service now where he will recondition your a-arms and replace the bushings w/more OEM type rubber - there was some talk of this service earlier on the board here, but I can't remember how it turned out - there's lots of info on the pros and cons of all the various bushing options.

Hope this helps a little,
Tom