Trick to getting front torsion bars out?

[merbesfield]

Is there a trick to removing the front torsion bars from my 68 912? The control arms and the torsion bars seem to be fused into the whole assembly and the only thing that worked on one was to use an air chisel, which blew the front cap off the torsion bar. Did I ruin the thing? I do not see any clips to remove the plug off the front of the torsion bar. I could not find anything helpful in the manual either.

[Mr9146]

You're on the right track.

Hammer 'em out the front (which, as you know, will knock the caps out) then drive 'em back through the splines (which will clean the splines and make install easier) and out the way they're supposed to go.

DO NOT try to take them all the way out the front ... you'll be pi$$ing in the wind.

Air chisel is a bit overkill, though. A BFH should do the trick getting 'em out and small tap-tap should work to send 'em back through.

Then, once they're out of the arms, grease the splines in the arms and hammer (tap-tap) the caps back in. Powdercoating will help hide any hammer marks in the cap.

TA-DA!!

[merbesfield]

You're on the right track.

Hammer 'em out the front (which, as you know, will knock the caps out) then drive 'em back through the splines (which will clean the splines and make install easier) and out the way they're supposed to go.

DO NOT try to take them all the way out the front ... you'll be pi$$ing in the wind.

Air chisel is a bit overkill, though. A BFH should do the trick getting 'em out and small tap-tap should work to send 'em back through.

Then, once they're out of the arms, grease the splines in the arms and hammer (tap-tap) the caps back in. Powdercoating will help hide any hammer marks in the cap.

TA-DA!!

Thanks for the tip. I was afraid I had messed something up. I will take the out the back as you mention and then put the caps back on the front. Not too worried about a few hammer tap marks, just want to get the darn things out.

[Fritter]

Just did this on my 68 when rebuilding the front suspension. Once you get everything cleaned up, repainted where necessary and greased, everything goes together like butter and it's a pleasure to work on the car again. And if you need to reposition the lowering levers, just pull the bolt and pull the cap off and reposition with your fingers. Nice.....