That's the tie rod end. Thread the nut on upside down so you don't hurt the threads, and give it a couple whacks.

That's the tie rod end. Thread the nut on upside down so you don't hurt the threads, and give it a couple whacks.

Thanks I will give it a shot. Any advice for the bottom one though?

Take the nut off, and get a good angle with a big hammer, and give the control arm a good whack downwards.

Roger that. Thanks, I'll report back with how it goes.

Yeah.... So I was just being a panzy. Worked like a charm. Thanks for the tip!

sweet Brat man, very very nice work so far! and never worry too much about the old Joints, i just whack'em off as hard as I can. Bearings can be a Biatch in these oldies tho! good luck!

Well, I'm stuck at work, and I'm being told to "Wait for an hour", so I guess I'll take this as an opportunity to update this thread. I was hoping to have the wheel bearings all done before I posted, but I was just going to buy new ones and momma bear shut me down, so no new parts for me quite yet.

 

So anyway, the knuckle came off with bratmann's helpful insight of raw testicular fortitute. Thanks again for the tip.

 

 

 

 

Locked her up in a vice, grabbed my best drift and went to work.

 

 

 

 

 

So, the bearings looked fairly good. There wasn't an excess of rust on them, and no major chips that I could see. But after a thorough cleaning, they felt "grindy" when I spun them. I was going to feel better just putting a new set of bearings in, but as stated before, the wifey said "no" for now. We have a lot of bills, and spending money is just going to have to wait. So, with no bearings to reinstall (and a stuck axle nut on the other side...) I got bored and moved on to other things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heater core hoses were unsightly.... And very crumbly. Yanked em... Anyone know if people make kits for these? I ended up buying bulk hose and a few pre-made bends and was going to splice it together...

 

 

 

 

Also wanted to do something about my steering wheel being cracked. So I'm setting in to repairing and restoring it to it's former glory...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've got a few spots that I missed with the epoxy which are setting in now (I give it 24 hours to cure)... After I get it all completely sanded and smoothed out, I will prime and repaint it. Pretty excited to see how it turns out. I'll keep y'all posted.

I am also redoing the interior of my Brat right now.   All that rubber-ish black matt stuff that is glued to the floor was covering up rusted out floor panels.  The areas under and behind the seats were the worst.   I had to take a chisel and spend a few evenings scraping it off the floor so I could do some metal repair.  It wasn't until I had it all off that I could see the scale of the work that needed to be done. 

Brett, I'm pretty fortunate, all of my floors turned out to be solid. I did have one plug in the floor that was rotted out and I do have some surface rust around that area, but I can clean that up. The rest of my floor seems to be okay. It seems to be the ONE pleasant surprise I've had with this truck so far

 

I've been really busy with other worldly activities, so I've not really spent any time on this. I still need to order my wheel bearings, I'll probably do that today or tomorrow. Can't wait to have some free time to continue putting this back together.

How hard was the dash to remove... that is my next step.  

You have to pull the wheel first. Then its like 2 or 3 bolts. Take your time and disconnect the vent hoses, cluster, and other miscellaneous wiring. A second hand helps but i did it myself relatively easy.

Bearings Ordered

Looking good Sarge! Can't wait to see it at the In n Out when it's done.. If you ever need help, PM or email me and if I'm free... I would be glad to give a hand. I'm still keeping an eye out for the D/R for you.

 

Noel

 

Flat4

EA82LV

nice work your doing !.. I have 2 JDM steering wheel hubs with that same spline if you decided to change that wheel

My man sarge!! Can't wait to see her on the road again!

Oh damn. Mr. Jones in the house. How's the green machine coming?

Been stockpiling goodies for when I had a moment to actually install things.



And I made some fairly good progress this weekend. The driver's side is all reassembled and is sitting back on the tires again. I tried to break the axle nut on the passenger side but it's not budging. Rattle gun and a breaker bar with me (200lbs) jumping on it isn't working. Need to get a cheater pipe and try my balancing act again. But for now, pics of the progress..

Installing new CV boots on the axle. This was messy, but packing the bearings was way messier.











A little video showing the difference in bearings...

(coming)
And after they were packed and re-installed in the knuckle



New and old ball joints.





Rebuilt axle installed, new upper and lower brake lines, new tie rod end, new ball joint



And everything all back together with a new rotor, new pads, and new inner and outer bearing seals.

It looks like my passenger side front axle is a replacement axle... coincidence that it's also (so far) been impossible to break the axle nut on there?

 

Also still looking for any advice on those heater core hoses. I've made bulk hose work for the supply connection but the bends in the other two are too steep and it kinks the hoses. I've tried matching up in the parts stores, but there's no exact fits. Anyone have any luck with a kit or pre-bends of a specific type? Looks like I'll need at least one 90 for the return connection and like a 60 degree bend for that small jumper hose --- I would like to just braze the two lines together personally.

Edited December 29, 201411 yr by lvsarge

Try heating the nut?? You might have to cut through the nut "carefully". For the heater hose, try these industrial supply stores. They should be able to make the custome bends, if they don't have something in stock. It's worth a shot.

 

House of Hose

N.Las Vegas

702-399-1497

 

Henderson

702-565-1288

 

 

Hosepower

On Industrial

702-731-1100

Thanks man, I will give them a shout. I forgot about house of hose.

Np. I wish my Loyale was not a daily driver, so I could park it and fix her up... like ur Brat. I'm always chasing something...knock on wood. Snows coming to the valley, Should provide some good entertainment. Glad we have more superior rides than most. :-)

Edited December 29, 201411 yr by superpoo93

So I am stuck trying to remove the passenger side axle nut. I actually snapped my 2-foot breaker bar trying to get the proper leverage on it. I went and bought a 3/4 drive 40 inch bar to try again on. Can't wait to see this beast when it gets here.

heat her up till she's red got, let it cool for a little bit, then give it a few really good smacks with a 3 pound sledge hammer. let it cool, heat it up a little again, and break her loose! remember to use lots of PB Blaster!

Sarge, did you already try a impact wrench? If your new bar doesn't work... I can get ahold of a corded Dewat DW292 1/2 from work and bring it over, just let me know. Next Wed - through Sunday should be free for me.

I did try a pneumatic wrench at 150lbs... max my compressor goes, to no avail. I'm sure me jumping on the breaker bar was more torque than that, though. I'll let you know, I appreciate the offer. Just ordered the bar yesterday so will take some time to get here.