CruxGNZ Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 Hey guys, I finally got the chance today to begin work on my coilovers. I have been soaking the gland nuts in WD-40 for the past week and that worked like a charm, none were stuck, and one I was actually able to take off with nothing but a twist of the wrist and no tools . Well, the rear carts came out just fine, very stinky and they both didn't work at all, no dampening whatsoever, no oil left in them. Now the front drivers side was completely shot and I was able to grab the cart shaft and work it like a slide hammer to get it out, it was REALLY stuck in there. Almost like someone had pressed them in. Now the front passenger side, that's a whole different story. This cart would not come out!!! This cart actually worked, so I couldn't use it like a slide hammer . It actually came to the point that I used a tow strap to attach the strut to a tree, welded a tow hook to the cart shaft (because the nut that goes on the cart shaft ripped right off on a previous attempt!!), I then used my truck to attach a chain from my truck to the welded on tow hook and proceeded to yank on it... it wouldn't work guys . I was really yanking the heck out of it, but the cart would not budge!!! It just wouldn't come out! The neighbors thought this scene to be a bit comical, but hey whatever works (shrug). Do you guys have any advice on how to get this thing out? I still can't believe that it would not budge yanking on it with the force of a 2 ton vehicle. I stopped for fear of damaging the strut itself. AAAAAHHHHHHHH what a pisser this is, I am so close to sectioning my struts and putting on my coilovers !M! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 Heat the strut housing, tap it with a hammer, don't dent it!! Or try filling up the top of the cartrige with penetrating oil. Would have loved to have seen you trying to remove that cartridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted July 6, 2002 Author Share Posted July 6, 2002 Yeah, I'm thinking I'll try heating it next. I didn't want to at first, because like I said, this is the only cart that still works and it is full of oil still. I didn't want this thing to blow up spewing hot oil all over the place (ouch!), but... I'll give it a try. Hehehe, yeah, hooking up a strut to a tree, then using a truck to pull the cart out sounds like going a bit overboard, but the nieghbors got a kick out of it! !M! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 When heating that strut housing, just make sure you have it pointed at the neighbors house and not your head, good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted July 6, 2002 Author Share Posted July 6, 2002 Well, I have to postpone 'till tommorow (unforseen chick problems ). Hopefully Mark, I can get this cart out and I can let you know how well your Illumina's fit. I still can't believe that thing wouldn't budge a fraction of an inch when yanking on it with the truck . I'm still chuckling thinking about that . !M! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeS Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 HEY MATT BE CAREFULL WITH THAT CARTRIDGE. I THINK I AM ONLY A FEW MILES WEST OF YOU IN WAUKESHA. IF YOU NEED A TORCH I HAVE ONE YOU CAN USE. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOUR COILOVER WHEN YOUR DONE. MikeS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted July 7, 2002 Author Share Posted July 7, 2002 Holy crap!!! Another Z guy around here! Hey, I checked out the pictures of your Z, and damn that's a clean car! Thanks for the offer for the torch, but I have one at my disposal. I would love to see your car sometime, if you like, give me a jingle on my phone sometime #414-975-7168. There's a good handfull of us Z guys around here, most are into hot rodding these little cars, so it's a lot of fun to chat with everyone. Two years ago, there was a first gen. Z in Waukesha, kind of goldish brown in color, sitting at a gas station with a V-8 allready in it. Never found out what happened to that one. Anyways, when I'm finished with the coilovers, you are more than welcome to check them out. Oh yeah, there is a guy named Paul (hotshift13) that lives in Waukesha also, he has a 260Z that he's putting a turbo L28 into right now. There is also a guy named Rob (S30blues), an old buddy of mine that has a '73 like mine, he's looking to put something into his engine bay right now, he just doesn't know what yet. I had him convinced to go Buick like me for a while, but now I think he's goiong a different route, but I do know it will have a turbo, that's just his style. Hey, are you keeping that R180 in your car? Just curious. Take it easy, Mat !M! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Matt, was any of this drama caught on videotape since it belongs on Ripley's "Believe it or Not" LOL. I thought I heard the gamut of strut horror stories but this belongs in the record books as the #1 horror strut of all time..There is always one in the set that will refuse to cooperate. Put it back on the car and it will drop off on it's own in about 20 miles or get that oil out and it will rust off in a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeS Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 I have a r200 & cv shafts but I will wait until the car is on the road. hope to have it ready by next spring.I will keep your number and watch the forum to see when you are done with the coils.I saw your wheel pics awhile back they are sharp looking. MikeS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted July 7, 2002 Author Share Posted July 7, 2002 Tee Zee, no I didn't get any of this on film lol , wish I had. I was actually thinking about taking a picture, because it was so jerry rigged, but then I would have had to go inside, wash up, grab the camera, go back outside, take a picture... I wanted to just get the damn thing out. I'll let you guys know what happens tommorow, and I WILL have the camera handy to share the joys of removing a stuck cartridge . !M! