thaks for the reply Cheleker. That's what I wanted to know whether the nut was welded into the inside of the tower, but it is not. It is just rusted. Let's hope that once the old cone is out there is more space to manouver and get the nut out. In the meantime, lots of oil has been applied to that area.   Being a 1978, my car has the single stud.

thanks,

Abel

Not sure what you mean. The bump stop has a stud coming out of it that fits upwards through a hole in the subframe. A washer and nut inside the tower fix the bump stop to the subframe (for dry cars). It is a small nut and quite easily rusts in place. You may have to break it off, or work from the outside to cut away the stud from the bump stop.

Make sure you get the correct bump stop (there are one- and two-stud versions) and put the new bumpstop in place before reassembling the suspension.

another question, I also need to replace the bump stop. Is the nut inside the tower bolted to it by any chance? it is a very tight spot inside the tower and I am afraid that it is rusted inside,

thanks,

Abel

Yes, you can cut the rear threads off and lever the arm out.

Your comment, ("The pin is behaving like the bearings have dug into the pin and are preventing it from sliding forward.") can happen.

Thanks.  I've got a couple of things I want to try before we start cutting.  I intend to do everything we can to get this pin out without damaging the subframe or arm.

yes thrust washers are hardened , best is saw what you can  remove the two screws and plate  and if you have to cut both sides inside the  washer  it should come out.   rather  then  have to bend the  tower   a new one is a better option ,they are easy to find and cheap   cut out  more,  arealy good tri metal blade    and shots of  wd40   will keep the  saw going.

The odd thing with the pin on Abel's car is that you can spin it all the way around freely.  The needle bearings are not seized as such.  The pin is behaving like the bearings have dug into the pin and are preventing it from sliding forward.

I have made some inquires on other boards and most say cut the shaft, lever the arm out and deal with the damage as neccessary.  I am not looking forward to this.  

If we cut the threads off the rear of the pin can we lever the arm/pin out and straighten the subframe tower if it bends?  If that's not a good idea, do we somehow split the thrust washers to gain access to the pin so we can cut it?  I assume the top arm thrust washers are hardened just like on the rear radius arms.

I've had to use the cut-the-shaft method more than once. When the arms were finally out it didn't matter that I cut the shafts. They were well beyond reusing anyway. One was so bad it had "become one with the upper arm" and the arm had to be replaced, too. All for the want of a little grease now and then.

that's one solution we are contemplating, cutting the pin. Let's hope there is some other way!

Mine was so rusted from water damage that I had to use a sawz-all to cut through the pivot pin (where the right-hand rubber seal is in your picture).  It was not pretty but it did allow me to get the old arm off.  After seeing what it looked like after I cut it off, there was no chance I could have removed it the traditional way.

do you mean these bolts on the picture? one on each side of the arm? We removed them and even took off the plate but the pin is still stuck

Remove the 2 quarter inch bolts that hold the plate on the front, then push the pin forward so that the thrust bearing comes free, then even the most packed up roller bearing mess will come out. You can sneak the arm out without having the pin all of the way forward, you only need enough to get the pin forward past the rear hole in the subframe.

Removed the nipple and did it, but what comes out of it is all rust. I will continue doing that,

thanks,

Abel

use the greasing nipple and spray lots and lots of wd40 while turning the rod.

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Hello,

while trying to replace the front suspension strusts for adjustable ones, we run into a problem that I hope some of you can shed some light to.

We need to remove the upper suspension arm to get the cone out, but the rod that goes from side to side is not coming out. It just spins on itself on both ends but does not move. Judjing by how much water damage we saw in the old strut, and the fact that the grease nipple was completely clogged, we are inclined to thinlk that it might be rusted inside and the needle bearings in pretty bad shape. We managed to get the strut out using a pry bar and thanks to the fact the rebound rubber stop was completely gone.

So, my question to you is, what can we do to remove the upper arm? is there any other way around it? heat?

thanks for your help,

Abel