Help! This is on my '57 Chevy. I think I know where I'm going with this, which is to get a propane torch and start heating the shackle until I burn the bushings out, but... I'm trying to get the bushings out of the upper rear leaf spring shackle mount. This is the mount that's riveted to the frame. The bushings are rotten and stuck to the mount. There's no room under there - without removing the spare tire well and probably the gas tank - on either side to really get into the mounts with anything like a drill or a screwdriver and they're not going to tap out anyway. I've been digging out what I can get to with a screwdriver, but I'm only able to get about a 1/4" to a 1/2" in on either side. I can get a screwdriver all the way through the bushing, but it does no good because they're so glued in there. So I'm thinking if I cook them, they'll get more brittle, maybe even loosen up and I can probably scrape them out, but I wanted to check to see if there was any other way before I did that.
Yeah, I was going to take that out. It's probably far enough away on the passenger side, but on the driver's side, there's the filler tube, so I'm going to have to take that out and then I might as well take the tank out too. Besides that, one of the tank straps is broken and I've got new ones to replace it so... And I'll probably end up taking the spare tire well out too. I've got 2 good fire extinguishers out there, so I'm not worried about that. Anyone have any other ideas before I start cooking?
Won't you still have an outer bushing shell to deal with after burning them out? That's the rub with burning most bushings. I'd probably look harder at removing the frame brackets with a grinder, pressing the bushings, and bolting them back on.
Grind a bolt head to the inside diameter of the shackle or use a thinner bolt and a washer the correct size. Run the bolt thru the shackle, then thru a larger deepwell socket and add a nut. Tighten the nut driving hte head/washer thru the shackle to drive the bushing out and into the deepwell socket. I went to 6 different machine shops here in St. Louis to get the shackle bushings out of my '48 Front bones before I remembered this trick. They could not press the bushing out due to the length of the bones and the size of their presses.
it's just a rubber shackle bushing, in two halves, no metal sleeve. Should come out with a screwdriver and a lot of patience...
If there is enought room try a 2 jaw or 3 jaw puller and push them through. It's worked for me in the past. I'm nott real familiar with 55 chevies. If there is a head on the bushing you will need to cut it off so the remainder can pass through the hole. Good luck.
Thanks for the ideas, guys. Good news, the driver's side bushings are out, no fire involved. I took the gas tank out which gave me access to the inside bushing. There's no way to get to the outside one unless you happen to have your 1/4 panel removed. I put a screwdriver in on the outside of the inner bushing, tapped it through until it came out the outside of the mount (on the 1/4 panel side), and then pulled the screwdriver around, separating the rust/rubber from the mount. I did that at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock. Eventually, the outside bushing pushed out. Then I had to push the inside bushing out the outside hole - you can only go one way with the 1/4 panel there. So you're working from the center of the car out. Now, for the passenger side, there's no way to get them out without taking the spare tire well out. It's just not possible. You can't get a screwdriver in there on the outside because of the 1/4 panel and you can't get on the inside because of the spare tire well. So it's got to come out. So that's what I'm going to do after I take a little break. I'd already cleaned the sealer off the top of the well inside the trunk the other day when I thought it was going to have to come out to get the inside shackle off. So it's clean, you can see all the spot welds and I'm going to try to get it out as nicely as possible. Whether I'm reinstalling it or not is up in the air, but I still want to get it out in nice shape.
Since it has no metal casing, I'd try warming the housing enough for the rubber to melt the rubber to housing joint a little so that it could be pushed out without having to get it hot enough to actually catch fire.
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