Dry Socket

[drewr]

So I am refreshing the suspension on my 1977 Targa. Front all done, replaced bushings, ball joints, torsion bars, sway bar bushings.

Now just got drivers side spring arm off the back. And discovered this:

Also, I didn’t think you should be able to see light coming through the other end:


So someone has been here before and drilled a whole in the torsion bar cover and covered it with silicon. No grease whatsoever in there. Haven’t gotten the torsion bar out, yet, but the end looks ok.

So, can I clean out this rust, regrease and use? If so, how to clean? Is it dry because of the hole? Can I replace the end piece?
Thanks!

[Mark Salvetti]

Someone likely drilled the hole so they could use a slide hammer to pull off the end cap. I would knock out the end cap now from the other end with a rod and hammer. That will let you clean the splines with a wire brush and then grease.

I wouldn't worry too much about the rust you see in your photos. That part of the spring plate doesn't contact the torsion bar. You could clean it as best you can with a wire brush and apply a thin coat of grease or Never-Seize to keep it from getting worse.

Mark

[drewr]

Knocked it out. Thanks!