My 65 Australian MKI

[94touring]

After a long day of disassembly, Mark has begun stripping this thing.

[BruceK]

Cool.   I was wondering how he was doing. 

Aany pix of how the car looks now? 

[94touring]

He and the pressure washer ran out of gas.  I'll finish the blasting in a few days.

[gr8kornholio]

Ran out of gas is putting it politely. Also have lost all desire to go to the beach ever again.  Was glad to get the engine out and the subframes home so I can clean and assemble them. I'll post some pics eventually.

[gr8kornholio]

Finally got around to taking the rear arms off the subframe.  Any tips on getting the front body mount off the rear subframe?  According to the book the nut is the only thing holding it on, but it wont budge.  The one with the nut on the outside came right off.

[94touring]

Only a nut that hold each trunion on.  The front pin needs to be held in place or it rotates when you loosen/tighten it.

[gr8kornholio]

That's the problem, they didn't rotate as I took the nut off.  I got the nut off.  I can't get the assembly out.  I can rotate the mount and lots of dirt comes out of the subframe but it wont budge.  Maybe after I give it a thorough soak with degreaser and pressure wash it'll loosen up. 

If it did rotate, is there a special tool to insert into the 2 little holes at the end to hold it?

[94touring]

Take a hammer and punch to it and don't be timid.   

I always just use vice grips to hold it when tightening up, but I'm sure there's a tool available.

[gr8kornholio]

looking for pros and cons of powder coating the subframes and suspension arms on these cars?  Good idea, bad idea, experiences.  Thanks

[BruceK]

I had the subframes of my Traveller powder coated back when I completed that car about 20 years ago.   The subframes looked absolutely perfect when I assembled the car.   Then, I never thought about them again as they became "used" and covered with the usual road coatings.    IMO, not really useful or needed - it's not like you need to protect them from salt here in Texas.   I'd just go with a good painting.

[94touring]

If you don't powder coat I'd do por-15 chassis paint.  They ultimately turn filthy like Bruce says.

[gr8kornholio]

How much por-15 would I need to do both subframes?  Is the prep product necessary if not starting from complete bare metal?

[94touring]

Degreased and de-rusted is all you'd need to do.  I suspect a quart is plenty to do the subframes, arms, and hubs. 

[MiniDave]

I'll bet a pint would do it.....I painted mine with Rustyoleum and used about 1/4 of the quart I bought.

[94touring]

I know that a half pint at most did the block, and that was 2 coats to get good coverage. 

[gr8kornholio]

Question. Is the pivot shaft a part to replace just because I have it apart or if the shaft and bearings look good and fresh just reassemble it?  I only ask cause mine look really good and definitely not original and I know it's an ordeal to replace them.  The Haynes manual doesn't even attempt it and tells you to take it to a dealer. Lol.

[gr8kornholio]

Additional question:  If I don't replace them, what's the best way to protect them or the best way to clean an arm with the bearings in place?

[MiniDave]

You can clean it down with kerosene or mineral spirits, then just re-grease the bearings before you put it back together.

[gr8kornholio]

It's things like this I'd really like a parts washer, but not sure about having all that sitting in my garage all the time. 

Dan, what cleaner is in your parts/hand washer?

[94touring]

Purple power!

[Willie_B]

Second on the Purple Power.
It will strip paint if you let it sit for a week or two.

[gr8kornholio]

Do you usually use the pump/washer or is it more of just a soak thing?

[94touring]

Both.  I'll let things soak to help loosen up grime, then run the pump when I'm brushing the grime off.  It's a very handy tool, plus the top doubles as more work bench when the lid is down.

[gr8kornholio]

Ok, thanks.  Back to the pivot shaft, just pulled it completely apart and wiped the grease off and can see signs of scoring and corrosion build up.  No way to fix this I'd presume so probably going to replace. 

Since no one probably has the service manual removal/installation tools for the bearings what is the procedure? 

I found minidave's post with a brief description on his green mini, I'll have to dig out my new parts and books to put pictures to words.  Any additional tips appreciated.

Dug out the new parts and makes sense.  So I guess my question would be how do you get the needle bearings out and the other ends sleeve out? 

[MiniDave]

If you're talking about the rears, I'd just run those up to Dan, he has the special reamer you need to resize the brass bushings after you install them. Getting the old ones out is just a matter of having the right sized drift and knowing where to hit them. There's also a plastic sleeve inside.....you buy the kit - it has the bearings, bushings, sleeve, shaft and all the bits you need in it - last time I bought one they were about $11 a side.

You'll need two of these....

http://www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Suspension/Rear/Hydro/GSV1125.aspx?190702&ReturnUrl=/search/classic/radius arm bearing kit.aspx|Back to search