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Kingpin removal-am I missing something?


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Howdy!

I am feeling stuck here on my c-series and could use some help. I have my axle stripped and I am having trouble getting the kingpins out. 

I got the fat short bolts out of the side- these seem like the only retainer for the actual pin? The dust covers which are like steel freeze plugs don't want to move. I got one out using a drill and a punch but it took a lot of doing. 

And now that I can see the bottom of one kingpin I can't get it to move on my little 12ton press. 

Am I missing something? I don't want to get frustrated and ruin my axle or knuckles.

Thanks for all the support here!

 

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And here's the bolt hole from where I unscrewed what I assume is the retaining pin.

It's crusty but rhe knuckles will fit in my blast cabinet and the axle will get cleaned and painted before re-assembly

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Edited by Radarsonwheels
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I had an axle that no matter how much I wailed on with lots of heat and penetrating oil and soaked for days, the pins would not move.  I didn't have a press back then, but I doubt it would have worked anyway....sometimes they just seize solid in there.  Soak the pin as much as you can and try a little heat and then the press...try and break that rust bond

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I would contact Nostalgia Sid's in Guthrie, OK. (405) 416-3080.  I dropped off my axle with spindles still attached, and a new king pin set and $480 later it is painted and ready to pickup.  The $480 included a 3" drop in the axle and the king pin setup reamed and installed.

It is easier to save money somewhere else, I think.

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I would agree with Lonejacklarry... That will get you down, cleaned and painted and kingpins installed.

Secondly, once you do manage to get those out, do you have the ream to size the bushings before it goes back together? Its not just press in the new bushings and king pins and go.

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That's funny I dropped it off there around noon today! Do I know you? Philly is a really small place for a musician or a hotrodder. I'm more surprised when people I know DON'T all know each other!

Speed equipment/napa polished a couple thou out of a stroker crank and decked a 360 block for me a couple years ago. It wasn't cheap but it was good work. I was glad they took the axle I feel like it will be done right. They quoted $80ish a side to press out the old junk, re-bush and hone. If they hit me with a hot tank fee I will be glad to pay it too- I scraped a few decades of grime off and it was still kinda filthy!

I have seen a guy with a poly 318 truck around philly and another guy with a chopped B series running a bowtie but that's it for 50s dodges I've seen around.

Edited by Radarsonwheels
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8 hours ago, pflaming said:

$160 for a perfect steering foundation in my opinion is an investment, not an expense. You may pay more than that for a pair of tires and they wear out. 

Most definitely! Don't get me wrong though I am usually the guy that buys the tools to do it right myself. I was never planning to bugger it with a brake hone or a drill motor and sandpaper or something.

They said two or three days on monday and no word yet- hopefully they got behind on race prepping other customer's chevy smallblocks and it's not taking longer because they needed to outsource a 400 million ton press to crack the old pins out!

I'm pretty confident it'll need a decently big press and a torch too, and setup is kinda awkward. That's why they make the big bux!

In other news here's the springs ready to go back in:

 

 

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9 hours ago, Radarsonwheels said:

 

They said two or three days on monday and no word yet- hopefully they got behind on race prepping other customer's chevy smallblocks.....

It has been my experience over about 40 years that the rule of thumb for turn around time at a machine shop is 4 or 5 times longer than the original estimate.  I don't know why but that is how they operate.  I used to get excited but do not anymore.  

By the way, never (and I do mean never) tell anyone in the automotive industry that you are not in a hurry.  Worse yet is to tell them that they should get it done when they get time.

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When I did my '52, I tackled the drivers side first and it came apart fairly easy so, I took my time and did a lot of cleaning and other stuff and took my time putting it back together. Then I started on the right side and it all went south. I did everything I could think of, heat, beat, heat, repeat, penetrating oil, more heat and beat, and, if my failing memory servers me right, I ended up using a rivet gun to drive that s.o.b. out. Worked late that day and that's for sure.

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13 hours ago, lonejacklarry said:

It has been my experience over about 40 years that the rule of thumb for turn around time at a machine shop is 4 or 5 times longer than the original estimate.  I don't know why but that is how they operate.  I used to get excited but do not anymore.  

By the way, never (and I do mean never) tell anyone in the automotive industry that you are not in a hurry.  Worse yet is to tell them that they should get it done when they get time.

Yep! I called today and they said the guy that estimated a few days thought I had brought spindles, not the whole axle, and that the pins are stuck good. He said they are currently heating and soaking them and probably some time next week I should expect a call. 

I kind of thought they'd have a properly tooled up 50 ton press with nice adjustable holding fixtures for the other side (or an apprentice) and a rosebud tip on the Ox/A, or some kind of optimal setup.

So following your math in 4-5 weeks I should be good! Plenty of time to have everything ready to bolt back up.

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13 hours ago, Radarsonwheels said:

 So following your math in 4-5 weeks I should be good! Plenty of time to have everything ready to bolt back up.

That's the way to think, all right.  It is a lot like the old farmers hanging around the cafe where I live.  Always complaining that there is hay to cut or hay to rake or hay to bail or fence to mend or clutches to be put in tractors, etc.  I, many times, have wanted to jump up and point out that if they were not loafing and drinking coffee then maybe they could have gotten some stuff done.  

I was raised on asphalt and not bean fields so I think of stuff differently.

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From personal experience, these farmers may be complaining a little bit about all of the work they have to do cuz they have to work purt'near every day, year-round...they're loafing around cuz they are taking a break from another 16 hr day or waiting on parts while in the middle of harvesting and can't start anything else...and they don't get overtime, and some years they don't break even so finances get tight...or they are whiny crybabies that would rather commiserate than persevere... I've seen both kinds, cuz not all farmers are saints...

As for having work done by professionals, that is totally true to give them a deadline or follow-up within reason...otherwise, your work will sit there while somebody else's work gets done cuz they will be cracking the whip...I once had a scheduled 3 day turnaround at a body shop for an insurance claim turn into a month long ordeal...that's when I learned to make follow-up calls to check on job status, cuz I did not have a rental car and became an involuntary pedestrian in a town without sidewalks during the hottest month of the year :rolleyes:

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On 7/21/2017 at 9:24 AM, lonejacklarry said:

It has been my experience over about 40 years that the rule of thumb for turn around time at a machine shop is 4 or 5 times longer than the original estimate.  I don't know why but that is how they operate.  I used to get excited but do not anymore.  

By the way, never (and I do mean never) tell anyone in the automotive industry that you are not in a hurry.  Worse yet is to tell them that they should get it done when they get time.

Unless you barely have enough for the 50% down and are planning to save the other 50% for the engine while they take their time. In my case that meant my engine was completely done in 12 days. 

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