Stuck Torsion Bar Adjustment Lever

[mlangner]

I am having difficulty getting the torsion bar adjustment lever off of my 73T suspension. It might be rusted on, but so far the suspension for the most part has shown little rust. It does look like its jammed against the top of the little box at the end of the steering rack support tube that it sits in - which is wierd because the other one is in the middle of the adjustment range.

Any clever ideas on how to get it off?

[warment]

I just did the exact same thing a few days ago. I am in the process of replacing my front bushings in my 1973 911 T. I didn't have much trouble getting the lever off, but the adjustment bolt that connects to the lever was very tight. It seemed like it had Loc-Tite on it.

Getting the front suspension arms off my car was a royal "B!" I ended up hooking a chain to each arm(1 at a time) and hooking the other end to my father's tractor. I pulled the tractor forward just far enough to put tension on the chain, then I stood on the chain. I know this sounds weird, but it worked! It still took a little coaxing though! My front suspension bushings were quite worn, and the ends of the torsion bars near the center of the car were a little rusted. The splines looked good though.

I'll post some pics after I get the arms prepped, painted, and when I get my new ball joints installed. I highly recommend using aircraft remover on the arms first, then using Por15 Metal Ready, and finally using Por15 Paint. I would also recommend sanding and painting any part of the torsion bars that have rust...

Bill

[echrisconnor]

If I understand correctly, this is the same problem I had a while back. The problem was that the end cap of the torsion bar was pinned with the tension of the bar against the inside of the "box."

What I had to do was release the pressure on the bar so that the end cap could be released. I just loosened the nut on the top of my strut allowing the strut to drop down even further. This removed the last of the tension on the bar and allowed me to pull the cap and re-index them properly.

[warment]

I had to do the same thing. I took off the shock top nuts, and then supported the weight of the caliper/rotor with a block. Sorry I forgot to mention this...

Bill

[mlangner]

Since I don't have a tractor and chain... I guess I will try dropping the strut first....

[Jdub]

Since the cap with adjusting threads can be put on any old way relative to the splines, it would be a good idea on reassembly to get some weight on the front wheel to set the car at its approximate height position prior to "capping" the tbar and then settling the full weight to the assembly. This might ensure that the cap's threaded "hat" sits about dead horizontal for full adjustability.

I'd love to hear comments contrary to my post. I do want to be sure that I do a proper job when my turn comes this Winter.

John

[echrisconnor]

When I re-indexed my bars, I put caps on when the car was fully off the ground and had no weight on the wheels. I just set the cap back a few degrees (towards the bottom of the car), so that when the weight is back on the bars, and the adjusting screw is in place, the cap rests close to the center with room to adjust both more or less torsion. You don't have to add weight to the wheels, just give it about 20 degrees of offset from center.

[mlangner]

Dropping the strut worked like a charm - sorta. I actually had to disconnect the swaybar links as well. Alright!

We are ready for new A-arms, sway bushings, strut-inserts, balljoints, tie-rods and torsion bars. Its amazing how much wears out after ONLY 29 years... dag-gone cheap German parts ;-)...