Journal: Mike Ruane's Journal

So a few weeks ago when under the driver-side wheels I noticed that the wishbone arms had grooves where the lower trunnion pin went through them. Knowing that these should in fact be holes, I ordered replacement arms from Moss, a poly bushing kit from Energy Suspension, and started spraying PB Blaster onto the nuts and bolts in preparation.

On a Monday night I jacked up the front and put Miss K on Jack stands. I lowered the spring pan and removed the coil. The front arm came off well enough, but I saw that the lower trunnion bolt was worn through more than half- and I hadn't bought the replacement kit. When trying to remove the rear arm, that end of the bolt was worn through as well and sheared as soon as I put a wrench on it. The battle then began.

I could not remove the sheared trunnion pin nor the distance tube from the kingpin. I tried drilling it out, and just wasted and dulled many drill bits. Heat and PB Blaster did no good either. After three nights of trying to get this loose, I ended going to my local Harbor Freight store, and bought a hydraulic press for $60.00. Twelve tons of pressure, heat, and PB Blaster finally popped it out. I had driven over to Moss (about 45 minutes away) and purchased replacement trunnion bolt kits and fulcrum pins (just in case, and had painted the existing parts while they were off the car, so the whole batch reassembled in about an hour. I also replaced the steering rack boot, as it was shredded.

What a difference! Once I fix the passenger side, I'll get the car's alignment fixed.

I also bought a Wind Blocker from Tim Nagy at MorSpeed performance- what a difference it makes! Much reduced wind buffetting in the cockpit.

New horns and alternator in the near future- watch this space.