Spring plates from hell

[pete3799]

I’ve put this off long enough. The dreaded spring plate rebush.
After reading all the threads here on this procedure I have not been looking forward to this.
My reluctance has not been unfounded. These things are a royal PIA.
Bentley says gently pry the spring plate off…..yeah right!

I had to use a puller and heat …..lots and lots of heat. I first tried my 2 jaw puller but it kept cocking over to the side so I went with the 3 jaw ( doesn’t fit great but it pulls straighter) so after tightening the puller all I could and getting things cherry red with the torch I finally hear a screeching and the spring plate and TB begin to separate.
It moved maybe a millimeter. I get about a quarter of a turn on the puller -heat-screech-tighten-heat-screech-tighten…..
This thing put up a hell of a fight right down to the last millimeter.

Some folks said they were lucky and one side was easier then the other……WRONG!
Same thing on the other side. Any way their off. The only good thing about this is the bushings fall right off after the flame thrower technique.
It would be nice to pull the TB’s out and clean and grease them, but after that fight I’m not sure I want to try. The torsion tubes are pretty rusty though so I may have to pull them in order to clean and repair the tube.

Now a couple of questions. Are these spring plates safe to reuse after being barbequed ?
After wire brushing and lubing they will go back on, although not easily.
Are the end caps available? Can’t seem to find them from our host. I’ve got a lathe so I can make some if need be.
One other thing. Anybody know of a good alignment shop in VT.,N.H. area?

[JeremyD]

Post pictures 0 may just be better to find a decent set of used ones - I'd be more concerned about the rust on the inside of the tube. Check that out thoroughly!