Ball joint and wedge pin...

[Scott77]

After giving up on the FLCA re-bush project this winter, I decided to give it one last shot before sending the car to the shop. The wedge pins were causing nothing but trouble. I'm pleased to report that I got both out today and also broke free the ball joint pins from the strut housings. How did I do it? A combination of hammer, punch, various nuts and bolts, crow bar, lube, hydraulic jack, impact wrench, muscle and 2-3 hrs of determination.

With that done it's time to start disconnecting the arms from the body. Maybe I'll start that tomorrow.

[JFairman]

Doesn't it feel good to get that done?

I replaced the ball joints and all the rubber bushings and sway bar drop links with Elephant Racing polybronze bushings, Rennline mono balls, and Tarret spherical bearing drop links, front and rear. Makes a big improvement in steering response.

I used a pickle fork and big hammer to seperate the ball joint spindle out of the bottom of the strut after driving out the roll pin with a drift punch.