VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Shackle pin help

Hello

HOPING someone can help here

This is for a '32 BA

Im trying to get the rear shackle pin thats in the frame OUT so that i can replace it. It's wore badly and needs replaced. I've tryed pressing it out and i've went as far as trying to pound it out with a sledge and drift rod (Frame braced ofcource) But this pin absolutly WILL NOT budge. I've tryed drilling it out gradually but the drill bit wont touch it.

The only thing i cant do is hydralicly PRESS this thing out or put heat to it becouse of the inconveinient location.

my next thought is just to grind this pin out with a stone and dremel.


Any hints, tips, tricks, anything to get this pin out of the frame is apreciated.

Thanks

When I was trying to install my pins in my 31 coupe I was having a hell of a time. I tried heat which I used to get them out. I contacted an old time machinest and took the frame over to his shop. He took a look at it, went back in the shop and came out with an impact hammer. He had a pin that would fit into the hammer and also go through the pin mounted on the frame. I used a block of iron to buck the pins while he drove them in. We had all four pins in in less than twenty minutes. It just worked so slick. You can do this in either direction. Hope that this will give you an idea and maybe do the trick.

I had the same problem removing the shackle pins in my 1930 frame as well. Nothing I tried would make them move. Since the frame was bare I took it to a machine shop that had a huge hydraulic press. We turned the frame on its side and pressed out the shackle pins. As I remember it took about 25 tons of pressure to get the pins to come out. One pin shot out of the frame like it was fired from rifle. That was one heck of a job getting those babies out.

Another method that works well is heat, but if you use heat or a hydraulic press, of course it is better if you are working with a bare frame.

An impact hammer sounds promising... But i dont have one and dont know of anyone that does...unfortunatly. And unfortunatly again i cant use any press becouse the car is assembled. It's one of those older restorations that previous owners neglected and by now im sure most of you guys have seen this type before. Not a pretty site. ANYHOW.

If i were to make a mechanical puller, what would you think about 2 peices of thick steel, a piston for driving the pin out and two 3/8 OR BIGGER fine thread grade 8 bolts. I kind of have a hunch that the bolts will eaither strip or snap before the pin budges BUT...if all else fails...i'll try.

Is there enough room for you to weld a bolt on the pin and then use a heavy duty puller?
Richard

I used a large hammer with a sledge hammer as a backer.

If you get the pin out you can use a hack saw to cut the bushing and then drive it out.

Do you have a local tool rental company in your area? The air hammer was just so slick, I can't think of an easier way to do it.

If you have an air compressor an air hammer with several tools can be purchased for less than $ 50. They can be very handy and useful in taking stuff apart.

Help's if you have the right Kent-Moore tools, I found the one for the spring shackle this year at Hershey, can't wait to try it out.

There is a tool rental place over here close...but im not hooked up for air eaither. ...UNFORTUNATLY

Today i spent a day cutting thick 3/8 steel and welding peices togeather. Im going to try and obtain two grade 8, 1/2" fine thread bolts tomorrow and see if i cant make some magic happen.


I'll let ya'll know how it goes! I'll probably even post a picture if it works. Ofcource if it dont... i will be disgusted.

The actual shackle pins on a 1932 Chevrolet don't use a bushing like the front spring eye bolt. The pins are pressed directly into the shackle hangers on the frame.


I have had the correct Kent-Moore shackle pin removing tool for years. If the pins are frozen in place (as most are) then the Kent-Moore tool is completely useless! The tool will only work correctly if the pins can be removed easily.

Can you get the car to a local repair shop.Most all shop's have a air hammer for removing cv joints.

if you choose to heat as i did you need protection eyes and body i did not still have a nasty scar on my leg i went out to the shop in my short pants grabbed the torch warm the shackel hanger when the pin got really hot the hard grease popped out on my leg too late lucky i was not looking at it as it would have hit me in the face not in the eyes as i had my glasses on . i think of this every time i get around any thing that could have grease in it . hope this helps

I pushed out the old pins and installed the new ones at the same time on the rear of my 32 using a truck spring center bolt and a spacer that fit over the outer dia of the spring pin. Put the new pin on the center bolt and put the bolt thru the old pin with the new pin pressing against the old one. The center bolt needs to be long enough to protrude thru the old pin by the length of the pin and enough room for a nut and heavy washer on the end. Install a spacer tube(piece of pipe) over the exposed bolt, slip on the washer and nut and using a deep impact socket and 1/2" drive impact wrench tighten the nut to draw in the new pin while pushing out the old one. You may have to weld a nut to the head of the center bolt to keep it from turning and the bolt will need to be a grade 8. Maybe I was just lucky but it worked for me.

Maybe a little off topic, but I have a Snap-on kingpin and perch pin puller that will pull the chrome off a trailer hitch ( wink-wink). I have never found one that this puller plus some heat and an impact wrench would not overcome. The question: is the Kent Moore puller different?
Richard

Yes.

Hey P.U. Guy,

When it gets here I'll post a picture.

When I did the pin's on my 32 I just used a ball joint press, it worked great and yes they were stuck. I've told may people about the ball joint press and it has worked every time.

Bruce

I just removed mine this past Sat. from my 32. I used a propane torch and heated each one up, then used a LARGE C-clamp. Under one end I put a 15/16 deep well socket and a small piece of flat steel on the other. A little more heat on the exposed end of the pin, then cranked down on the clamp (used a wrench for leverage to turn the clamp). It is a bit awkard but they came out. once pin was flush with the bracket, I added a small socket under the steel plate and it came out. 3 came out in under 20 minutes each. the 3rd seized up half way out. I cut the long end with a hacksaw (leave a little lip), drilled out nbig enough for a hacksaw blade to go through and cut the pin through in 2 places then punched out the cut piece. The rest came right out. Not the best solution maybe but it worked for me.

It's out, folks!

And what i built, worked. I couldnt get grade 8 bolts without the shoulders so the place i get hard to find bols at had an alternative. Im not sure what the grade it is but it's tempered all thread with 125,000 pounds tensile strength. I had to cut 6 inch seperate peice and i used 4 grade 8 nuts. With the thick steel combination and the tempered all thread with grade 8 nuts and using an OLD shackle pin ground down on the O.D. some and being used as a press piston, the pin pressed right out of the frame, car assembled and no heat required. Beleive me there was some PRESSURE, but she came out! Now...to get the new one in.

Here's a picture of what i made.

When i join VCCA, i might do an article...maybee. Half the thrill was building the device to defeat the evil shack pin.

What you see between the two peices of steel is the old shackle pin. I had to cut it in half about mid way of the press out becouse it started to hit the sheet metal that covers the gas tank. what ever that peice is called.




I

try putting new pin in freezer and work quickly-always worked for me

Pushrod,
Be careful if you ever heat up modern shackle bushings or control arm bushings as well. When rubber under pressure is exposed to heat that is hot enough to start liquifying the rubber it makes for an interesting spewing-molten-smoking glob of skin burning napalm. Shorts are never recommended for this type of work. Thanks for the advice.

You've got it solved, but as another possibility: On the 36 standard my brother and used a ball joint press to remove and press in new shackle bushings. The ball joint press (or clamp) is basically a very heavy duty C-clamp. It took a lot of pressure and ratcheting, but it worked using appropriate sockets to press out the bushings. We borrowed it from a local garage.