Honda Car Forum

On Tue, 09 May 2006 16:24:26 GMT, "Elle"
<honda.lioness@spamno.earthlink.net> wrote:

>I have successfully removed the larger bushing in a front
>lower control arm for a 91 Civic. The final methodology is
>not that labor intensive at all.
>Here is an outline of the steps for removing the bushings:
>
>1. With the control arm in a vise, //drill// holes in the
>rubber bushing all around the circumference. Use three
>different size drill bits, smaller to larger. Use cutting
>oil. The rubber drills much easier than steel, though.
>
>2. //Press// out the core (= most of the rubber and the
>inner-most metal sleeve) using the method described at
>http://www.maxcooper.com/rx7/how-to/...lls/index.html
>
>3. //Saw// the outer sleeve using an ordinary hack saw,
>making two cuts about 1/4-inch apart. Be careful not to go
>all the way through the sleeve into the control arm metal. A
>new blade is desirable, though I used a beat up old blade
>and it didn't take long. Use cutting oil.
>
>4. //Tap// the 1/4-inch section out using a chisel or really
>any old beat up screwdriver and a low-weight hammer. It
>comes out pretty easily. A pair of pliers may come in handy
>to twist out where you didn't completely saw through. You
>can now push the remainder of the outer sleeve out by
>tapping around its circumference. Or it literally peels out
>with light tapping.
>
>Applying PB Blaster to the outer sleeve area a day or two
>before this, as I did, couldn't hurt.
>
>I am not nearly, physically as wiped out as I was after
>using my coil spring compressor to replace the springs on my
>front suspension. The worst part has been driving around
>finding the right sockets for step 2. I got flustered with
>the outer metal sleeve and how that figured into this.
>
>Much of the above comes from Ned Buckmaster, who posted in
>1999 on this subject at rec.autos.makers.honda . Ned
>actually said one could twist out the core part (step 2).
>But I had my sockets already (some used, so I couldn't
>return them). Alternatively, plenty of folks in the
>rec.autos.tech and other auto archives said one could
>propane torch out the core. Someone also noted that an EZ
>saw (one of those little portable hand-held electric
>jigsaws) worked, too.
>
>It's possible that Max Cooper's little
>sockets-bolt-nut-washers home-made press might work with
>near perfectly-sized sockets and a little heat, like Curly
>suggested.
>
>My local junkyard had a bent-up old control arm that the
>owner sold me for around $10 (more parts were part of the
>deal, so that's just an approximation). I told the guy what
>I was doing and he got a kick out of it. Then we proceeded
>to haggle the heck out of this, as is now our custom. I
>asked how much he was charging me today for the
>"entertainment" of his wild reasoning for the price being
>such-and-such, and he laughed. I wanted it; he had it. Fair
>trade.
>
>Contrast this with the yahoo at another yard who said I'd
>never get the bushings out: 'Ya need a 50-ton press.' I
>smiled and said, "Perhaps... " ;-)
>
>I also picked up one old pulley bolt washer and several
>thick, Grade 8-looking suspension washers lying around the
>yard. These washers seemed to be much better for this
>project than what Max used. This includes the false starts
>where I didn't have things set up right and applied way more
>force than necessary for what I was actually trying to
>achieve. I bent one suspension washer a bit, but the pulley
>bolt washer was tough and is now looking no worse for the
>wear.
>
>I've started some photos and hopefully will put this up at
>my web site soon.
>
>Onto seeing if I can get the inboard lower control arm bolts
>fully out.
>
>My ball joint separator arrives Thursday. Super fast
>shipping from that Ebay seller, JTC auto tools, whom Ryan
>cited earlier in a link.
>
>I will order new bushings from Kingmotorsports.com soon.
>Then, possibly using Grumpy's tip about heating the arm and
>Tegger's tip about cooling the bushings, onto full
>replacement of the front lower control arm bushings.
>


why is that such a fiasco. the press right out with an arbor press!!
Chip

"Elle" <honda.lioness@spamno.earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:%0c8g.666$x4.430@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink .net...
> "Elle" <honda.lioness@spamno.earthlink.net> wrote
>> I've started some photos and hopefully will put this up at my web site
>> soon.
>
> http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id15.html
>
Thanks for the link, Elle... I've bookmarked it in hopes I'll never need it
;-} I watched a neighbor remove a bushing with an air chisel (using a blunt
chisel as a hammer) after I failed to budge it with a Snap-on U-joint press,
so I'm hoping that would work. Your procedure looks more labor intensive but
more certain.

I understand how exhausting jobs like that are. I salute your persistence!

