33 replies to this topic

[Statler]

Jack the car up...remove the wheel....give them a squirt of WD....wait a while for it to soak in...turn the steering wheel around until you can get a good position....have a trusty assistant hold a hammer on the inside of the knuckle...grab a long drift.... 1 good hit should do the trick.

[76lxhatch]

I used to use G clamps and sockets with a good whack from a hammer as posted on here by someone... until I broke all my G clamps doing this. I made a plate with a hole in it to suit the pitman arm puller I have and it works beautifully, just squeezes in there

[antelopeslr5000]

I purchased one of these a while back. Works well.

 Press.jpg   17.99K   37 downloads

Edited by antelopeslr5000, 24 December 2009 - 04:07 PM.

[ls2lxhatch]

I considered buying one of the Bikesmith cotter pin presses above but from the dimensions I was given I did not think it would fit.

[Evan]

Im taking that u got it out Josh.

91107960 is the part number from Holden.

Ask if they come with nuts. If not, 14NFNNYTPN is the part number for the nylock nuts from any Auto 1.

Have fun.

[Tyre biter]

I am having a bugger of a time with the cotter pins.
Followed directions in this and other threads about ideas with clamps and sockets/nuts but the thing won't budge!
Too scared to take a hammer to the thing following posts and the GMH manual about damage to the collapsible column and bearings but I think it is coming to that.

antelopeslr5000 I've sent you a PM about the bikesmithdesign press you showed in your post and it may come to that unless I can find something similar in Australia.

Anyone else had a particularly difficult experience that can lend some advice of their win against the cotter pin?

Cheers, TB

[Struggler]

Support it from behind so no weight is borne by the column bearing and tap it out with a small hammer. I have found a small jack handle can be wedged up in the crossmember and take the weight of the shaft (the cotter pin fits inside the tube).

Hope this makes sense, if not I can take a pic.

[StephenSLR]

I've heard to unscrew the nut till it's flush with the top of the pin, then when you hit it with a hammer you're hitting a much larger surface area.

s

[Statler]

I've heard to unscrew the nut till it's flush with the top of the pin, then when you hit it with a hammer you're hitting a much larger surface area.

s

If the nut is still a nyloc, that method will destroy the nut.

[Toranamat69]

I took my steering column out last year for the first time in 8 years and the pins were incredibly tight. There was no way they were moving without the proper clamp.

I have very little access around my pipes so there is no way a clamp like that bikesmith one above would fit - only something along the lines of the original Holden one would have worked on mine. I made my own - I'll post some pics when i get home tonight. It is very simple and along the lines of the original holden one, only difference is I welded it up from Mild steel.

I didn't know if it would bend being made of steel but it didn't, it worked superbly.

I have found it very difficult in the past to remove tight pins without damaging the pin but using the clamp does the job nicely. those pins are pretty exxy to replace for what they are too - especially if you need 4 of them.

I am sure I took a scan of the scketch I drew up with dimensions too so I'll see if I can dig that up too.

Matt

[MRLXSS]

Sounds like I got lucky with mine... Mine came out relatively easy with a slight tap of the hammer, with some support from the back... I also soaked it in WD40 overnight

[Toranamat69]

Here is my device. Made from 32 x 8 mm mild steel.



I tried cold bending it at first - got to about 60 degrees and then snapped my crud cast chinese vice in half :-) should have used the Oxy.

Went and bought 2 dawn SG vices to replace them.

Decided to cut and weld and see how it went.

I have the rough sketch of it I did here - for some reason it is a .pdf not jpg so cardomain won't let me upload it.

I used a 3/8 UNF high tensile bolt in it. Makes it easier to turn with the fine thread.

If you have an e-mail address, I can send the .pdf - I can't remember which program I used to use to convert pdf's to jpg's.

[Tyre biter]

Very kind of you all.

It sounds like some persistence and perhaps a degree ingenuity pays off (I am fast running our of the former and never had much of the later).
A fellow member has kindly waded in and has posted me his cotter pin press to loan - just amazed (in a good way) at the trust and assistance provided to me - especially since I am a total stranger to him.

Toranamat69: The press being loaned to me looks very much like your home made version.
I am really concious of not damaging the press when it arrives by asking too much of it, and so if you could send me your drawing I'd appreciate it as a back-up plan - Email: [email protected]

Again, thanks to everyone and cheers, TB

[Tyre biter]

How good is that bikesmithdesign cotter pin press!
Thank you to the forum member who loaned it - much appreciated. It will be in the mail and on it's way back to you by the end of the week.
I had the previously immovable pins out in seconds and they required but nine-tenths of bugger-all effort to push the pins through.
The press fits perfectly around any and all of the cotter pins on the steering shaft - I recommend it to anyone having troubles like mine.
Go here for any and all detail: Bike Smith Design - Cotter Pin Press
Having said that, I am absolutely sure a home made press of the type shown by toranamat69 would work just as well - the design and principal is the same for both.
Again thanks to all and cheers, Craig

[76lxhatch]

I wonder if the cheap pins mentioned on that page are available in a suitable size for Torana steering joints?

[Tyre biter]

I reckon if you e-mailed the maker of bikesmithdesign cotter pin presses - Mark Stonich I think his name was - and maybe sent him specs or even a real one in the post he'd let you know for sure.
He seemed like a really genuine and knock-about guy in my correspondence with him - he even offered to contact someone in my town to whom he'd sold a press to see if I could loan it. In any case I'd be pretty confident he'd do what he could to accommodate any enquiry about his cotter pins and their suitability (or not) for our steering linkages.

Cheers, TB.

Edited by Tyre biter, 31 March 2011 - 05:54 PM.

[Statler]

There is adjustment on the steering column.
I would check there first. It might lower the column enought to get the cotter pin in.

[ls2lxhatch]

The shaft in the steering column is collapsible. There are some very weak plastic pins that hold the shaft at the correct length during assembly. It is very easy to shear the pins and alter the length of the shaft.

You could try measuring the from the bearing to the tip of the shaft and getting someone to compare with their column. If the shaft has been pushed back into the column then you will be able to wiggle it back out to the correct length.

Edited by ls2lxhatch, 23 June 2011 - 11:28 PM.

[ls2lxhatch]

If as others have said, the plastic lugs have broken, replace the whole steering shaft, it is dangerous and shouldnt be used.

The plastics lugs are not important. They are only there to hold the shaft at the correct length during assembly.