Getting started on removal of a rear strut and hit a problem. The two spindle lock nuts are off without issue. The nut on the spindle lock bolt is off but the lock bolt itself will not come out. It appears to be a press fit into the spindle housing. I've sprayed some rust eater and given it a few healthy taps with a hammer (the nut is on the threads), no joy. Any insight and recommendations?

Thanks

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Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class

That's about how to do it... just keep soaking it and a-whackin'.

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-Chris

don't bother with the pin, take the whole assembly off the car. the lower control and strut assembly can come off as a unit very easily and then you can also put your control arm bushings in at the same time. there is a special tool nissan had to remove those pins, but all the same the job is a bear. mike

spindle pin removal is a rite of passage for a z mechanic. They are very very tough to get out. Soak the whole thing with PB blaster overnight. Remove the nuts on the ends, and get a few big washers....the thicker the better, and put them on the back end of the spindle pin with one of the nuts.Tighten the nut and torque hard on it until the spindle pin breaks loose. Use an impact wrench if you have one, and/or whack the other end of the spindle pin (protect the threads with a loose nut) while you torque on it, until you can at least budge the thing. Then use a slide hammer with a pulling claw attachment (available as a free loaner tool from Autozone)on the thick washers and start pulling it out. If you can only get it out a little bit, take the slide hammer off and use your wrench (again, an impact wrench if you have one) to spin the pin some more.Then go back to using the puller. Be prepared to work at it for a while. It may also help to heat the whole assembly with a torch and add more PB Blaster as it cools. And make sure that the car is on VERY secure jackstands, cuz you will be crankin on it hard.And as for those wedge/lock nuts, you have it right...protect the thread with a nut and beat them, but be prepared to beat them so hard that they will not be reusable.

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71 on a rotisserie, two more in pieces in my shed...and a 69 1600 waiting for me to get to it

Guess I should mention I have a spindle pin puller tool...

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-Chris

well, once that breaks, you can use my method.....

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71 on a rotisserie, two more in pieces in my shed...and a 69 1600 waiting for me to get to it

Many thanks to all. It is great to have so many "been there, done that" folks around when you really need them. I think I will adopt a hybrid approach: remove the strut and lower control arm as an assembly as suggested by Mike, then work to seperate the two pieces: apply heat, apply pressure, apply curses. Separation is important as I intend to refurb all parts as with the front suspension.

I will give it a try to get the lock bolt out but will have a plan B ready: run up to Courtesy and plead my case to my long-time service writer / ex-SCCA racer buddy to get the service dept to do the heavy lifting. It will be worth a few bucks. Will have to go up there anyway to get new bolts.

Thanks again for all the input!!!

Jim

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Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class

Gee, I like the sound of that plan better. That way, if anything breaks, someone ELSE gets to pay for it.

Had to laugh at Mark C's last comment - - - yes, I too have a broken spindle pin removal tool

I agree - take the entire assembly to a machine shop, if your dealer won't help - and have the spindle pins pressed out. For a day or two before - soak them down with Kroil Oil. Use it on the lock pins as well..

I think I've said this before - but - If you are going to work on your Z - the first thing to do is go to Kano Lab's on-line and order a supply of Kroil penetrating oil. Get two or five can's of the "Aero Kroil" {spray cans} and order a gallon in liquid form to keep in a pump type oil can on your work bench. {might as well order enough right up front, to save on shipping more later }.

Yes - it's relatively expensive, but worth every penny.
Yes - it's a pain in the neck to have to order it and wait - but well worth the wait.

http://www.kanolabs.com/

I've used it now for years - and NOTHING comes even close. It will loosen rusted and frozen nuts/bolts and pins that PB-Blaster won't touch.

Use Kroil - and get in the habit of using it FIRST - before you try to break nuts/bolts loose - don't wait until you have rounded the nuts off or twisted the bolts/studs off. Use it FIRST on any torqued fasteners, not just rusted one's.

If you get Kroil and get in the habit of using it before you start disassembly of anything - you will avoid an untold number of busted knuckles, broken bolts/studs and frustrating rounded nuts..

Kroil Penetrating Oil will do all the above - it won't eat your skin and it smells good while doing it. It will be one of the best things you have added to your garage...

FWIW,
Carl B.

A friend of mine told me of a tip he read about in GRM. According to them, a 1:1 mixture of acetone and Dexron Mercon is the best thing for removing rusted bolts. They did a test and here are the results he sent me

Independent testing of penetrating oils using a single steel bar with 1/2”x20 nuts torqued to 50 ft/lbs and treated with a 10% salt water solution that was allowed to rust. Listed are the chemicals and required removal torque.

-None ………………… 516 pounds

-WD-40 ……………… 238 pounds

-PB Blaster …………. 214 pounds

-Liquid Wrench ….. 127 pounds

-Kano Kroil ………… 106 pounds

-ATF-Acetone mix….53 pounds

I have yet to try this out myself, but if anyone has these two ingredients lying around, it probably won't hurt to give it a whirl.

OK, back on topic. Got the suspension out this morning, took about two hours. This was a first time effort, not as intimidating as I had feared. The four transverse link inner bolts were really tight so I used gravity to break them loose: I put a SAE 15/16" socket on a 14" breakover bar (do not have a large metric socket for that bolt), applied very slow pressure to the bar with a floor jack and they quickly broke loose. Here are the large components with all the loose bits so far bagged and tagged.



Unless you do this stuff all the time and can instantly and reliably identify the many small parts on a car, bagging and tagging your small items as they come off the car is a must process. I started this refurb well over 10 years ago, fully expecting to stay with it until finished. That lasted for about one year. I had the lucky foresight to bag and tag everything that came off at that time. Life threw me a few curves along the way and I did not get back to the car until I retired 18 months ago - a gap of almost 9 years. Sure glad I did not rely on memory to recall all the pieces stored for so many years. Heck, everyone knows the mind is the second thing to go.

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Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class

Bagging and tagging are a MUST when disassembling a car for eventual reassembly. Even parts and hardware that will need to be replaced due to damage must be identified, makes replacing them later much easier.

I used ziplock bags for the smaller parts and marked the bag with an indelible Sharpie marker. For larger items I used tags with beefy string or twist ties.

Amazing how much space all of those parts off of such a little car take up, isn't it????

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John Taddonio
1970 240Z
1977 530Z
1984 300ZXT
zcarnut@hotmail.com
FB: Zccr zcarclubofrochester

My small parts don't take up much room at all. I just throw em all in spackle buckets. When it comes time to put the car back together, I buy a super-rusted parts car and just look at it to help me figure out how to put the good pieces back together. Right now I'm looking for a Datsun 1600 Roadster so I can put mine back together.

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71 on a rotisserie, two more in pieces in my shed...and a 69 1600 waiting for me to get to it