Front Suspension won't drop

[sedouglas72]

Trying to remove the entire front suspension on my '74, but when I took out the crossmember bolts, it is stuck... I have all of the front bolts out, struts are loose, and the steering disconnected. I even put them back in a double checked everything. There is surprisingly little on front suspension drops.

Any help much appreciated.

Scott

[sedouglas72]

Pry bar between the cross member and body. Push until you hear a loud pop. In case someone has this happen later on.

[chrismorse]

I just loosely bolted. Up my front suspension. It is not yet torqued down.
I noticed a 2-3 mm shoulder around the cross member bolt holes on the body. The cross member bolt holes are correspondingly larger. It looks like a tight fit.
My guess is that the cross member is stuck on these body mounting "shoulders".

As in the prior post, put a pry bar between the cross member and the body. It will likely drop suddenly.
Chris

[Walt Fricke]

These two shoulders are what locates the reinforcing crossmember. The two bolts hold it onto these shoulders.

[DLewis]

Ok, I am in the same boat.
'69 912
Bolts all loose.
Pry bar between cross member and body.
Nothing

Should I try heat?

Does the cross member need to come loose to get the bushing cups out?

Thanks, Dean

[Walt Fricke]

With the early steel reinforcing crossmember, I guess rust in the joints can happen. I'd squirt penetrating oil all over the two joints. I'd use a chatter gun (air chisel with a wide round flat point) on the cups after removing the two bolts to help the penetration, Yes, you could alternate this with some heat. After you remove the front holders, pulling down on the front of the A arm gives you very good leverage. In theory the cups can come out once the bolts are removed, but some rust has probably gotten in there as well. I've only removed the cups from the steel member with it all off the car.

[mepstein]

Funny timing because I just had this issue on a 914 I’m parting out. The 914 front suspension is almost identical to the 911. I looked 3X for something that was hanging up but it was just stuck. Lots of taping with a hammer, a little prying and finally came loose. If the body wasn’t rusted out, I wouldn’t have pried, it’s too easy to bend the metal. I gave it a couple good wacks on the brake rotor and it dropped. Watch your feet.

[DLewis]

Thanks
I used more penetrating oil last night and some more hits with the hammer.
I will check this morning too see if anything has changed.
Dean

[gomezoneill]

What size pry bar are you using? You need at the very least 3.5 feet to 4 feet. Leave the bolts in but loose to keep it from falling.

[DLewis]

Well after sitting overnight and spaying more penetrating oil, and hitting it more this morning, I was able to get them both off.

You don't have to drop the cross member to get them off.

Love working on a 50 year old car, something always takes more patience and longer than you think.

Back to the wire wheel, sanding and painting

Dean

[GaltJ]

Torch next time