engine and drivetrain Bumper And Ball Joint Help

[scoopyg]

Hello all,

 

  I need some help with my 75 '02.  (I have tried to search topics related to my questions, but it seems I never search the right thing, and this site doesn't seem to know what I'm thinking).

 

BUMPER:  I want to bring in the battering ram on my '75.  How do you extract the cylinder that the bumper is attached to?  Is it the large nut on the frame rail just inside the engine compartment?  Next question:  is there any magic number for bringing the bumper in?  I was figuring 2.5", which, at the center of the bumper, would put the bumper 3/4" from the kidney. And, it seems that the ribs on the accordions are 2.5" o/c, so it seemed an ideal number when it was time to shorten the accordions.

 

BALL JOINTS: The castellated nut is frozen solid, and after a weekend of soaking it in loose-juice, it ain't gonna budge.  So, how to get the ball joint stud out of the cup?  Next, any special advice as to drilling out the rivets holding the ball joint in place?   Finally, where do I buy new ball joints?

 

  I ask these questions in all sincerity and I appreciate any positive and constructive advice you may be able to offer.     Rich in OH

Edited October 13, 2014 by scoopyg

[esty]

front bumper...2 or 3 large bolts going thru the shock from the engine bay...you'll have to remove the battery to see the one on the drivers side...but if all you want to do is compress the bumper closer to the body, you can do that without removing the bumpers...get under the car and drill a hole thru each shock to let the fluid out then push the bumpers in and lock them in place with a bolt thru the shock...take care drilling the shocks, they are under a lot of pressure and the fluid will shoot you in the face if you aren't careful....

 

hard to compress, find a good tree to drive into or back into.....slowly

 

we wrapped a rag around the shocksand slid a box over them before drilling to avoid the aromatic fluid that spews out

[scoopyg]

Thanks esty.....interesting......I thought I'd seen a link where somebody cut down one of the pipes in the shock assembly.  So, what if I used a small bit to drill a small hole, and allowed the fluid to drain out slowly?   Then, with the fluid out of the bumper shock, shouldn't the thing compress pretty easily?  I mean, after the initial burst of fluid, I could enlarge the hole to further relieve the pressure, so compression should be easy, like a blown shock, right?  Just askin'

[skipsfcr]

If the ball joint nut is turning the entire stud, the ball of the joint needs to bind, either by putting weight back on the front of the car or by squeezing the ball joint toward the knuckle with big Channel lock pliers. Drilling the rivets is a bitch too. I usually pop the heads off using an air hammer with a chisel bit. Second to that, I'd probably try to grind them off with an angle grinder or die grinder.

Oh yeah...cut off wheel or Sawzall is a much quicker way, typically, than drilling to relieve the gas / fluid charge in the bumper shocks. As soon as you barely get through they begin to spew. Done.

Edited October 13, 2014 by skipsfcr

[scoopyg]

Thanks Skip.  The castellated nut is rusted frozen shut, and I assume the stud is  frozen solid  to the cup.  Sounds like I should just chisel the nut apart then soak the stud before I get the pickle fork out.    Thanks too for the advice on the rivets...I'll look forward to grinding the heads off those!  Worst of all the original ball joint is in excellent shape, but since I was doing the struts, I was advised to go ahead and re-do the ball joints.   Good advice I know.  Mission creep as usual.

[skipsfcr]

Yeah, you're probably right...it the whole mess is rusted up you should probably try to chisel the castellated nut off first. What fun!

[esty]

there is no drilling slowly....the shocks are under tremendous pressure...as soon as you puncture the tubes fluid is going to shoot out with a lot of force

 

drill the bottoms so the fluid shoot towards the ground, not the car

 

edit...more info....the smaller the hole, the greater the pressure and they should compress easy enough when empty sometimes though rust between the inner and outer tubes causes compression to be a bit harder...my fronts went in like butter...the rears, not so, i slowly backed into a large tree

 

other will have their favorite method

Edited October 13, 2014 by esty

[scoopyg]

Well Skip,  my garage time bangin' on the cars (and a beverage or two while I'm out there) help to keep me out of the asylum.  You understand I'm sure.

