The Webmaster Zone

Got the shock separated from the swivel axle finally this weekend - I tried smacking it repeatedly in situ but it was clear it was fused to the upper trunnion bushes. I figured I needed to get a better angle - working inside the wheel well means you can't get really satisfying hammer swings. I don't have my ball joint separator yet, so I unbolted the steering arm from the back of the swivel axle and unbolted the shock and removed the shock and swivel axle together. Once out of the car I put a large socket under the head of the trunnion pin and went to town on the end of the pin with the lead hammer. I actually got it to move! However once it was flush with the lever arm hole it wouldn't go any further because of course all the pounding had flared the end of the soft pin so I filed the flare off and continued with a center punch. About halfway through the bushes the pin just would not move any more, so I disconnected the bolt holding the lever arms together halfway and loosened the arm. After pushing the arms apart I was able to slide the swivel axle out and the trunnion pin and one of the bushes is still stuck to one arm on the shock. No matter, mission accomplished; I can take the shocks to Octagon tomorrow and exchange them for rebuilt units. Since I wasn't quite sweaty enough I thought I would fix the spare tire tube (leaking again, missed a hole when I patched it). Went to work with the irons and got the tube out but I decided to toss it since it was in a rusty rim for quite a while and is disintegrating in many places. I had another tube with a small hole but it was in generally better condition so I patched it instead and thats drying now. Since the spare was out I took everything out of the boot and removed the sopping wet carpet and hung it up to dry and soaked up the disturbingly large puddles of rain water from the recesses of the body. I refitted the clips to the back of the boot badge, I really hope the silicone fixes some of the leaking problems. I removed the rest of the damaged tail light assembly as well, and bent the lamp base back into shape. I cleaned and glued the chrome lens trim last night, and I have a used tail lens in excellent shape that I picked up at a swap meet last year. The DPO used duct tape to hold the tail lens onto the body when I bought the car; I have found WD40 and Brasso work very well when removing the dried up adhesive goop that tape leaves behind (works well on labels too). Although the assembly won't fit perfectly onto the body until the accident damage is fixed, I think its a good idea to make the light assembly waterproof, and at least it eliminates the bloody duct tape. Finally met the owner of the '72 B that lives across the parking garage from me; I left a note offering any help to get it running again a while ago. Found out that it hasn't been run in 3 years and it was blowing smoke when she parked it. It has a bit of bumper damage and a little paint bubbling under the (possibly) original paint but otherwise looks to be in decent shape. If anyone wants a 72 I'm sure she would part with it...