Forget persuasion of any sort. Hacksaw called for and new trunnion/bolt kit available from the specialists. Bob Powell Ibis Operations Ltd "Quality in the Supply Chain" __________________________________________________________________________ I had to do this on my 6b when I got it. Only way i could manage it was to unbolt the top ball-joint, trackrod-end and brake-pipe - then you can unscrew the whole upright/hub/caliper from the trunnion. Then get out your hacksaw/angle-grinder, and reduce the trunnion to a heap of metal-filings. //PJML// "The morale will continue until the beatings improve." __________________________________________________________________________ I know the feeling - imagine having to remove it after the (badly corroded) vertical link actually popped out of the trunion whilst turning out of a car park! As with mine the trunnion was seized onto the bolt. I tried the WD40/blowtorch/big hammer approach, but ended up cutting through the bolt on either side of the trunnion, unbolting the bottom wishbones from the spring pan and removing the remains from the wishbones. If the trunnion is still fixed to the vertical link (!), just unscrew it. Reassemble with copious amounts of Copaslip and grease fully after reassembly... Good luck and buy lots of spare hacksaw blades... Phil Howard __________________________________________________________________________ Sorry Chris it sounds like you may have to go in hard on this. The bolt will be siezed in the trunnion(the bit in the middle) and PlusGas won't touch it. Don't heat it as you'll damage the bronze. Undo - the top balljoint either from the arms or vertical link,the trackrod end,and the hydraulics. The vertical link will then swing down giving you hacksaw access to cut between the lower arms and the trunnion. Once it's in 3 pieces it should give up the fight and punch out from the trunnion. The bits in the arms should be easy as they're in nylon sleeves. Put the new bolt in with lots of waterproof grease and promise to strip and regrease them once a year. Good luck! Alex. __________________________________________________________________________ <> Suggest you remove the whole suspension unit from the car - this can save bent glasses and black eyes! It also allows you to work on a bench or the floor rather than being twisted up under a wheel arch. Take the lower wishbones off from the chassis mountings and the vertical link from the top ball joint - having removed the brake calliper previously. You can then remove the hub and disk which will effectively leave you with two lower wishbones, a trunion and a vertical link with the stub axle in it. Since you are going to throw away the trunion it becomes the sacrificial part. Take a big hacksaw and saw through the bolt on the trunion side of the bush each side of the trunion taking care not to cause any scoring in the wishbone edge that mates against the bush kit between the trunion and wishbone. Having done the sawing chuck the trunion and that section of bolt in the bin. You can now apply all sorts of effort to remove the bolt from the wishbone. It should knock out as it is surrounded by plastic which doesn't corrode. If it refuses to budge with a moderate bang apply some heat. A blowlamp will effectively burn the nylon bush away freeing the bolt from the trunion. Clean it all up but don't fettle so much out of the inside of the bush hole in the wishbone that a new bush is not a snug fit. If this area is really bad a new or better second hand wishbone may be required. Assemble the new trunion and bushes with the unit off the car. It's much easier and you can tell how well it all fits. Good luck - hope this may help a bit. Jerry Ree __________________________________________________________________________ Dear listers, Thanks loads for the words, I really MUST in future ask the list before I plunge into these things, there is nothing worse than failure. I had another go at this swine and the great truth dawned that as far as I can see the trunion will not unscrew without the brake disk off, and the brake disk will not come off without the caliper being removed. Anyone know how to remove mangled caliper bolts other than more hammer and chisel work. Looking on the dark side, and as the caliper still works ok, a worn trunion may unscrew with the disk still on, but I am not convinced and will I be able to get a good trunion back on? Can anyone fill me in on this. Working on a friends Austin Healey Sprite a while back, I was surprised that the trunion bolt seems to have a hole in the bolt end with a grease nipple attached, what a bright idea. Wonder if any clever part manufacturer reads this list, I would be a lot happier fitting a part that I knew would not be failing by seizure soon. It is interesting to see that now the car is back on it's wheel again it is stuck nearly 3" higher. I am sure this will settle again but when it does, it will seize again at some sensible level. No wonder the front end feels so hard. As Alex says, re grease them once a year, no problem but get the bolt out once a year, sigh. Anyway, thanks for the help folks, I am going to leave this 'til I cool off a bit, heal, and chew this over. Regards, Chris Burrow 1591 __________________________________________________________________________ Chris, I saw your plea for help on the RSSOM digest this morning. My experience is relatively limited, but on both sides of my 1976 6A, I had to take the suspension of the car, in order to remove the horizontal bolt that runs through the trunnion. I think most cars with this suspension (I had the same problem on a TR6) suffer from bi-metallic corrosion; the bolt is mild steel, the trunnion a brassy composite. To remove mine, from memory involved: Undo 2 caliper bolts, swing caliper off, and tie up out of the way Undo and separate track rod arm (easy if you've got a joint separating tool!) Remove the two lower wishbone in-board mounting brackets ( or the wishbone bolts if you can move them) NOTE: check the wishbone mounting brackets v carefully; I was warned they are prone to cracking, and sure enough one of my N/S brackets HAD A TEAR IN IT ! Undo top swivel joint. Remove heavy assembly to bench, and remove hub/disc Saw the trunnion bolt through, eith side of trunnion, to free off both lower wishbones. You now TRY to remove the remains of the trunnion bolt, if you've access to heat, hydraulic press. With my friends TR6, we soaked it in penetrating oil in advance, we heated the trunnion with a gas blow lamp, and then made a press using his large bench vise, a socket on one side, and a drift the other. We eventually got the bolt out! With my Scimitar, one trunnion had to be replaced (so I didn't bother with the remmenants of the bolt) and a professional with a BIG hydraulic press did the other. Sorry to sound pessimistic, but I doubt if you'll remove a corroded trunnion bolt with the suspension still on the car. Richard Hinds __________________________________________________________________________ Why don't you try the "Robin Rew" method of tapping the eyes and inserting grease nipples. Then you can lubricate the trunnions as often as you like (1500 miles would be good). I did this ages ago and the bushes last for years. If I interpreted it right when I did it (Robin's advice in Slice was if you didn't understand where they went, don't call him 'cos you weren't up to the job!), the holes need to be tapped at the lowest part of each lower arm's outer eye and in the middle laterally. They then line up with the join between the top hat bushes (that may help to clarify the location) and grease goes exactly where it's needed . Martin __________________________________________________________________________ Chris Once you have the assembly off the car the quickest way to remove mangled seized bolts is to arc weld nuts onto the bolt heads. The heat will free the bolt (but will be insufficient to damage the caliper) and the nut will allow you to remove it. New bolts will of course be required for reassembly. Don't worry about the trunnion bolts seizing in future. They seize because they were fitted dry. Once correctly assembled with grease on them they will not seize again. Grease nipples should be aimed at getting lubricant into the wishbone ends to keep water out of the nylon bushes. Nipples should be fitted centrally on the underside of each lower arm so that grease will exude between the nylon bushes. The last bushes I fitted have lasted 90K+ and are still going strong. Tony __________________________________________________________________________ ...and don't forget that the bolt must be done up tight - the movement must be between the bushes and the sleeves - failure to do this will end up in an oval hole in your new trunnion. If you get the assembly of the washers and seals right, everything should move properly with the bolt properly tight (the sleeves lock up against the washers/trunnions). Martin Harris __________________________________________________________________________ ...and don't forget that the bolt must be done up tight - the movement must be between the bushes and the sleeves - (the sleeves lock up against the washers/trunnions). Best way to check all is well is to undo the top balljoint (if you haven't already as part of the rebuild) and swivel the vertical link in and out. The trunnion bolt should turn as one with the link. If the bolt stays still while the link turns it's wrong,first try tightening the bolt/nut more (it should be very tight,but I don't know exact torque figure). If no joy cut two very thin (.025") shims from the end of an old sleeve and put one one the bolt beside each of the new sleeves. You're trying to increase the length of the washer/sleeve/washer combination so that they take the compression of the bolt without locking up in the wishbone eye. Alex. __________________________________________________________________________ Hi all, Rather late on this one, but I recently did this on an SE5 by 'dismantling' the lower wishbones (after removing the spring/shock, of course). Removed the nuts/bolts holding the lower spring mounting & antiroll bar, and the inner mounting bolts to the chassis. I then removed the 'rear' wishbone by unscrewing the nut from the trunnion through bolt. I then ground the head off the bolt (I suppose you could have drilled it off...), and then could remove the 'front' wishbone. The trunnion bits were then junked complete ... The upright was OK, but the trunnion was scrap anyway (wear in the threads, as well as the seized bolt) Justr spent most of my spare time over the l