Edited October 13, 2014 by scoopyg

[scoopyg]

Thanks esty. Is there a way to shorten the front of the rod/pipe without disabling the shock? Obviously disabling the shock and just compressing the thing to the spot I'd like to have the bumper end up would be the easy solution (and I like an easy solution like everyone else), but if there was a method to retain the compressed shock, that would be good too, no? (Of course reducing the pipe length by 2.5" would likely negate any shock compression, as the tree, car, wall etc. would be 2.5" closer to the body).

[Buckeye]

Bumper: start with thread 18 of link below

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/77143-1975-verona-sunroof-2002-by-eurotrash/

Ball joint: disconnect control arm at chassis. Take it to bench, turn it upside down. Drill with 3mm drill bit through, then nock rivet out. Take ball joint with pitman arm and have shot blast first and then use pneumatic gun to take that rusty nut out.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Buckeye

[kinarcy]

It might be worthwhile trying a little heat on the castellated nut before getting totally western with it.  A mapp gas torch can really be your friend and also an impact wrench makes a huge difference on rusted fasteners ---not so much for the power, but for the vibration.  I like to apply pentrating oil (liquid wrench) and then vibrate the fastener with an impact or even lightly tapping with a small hammer.  This helps the penetrating oil penetrate.  If an impact is not available you can apply torque to the fastener with a wrench while heating it also.

 

Also, an alternative to the pickle fork for disassembling tapered joints is striking the outside of the boss with a small sledge while backing up the opposite side with a large sledge or heavy piece of steel.  This shocks the joint and effectively squeezes the boss making the taper squirt out of the bore. 

 

good luck

[scoopyg]

Thanks Dave,

The castellated nut was basically sitting in a pool of water in the cup. The nut just appears to be too far gone to even hope for un-threading. My well-seated socket just spun the corners off the nut, after 3 days of soaking the cup with penetrating oil. That bad-boy ain't gonna unwind, I just know it.

[Mike Self]

I faced the same problem as you did on my '69 with original ball joints and 30 Ohio winters.  One side actually came off, and you couldn't tell that it was actually a nut it was so rusty.  IIRC I forced a smaller socket onto the nut's remains after the soaking and heating routine, and it actually came loose.  Some serious whanging with a 3 lb sledge knocked the ball out of its socket.  Another trick is to use a cold chisel to beat on the nut in the unscrew direction.  sometimes the shock--especially when it's hot--will get it started.

 

For the next time:  before you install the new ball joint--carefully scrape the two mating surfaces that form the chamber that holds the ball joint's nut so they're nice and clean, and mate tightly.  Then pack the whole area with either wheel bearing grease or anit-seize compound.  The ball joint nut is pinned in place so it's not gonna come loose, and the grease will keep things clean and unrusted until you have to do the ball joint job again.

 

cheers

mike 

[scoopyg]

Here's a bumper update, and thanks to all who posted info on the bumper tuck-in....

I took the bumper off, then removed the shock absorber thingys the bumper was attached to. I did as esty said and drilled into the cylinder to relieve the pressure of the shock. One shock had almost no pressure, and very little fluid, the second one did pop a bit when I drilled through, but minimal fluid.

It was easy to compress the cylinders after the pressure was released. In pushing the things all the way compressed, they bottomed out, and the bottomed-out reduction in length was...you guessed it...the 2.5" I was looking for.

So everything bolted back together correctly and the newly tucked-in bumper is gonna look great. I am determined to make the accordions look dead-perfect...that is, trim them and make the shorter versions look like they came from the factory. I plan to document the process, so I will post pictures. If there are no pictures, then I screwed it up and will be ordering new accordions to have a second try at it!

Thanks again to all. Still messing with the castellated nut....

[2fysh]

Scoopy, i have some extra accordions if you need them.  Hack away.  This what I did to the rear before I got my old style bumpers.  Just to see how it would look.  Used a cutting wheel and sawed those shocks right off.  I have also done the drill trick as well.  

 

 

I was going to cut my accordions down and glue them back together but found an older style bumper that i put on instead.