Mike

"Michael Pardee" <michaeltnull@cybertrails.com> wrote
> "Elle" <honda.lioness@spamno.earthlink.net> wrote
>> "Elle" <honda.lioness@spamno.earthlink.net> wrote
>>> I've started some photos and hopefully will put this up
>>> at my web site soon.
>>
>> http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id15.html
>>
> Thanks for the link, Elle... I've bookmarked it in hopes
> I'll never need it ;-} I watched a neighbor remove a
> bushing with an air chisel (using a blunt chisel as a
> hammer) after I failed to budge it with a Snap-on U-joint
> press, so I'm hoping that would work. Your procedure looks
> more labor intensive but more certain.

At least one person posted in one of the auto newsgroups
about how he used an air chisel to chase the bushing out.

I don't know. Clamping the control arm into a vise tight
enough to take the blows of an air chisel, and then not
damaging the control arm itself, looks tricky and, uh, not
as safe, as my approach. He-men maybe will be fine with it.
I don't qualify.

> I understand how exhausting jobs like that are. I salute
> your persistence!

Once I had the methodology down, it really wasn't bad at
all. I traded muscle for time but, as you suggest, in a
predictable way. Plus, one knows just about exactly where
one is during each step, as far as actually getting the
bushing out. Not so with an air hammer.

I will say that the cost of the sockets can easily exceed
the cost of a propane torch. That 1 3/4-inch socket I used
should cost upwards of $20 at Sears, IIRC. I got mine at a
pawn shop for $8.

OTOH, I think it's a lot less expensive (dollars wise and
quite possibly time-wise) than paying a shop to press out
the bushings.

Whether one can press the bushings back in without a torch
or serious press remains open to conjecture.

"chip" <hs4797@brevard.net> wrote
> why is that such a fiasco. the press right out with an
> arbor press!!

Folks in the auto newsgroup archives say a 2-ton arbor press
simply isn't enough. Lotta reports of having to do serious,
large hammer pounding, unless the shop press is at least
12-ton.

The vibration will often do what a press can't. I have also used them to
remove wheel bearings that are pressed in; and often if the race is stuck on
a shaft, catch the edge with a chisel and walk it off. Often times the part
will come apart in 1/4 the time with a air hammer
>

A air chisel/hammer is a great tool; I used one last week to get an axle out
of a transmission. the right front axle seal was leaking (Suzuki Grand
Vitara); and the other tech ordered a new transfer case; He went to a class
and handed the job over to me. The new axle and front diff assembly came in
but not the rest of the case, so I told the boss let me try something. With
the Air Hammer and several pry bars we slowly got the axle. The snap ring
had expanded out causing the stuck axle, and 1/2 of it was still missing. I
took the diff out and searched it until I found the missing piece and
reassembled it using only the new axle and seal; saved the customer 900-1500
dollars. Felt good that day.



--
Stephen W. Hansen
ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician
ASE Automobile Advanced Engine Performance
ASE Undercar Specialist

http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troub...l_obd_main.htm
http://www.troublecodes.net/technical/

> At least one person posted in one of the auto newsgroups about how he used
> an air chisel to chase the bushing out.
>
>

"Elle" <honda.lioness@spamno.earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:Tsl8g.2351$u4.1989@newsread1.news.pas.earthli nk.net...
>
> "Michael Pardee" <michaeltnull@cybertrails.com> wrote
>> "Elle" <honda.lioness@spamno.earthlink.net> wrote
>>> "Elle" <honda.lioness@spamno.earthlink.net> wrote
>>>> I've started some photos and hopefully will put this up at my web site
>>>> soon.
>>>
>>> http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id15.html
>>>
>> Thanks for the link, Elle... I've bookmarked it in hopes I'll never need
>> it ;-} I watched a neighbor remove a bushing with an air chisel (using a
>> blunt chisel as a hammer) after I failed to budge it with a Snap-on
>> U-joint press, so I'm hoping that would work. Your procedure looks more
>> labor intensive but more certain.
>
> At least one person posted in one of the auto newsgroups about how he used
> an air chisel to chase the bushing out.
>
> I don't know. Clamping the control arm into a vise tight enough to take
> the blows of an air chisel, and then not damaging the control arm itself,
> looks tricky and, uh, not as safe, as my approach. He-men maybe will be
> fine with it. I don't qualify.
>

It surprised me that he held the work in his left hand while using the air
chisel in his right hand. I would have thought he would want to support the
work on a bench, but no. But then, he was a "he-man" and I don't qualify
either!

When I use the air chisel I have some trouble getting it to stay put. It
loves to walk once it starts chattering.

Mike