Torsion bar end bushings.

[Karl]

Iam

having a bear of time getting these off. Is there a youtube video somewhere that shows removal and install of torsion bar bushings?

 

[Camtron]

More heat and that whole end shaft with the bushing will come out with some persuasion; good slide hammer with a puller would be helpful.
Then you need to carefully cut/drill the spot welds on the bushing clamshells (I filled the drilled metal back in with a MIG welder afterwards), then you can separate and remove them from the shaft/bushing. The bushings will likely be pretty fused to the metal. So be ready to cut/burn the rubber off.
Once all that’s done, clean everything, paint, install bushings and shells, reassemble and put the bar back in the car.

 

[Aspen500]

I ended up taking mine to work and used the bench press to get them off. It's a 20 ton capacity and it struggled. Rust is a wonderful thing, NOT.

 

[Duke5A]

I was never able to remove those damn things whole. When I last rebuilt a front end on one of these cars you could get the Moog bushings with the shells still, so I didn't need the old pieces. To get them off I sliced down the side and split it open. Probably not what you want to do though.

 

[80mirada]

I used a very large bolt as a drift punch, soaked the hell out of it with penetration oil. Mounted it in a vise and beat the damn bar out of the bushing

 

[Aspen500]

IIRC, the inner sleeve stayed on the bar and had to slit it with a cut off wheel. Like Duke, I had the full bushing with shell. Fortunately, only had to do one bar. The other I got from the dealer. One of the last new bars available. Not cheap but saved at least half the grief, lol.

 

[Karl]

Thanks guys. After many hrs of cussing i finally gave in and cut the shells. The bushing assembly WILL NOT COME OFF! I tried drilling out the welds to no avail. no budge. So i used a sawzall and a grinder and got them split. It seems the clam shells on both the middle bushing and this bugger were welded somehow straight along the shell on the inner side, not just on the spot welds. Damb this was not easy.

Now do i just split the bushings like the mid bushings? I can then weld it back together after bolting it back to the control arm and binding the bushing.

 

[XfbodyX]

Not sure what you meant by the comment but what do you mean about welding it back together after bolting to control arm?

The job sucks for all of us. If you still could use specific pics I have them. But normally the whole T bar assembly should be complete prior to install. I just got mine tight, tacked then burned them good on the whole outter edge welded. AND the big end bushings were installed tight, even the nos bar assemblies I robbed some parts off took a press to do it and they never seen a day of service on a car.The shells are not welded from the inside they are welded like body panels are, hot from both sides. (From what I recall, could be wrong)

 

[Karl]

Mybe it was rust. But on the big end , the welds seem to be along the inside of the shells somehow. Just drilling out the spots did nothing. They had to be split down the sides. Seperating the shells. Shaving maybe an 8th inch off the bottom of both halves.

So to put them back together I now intend to vice grip the clams shells and bolt them. Then weld the drilled holes and tack along the edges. Then reinstall them. But to do that the bushes need split. Because the end just aint coming off of the bar.

 

[volare 1977]

Yes, Mine had rust. I had the soak them big time with penetrate. They were on there pretty solid. Finally got them off but not fun.

 

[Camtron]

50/50 mix of ATF and acetone, let the end soak in it. Will break all the rust up no problem.
Not sure which bushings you have but, I had talked to, Johnny Spiva at, Poly Bushing a while ago about splitting his poly bushings, he said that’s fine and wouldn’t be an issue. However, they’re incredibly hard and dense. Your not just going to slice through them with a razor blade. You have to boil the poly bushing and get it real soft, and have a real sharp, thin fillet knife that you may need to be whiling to heat up red hot to make a clean cut.
One of mine is cut, one of them is not. No issues either side. Just didn’t have the gas left in my tank to beat apart both sides.

 

[Karl]

So here is what i got. You can see how the shell was welded. There was a very solid weld that even looks like an arc weld. Splatter even.

Splitting these things is my only hope. I have a very thin scroll saw that i was going to use. Then i was going to boil them to soften them and clamp them in the shells.

 

[Karl]

Btw Johnny Spiva had these to me in 3 days. Now i also need to safe t cap the passenger side frame. Anyone have a source for that?

 

[Camtron]

Johnny is a good guy. That all sounds like a solid plan and progress.
The weld is a little curious. My shells had very distinct spot welds but no inner bead ran across like that. I had figured them to be spot welded on around the bushing assembly, judging by how fused the bushings were to the shells and shaft when I took mine apart. Now I wonder if some of the shells were welded together and then pressed on over the bushing/end shaft and then joined to the bar. Maybe just a difference in the bushing/bar end manufacturing lines over the years were they changed from spot welds to GMAW or vice versa.

 

[XfbodyX]

I just ground off the three lil welds on the end washer and put the bushing on and welded it back into place without cutting the bushing.

You might consider cleaning that inner surface more so it doesnt have texture to it since poly will eat itself with friction on a non smooth surface.

 

[XfbodyX]

That inner weld is odd but understandable.

Two spot welds on oem/nos and three on aftermarket.

Camtron, you mentioned things seemed like they were fused and that pretty spot on. Just like in the op-s pic of the shaft with the left over rubber. Ask ourselves why some go bad and how they go bad? Even today most rubber/metal bushings are hot formed until they rip, tear or with many of ours the rubber just breaks down.

 

[XfbodyX]

Last one from me, but id bet if one was committed, the china man would make a run of these. I have one of the org. blueprints on these with all the specs. You can also find the specs through old patent searches but not as fully details as the print. And looking at this link, with a print im sure chinaman would have zero issues to make a good repop. But how many units would it take?

Rubber To Metal Bonding Suspension Bush - Buy Rubber To Metal Bonding Bush,Rubber To Metal Bush,Suspension Bush Product on Alibaba.com

Hope your reassembly goes easy Karl, your past the most crazy part.

 

[Karl]

Now this what am stuck with. The first one (drivers side) looks as if it was submerged in a creek for a few years. Badly rusted and stuck to the bar. The pass side is newer looking and may have come off if i had gone that route.

What would you fellas do? I am leaning toward looking for a donor.

 

[Karl]

Drivers on right. Dont think i am dealing with like parts. They are not the same.

 

[volare 1977]

One looks pretty bad. I have thrown much better away. Not even thinking I should of kept them. I thought about cutting off the welded end washers and rewelding but it may be tough to keep the new bushing from melting/burning.