the pins are 11 thousandths smaller than the holes.
they fit perfectly. now all i got to do is get the dang body mounted.

 

i just had an idea Fred.
how about using a solid point punch in the air chisel on the shackle bolts??

 

Undersizing of 11 thou should be perfect for your application, I think. That leaves enough room for a coating to reduce potential for rust

Turns out I got everything apart, off, and ready for new bushings. My local Napa as well as the family owned auto parts store didn't have them nor could they order them which I thought was odd.

Here is how I got things apart... I bought a $40 brake pin/ball joint removal tool at Harbor Freight, and machined a new "insert" that instead of having a larger head had a smaller head than the diameter of the body of the bolts. I cut off the heads of the bolt, attached the big clamp, then set the impact gun to "full blast" and jammed my homemade insert through pushing the bolt and the sleeve out the other side no problem.

To get the rubber that remained out, I put a 1-1/8" diameter hole saw on my drill, and just whizzed it out in dust form. It was by far easier than a torch, though even with a paper mask I almost choked to death.

So as of right now, the rusty/crusty rear perches are off, the bushings and bolts are out, the rivet fragments are punched out, and ready for installation of the new bits.

Just need to measure the diameter of the grade 8 bolts to replace the rivets (looks like 7/16") and find new bushings and whatever grade 8 bolt that would fit through that, and I'm good to go and back on the road.

Assuming the front driver's side tire can hold air (it's flat every day from 75psi - bah!) and of course I haven't started the thing in about a month while it's sat on jackstands so I imagine I'll have to charge the battery and dump my code back into the EEC. All easy and mildly annoying.

Thanks for the help and the rounds of BS... made the unpleasant work more pleasant. And glad you like your pins. They were fun to make as it was a midnight distraction from the normal days of stress.

 

glad everything came out easy. i had an easy time with the jeep also. there is a 1/4 inch hole in the condenser core.


for the bushings and other parts, try Ed Olsen, FTE parts guy. his prices give napa a run on most things.
here is a link to his site.
Th!nk Parts Guy

the only problem is that he is in Bremerton Washington, so parts take a while to get cross country. but you have waited 3 weeks so far, so a few more days won't hurt, huh??

 

As it turned out, the bushings I removed yesterday mostly in your presence, aren't replacable - they're part of the hangers. So, I have to replace the hangers which I just bought (along with leaf spring bushings) for PERTH AMBOY SPRING. Spoke to Joe there and he was like "what the heck are you doing..." anyway, if anyone needs suspension parts of any kind, for any kind of vehicle big or small, THAT is the place to go. Everything in stock, very knowledgeable people, and really freaking nice too.

Other than they only take MC Visa (and not Amex), they're fantastic.

So, if I get some time outside today I should have this done, or reasonably done, or something like that.

 

98% done. All I need to do now is purchase two grade 8 bolts suitable for the lower shock mounts, buzz them in and I'm done. New brackets, new shackles, new bolts, heavily coated with anti-sieze for 15 years from now, and this makes me a happy man.

Big, momentary plume of smoke when I started it, probably (hopefully) from sitting for a month, and a quick spin around the block (without rear shocks) was just fine. No creaking, no funny handling, everything seems tight. I'll zap the bolts again with the impact gun in a couple of weeks just to be sure.

 

so the next time we need to haul 400 bags of cement your truck is up to the job???

 

In theory, yes.