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 Just an idea, but if you are going to section the struts anyway why not drill a hole through the strut to drain the oil? You could do it in the section of the strut that gets removed. You could then work the cartridge like a slide hammer (as before). Would sure as hell make heating the tube safer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted July 11, 2002 Author Share Posted July 11, 2002 DAMNIT! This thing is really STUCK!! Jim, I did drill a hole and empty most of the oil (stinky). In the top picture, you can see that the remaining oil is just pouring out of the hole that I made, because of the heat. Man, I got that sucker RED HOT!! Still, no go. In case you are wondering, yes, I did heat it at the bottom as well, I was just having some fun making the oil flow out of the top . In the last picture, the Chevy was actually draging all four of the Fords tires GO CHEVY! Well, I got a lead as to where a 240 is sitting in a pick'n pull, I'll just have to get a strut from that one. Hopefully, I'll have better luck removing the cart from the junkyard strut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted July 12, 2002 Share Posted July 12, 2002 WE WANT VIDEO!! Man, this looks like the makings of America's Funnist Home Videos! If that chain had snapped and put a link through the gas meter on the house... Seriously, I am a amazed this hasn't worked. One thing. Heating metal makes it expand (get bigger) and cooling makes it contract. Thus you want to heat the outer piece of metal and if possible cool (or keep from heating) the inner part. You have something else going on. Good luck at the pick and pull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 12, 2002 Share Posted July 12, 2002 Jim, I was thinking the same thing. If it came out, it'd end up in the radiator of the Chevy. If it broke the chain, that gas meter is kinda close I'm also amazed it hasn't come apart. Any chance the thing fritction welded itself together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted July 12, 2002 Author Share Posted July 12, 2002 I was heating the strut tube, not the cartridge, the oil came pouring out from heating the tube red hot. I am familiar with how metals react to heating and cooling Jim . Most of the heat was concentrated at the bottom of the strut, that's where I figured it would probably be stuck. The first picture shows me just screwing off, kinda a bad picture I guess. So, how am I supposed to heat the strut tube, without heating the cart through convection Jim? If the chain or strap broke, both vehicles are insured. The depth of the picture is deceiving, the gas meter is about 12 ft. away, the same length as the chain, so no problems there. I'm just using the tools that I have readily available to me. It just so happens that I can use a couple of trucks to try and get a strut cart out of a strut, I'm just being resourcefull guys. Besides taking it to a shop where they give you a can of vasiline along with your bill, how would you have done it ? !M! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted July 12, 2002 Share Posted July 12, 2002 Oh, man. I was just razzing you a bit. Just trying to play off your earlier comments about your neighbors enjoying the show. I could tell the picture compressed the depth of field and that the gas meter really wasn't a threat. And I was honestly trying to be helpful with the heating advice, from the picture it was hard to tell. All that aside, I was wondering whether your strut tube could be bent? Since the other three struts were FUBAR, it sounds like the car has led a rough life. Do you get any kind of side to side wiggle on the cartridge? I am just wonder where the restriction could be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted July 12, 2002 Share Posted July 12, 2002 Just reread your final comment and got one more idea, although maybe no better than what you have already tried. Maybe you could turn the strut cartridge into a true slide hammer. Try mounting the strut assembly upside down in something solid. Wedging it in a vice and hanging it over the edge of a workbench would be great. Then slip a heavy weight over the strut rod and weld a washer or piece of steel plate on the end of the rod. You could then safely heat the tube while using gravity to slam the weight up and down. Actually, at this point with everything the strut assembly has been through, I think I would be looking at a pick and pull anyway. That tube is either bent or has mondo rust inside. If you get a replacement tube, then be sure to section the old one with a cutting torch. This should determine once and for all why the cartridge won't come out AND give you the statisfaction of putting that bad boy out of it's misery. Finally, I want to apologize if I offended you. I have a pretty biting sense of humor and sometimes people who don't know me take it the wrong way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 12, 2002 Share Posted July 12, 2002 Matt, I apologize as well if I offended you - I was having a bit of fun too - at your expense. I have the same kind of problem with my sense of humor as Jim - and it can lead to trouble. Sorry. Looking at that picture, I was wondering if the top part of the strut is jammed in there. Is there any indication that the part visible from the top is jammed? I also agree that besides pulling it apart, shocking it like Jim's talking about might help. But that's alot of trouble for a strut - I agree! Hope I didn't offend. Sincerely, Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted July 12, 2002 Author Share Posted July 12, 2002 Oh crap... okay, I reread my last post and I kinda sounded like a whiney little bitch . No, I wasn't offened, just thought I would explain so you guys didn't think I was an idiot or something. It's cool guys. Anyways, I'm getting a new (junkyard) strut. This one has to be bent out of shape by now. I will take your advice Jim and get my revenge on that strut! . Oh well, I'm just hoping that I don't have the same problems with the new one. Thanks for trying to help me out guys . No hard feelings alright? !M! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted July 12, 2002 Share Posted July 12, 2002 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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