defeated by ball joint wedge pin
 

I have given up trying to get the ball joint wedge pin out. I suspect it has been in place for 30 years. I pounded the *&#$ out of it with a 3 lb. mini sledgehammer after spraying with PB Blaster (for 2 weeks) and Wuerth Rost Off Ice (which is now very hard to find and cost $23 shipped). Trying to decide whether to buy a puller (which I see some have used) or have shop do it. I didn't try heat because I don't want to ruin the ball joint boot and have it still stuck in place.

drill out the big end to collapse it a bit. like drilling partially through a valve guide before running it out of the head. large as possible without getting into the strut metal.

I used a shop press to push mine out. I picked one up at harbor freight. It has been handy for a bunch of little projects on the car.

12 Ton Shop Press

I soaked mine in PB Blaster, and ran an old nut onto the threaded end flush to increase the surface area and gave it a good smack with a BFH. This worked like a champ on both ball joints.