brakes Some pics- bad caliper, broken stud, rusty ball joint nut

[andrewro]

Thanks to those who've helped on or off the FAQ so far. More work happened today. Here is a pic of the worse of the brake calipers, on its worse side. There is corrosion on the pistons themselves; I always thought that meant the pistons were unusable?

Here is a pic of what the ball joint top bolt and castle nut looks like inside the steering arm on the right side of the car. Left side is slightly better. Nothing to grab onto here, just a corroded lump. Any suggestions? My thought is to cut it off from underneath, at the top of the ball joint boot, then try to tap it out.

Finally, a pic of the speedwire bolt which sheared. Looks like enough thread for an extractor so I will try to borrow one or take it to someone who can make quick work of the task.

Thanks guys, as always comments and suggestions welcome! All else is moving ahead smoothly.

Andrew

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi,

that stuff is not bad at all. first, replace the caliper. don't waste your time let the rebuilder do the hard work. next, the ball joint top is just that it is only a castle nut that puts tension on the wedge fit of the ball joint. use an air-chisel and spin off the remainder of the nut that is in that lump. then once the nut comes off you will see that the threads are still there. now, hit the underside of the cast iron arm with a hammer untill the balljoint falls out, and it will do just that it will fall to the floor. finally,

that small stub of a bolt needs to have more material welded to it and then heat the base of the strut housing untill its as hot as possible i.e. red in color. then turn the entire threaded mess out of the strut base.

next time or on the other side you have to heat each area of the strut housing where the bolt goes into it BEFORE you attempt to loosen it.

good luck

stone

stone racing co

phila pa

[canadapierre]

Agree with previous comments. Just change the calipers, weld onto that little numb after plenty of penetrating juice. Mind you, I've welded onto broken rusted bolts before. The heat of the welding was enough to break the rust bond. But I'd still juice it first- just to cover all the bases.

[andrewro]

Yeah, that's the plan with the calipers. The ones from AutohausAZ are $55 each plus $40 core. They say limited avail and special order only, but PhileasFogg responded to an earlier post and said they just had to get them from another warehouse, and that he ordered some which are on their way with only a day's delay. I emailed them to see if I can send in my cores ahead of time and not get billed until they receive them and are ready to ship my order. Hopefully I can avoid the core charge, I hate having that money tied up for a couple weeks while things work their way through the system.

I'm down with the welding except I've never welded. I have a new Lincoln MIG waiting in the basement. Is this something I can practice a few times and then just do as a first-timer? I'd hate to wind up welding the stud in there permanently... I am guessing I thread a nut onto the remaining stud and weld to fill in the hole at the end of the nut?

-Andrew