Torsion bars stuck

[Jezebel]

maybe someone can help ;
I am in process of removing my rear torsion bars ( 1970 911T ) ; I removed
all the bolts but cannot get the torsion bars out of the outer spring plate cover.!

I drilled a hole at the end and tried to push ( hammered ) the torsion bar out but no luck...
does anybody already encounter this problem and how to go about it ???

Thanks
Francois

[JeremyD]

pry bar and work it off

[Jezebel]

Thanks Jeremy ,,, there is not much room to use a pry bar or even move the assembly around. it only move about 8 inches in & out.

I am thinking of cuting the t-bar cover,,,,,,,,,,, but that would be the last solution

[pete3799]

The outer spring plate cover should pry off.
I suspect it's the spring plate itself your having trouble removing.
A three jaw puller and heating the spring plate should do it.

[t6dpilot]

I just ran into this problem myself. Very, very frustrating to say the least. Soak it in PB Blaster or equivalent for several days and multiple applications. You will need two people for this. Heat the TB cover with a torch - you will need to get it pretty hot. While one person holds the spring plate against the chassis, the other should hammer out the TB using a punch through the access hole. It takes some pretty good whacks, but should eventually come free of the spring plate.

Next fun part - removing the bushings.

[djdsc]

[tom1394racing]

I just did this a couple of weeks ago on an SC.

I used a map gas torch to heat the spring plate and liberal doses of PB inside the t-bar/spring plate joint to dissolve the rust. I needed several cycles of heating and cooling before I was able to hammer the T-bar out of the spring plate. I drilled a hole in the end cover and used a flywheel bolt as a drift to pound the t-bar out. It took some heavy pounding to hammer it out.

[Jezebel]

WOW , lots of experience here........ I will try the heat & Hammer solution.

Thanks a bunch .

Francois

[JerryL]

Can you buy the swaged / staked in cover disk (shown removed with the puller) A friend has ask me to design an make one (maybe aluminun turn on lathe & press in) as he is missing one??
I just had what looks like minor problem stripping a 68 and drilling thry and driving out with a punch worked. I plann on welding the hole up and grinding smooth.

Buying one I am sure would be easier than making one and this does not look to be so uncommon of having one missing?

Regards

[zl0ca]

Originally Posted by djdsc

how did you get the little plate off the spring plate to get to the t-bar?

[geoff_k]

Did this a few weeks ago. It took perseverance to get it off. Here is a tip - there is some flex in your bodywork that allows you to slide the spring plate off the torsion bar when you get it loose. I think we spent an hour trying to loosen it.
Wait till you try to fit it all together with new bushings. I used longer bolts and the cover plate to try and put it back together swapping the bolts for slightly shorter ones until I fitted it. I ended up bending the cover plate. Took it all apart and then used a dremel to clean the inside of the torsion tube to get a better fit.

The "How to do it" articles seem to skip over the nasty bits.

[zl0ca]

Originally Posted by geoff_k

Did this a few weeks ago. It took perseverance to get it off. Here is a tip - there is some flex in your bodywork that allows you to slide the spring plate off the torsion bar when you get it loose. I think we spent an hour trying to loosen it.

Wait till you try to fit it all together with new bushings. I used longer bolts and the cover plate to try and put it back together swapping the bolts for slightly shorter ones until I fitted it. I ended up bending the cover plate. Took it all apart and then used a dremel to clean the inside of the torsion tube to get a better fit.



The "How to do it" articles seem to skip over the nasty bits.

I'm not sure if I follow your advice. Are you saying use the chassis as a lever?

[boyt911sc]

Originally Posted by zl0ca

how did you get the little plate off the spring plate to get to the t-bar?

Drill a small hole at the center of the disc. It is not welded but forced fit. And pry it off. I used some JB weld to patch the hole after separating the TB from the spring plate. To separate the stuck torsion bar, DJDSC's technique works great!!!!! I've used this technique many times over the years with heat and penetrating oil. Find a suitable size two or three-arm gear puller and don't forget to remove the access cover for the torsion bar.

Tony

[john walker's workshop]

A while back I had to cut a t-bar in half with a disc cutter to get the spring plate out. I had a used pair, so no big loss.

[geoff_k]

No,

Do not chassis as a lever. It just took lots of back and forth pulling on the unit to remove it. A major job. Nearly gave up as thought there is no way it coming out. But it did. When you have it loose, there is insufficient room between end of Torsion bar and the body to remove the spring plate. However you can pull the body panel out a little to then remove the spring plate.

I also found heating is the way to go to loosen bolts etc. Tried the other methods but no luck.

[zl0ca]

Originally Posted by boyt911sc

Drill a small hole at the center of the disc. It is not welded but forced fit. And pry it off. I used some JB weld to patch the hole after separating the TB from the spring plate. To separate the stuck torsion bar, DJDSC's technique works great!!!!! I've used this technique many times over the years with heat and penetrating oil. Find a suitable size two or three-arm gear puller and don't forget to remove the access cover for the torsion bar.



Tony

This technique worked so well that I drilled a hole on the otherwise to avoid the possibility of a problem. I did ended up lowering I it and it settled too low. Attempt #3 to come


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[zl0ca]

After my final attempt I have it dialed in at 24.5.


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