Had to break out the BIG GUNS on the Esprit last night

"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
10/09/2019 at 11:33 • Filed to: esprit, parts car, firebird, rust bucket

Those bumper beam bolts weren’t going to remove themselves.

I don’t know why I didn’t just whip on the air compressor and ugga dugga everything off. I guess its just more therapeutic this way. And I’m less likely to break things... Not that things weren’t already broken.

Yes, that is a rust hole in the side of the frame rail where the front bumper beam attaches. The beam itself seems salvageable, unlike the core support.

Anyways, while I was doing that I was also pulling the steering column, wiper motor and linkage, brake booster and pedal, gas pedal and cable, pretty much the last things under the dash and on the firewall and anything attaching the body to the engine.

The column varies slightly from my ‘77s, so I’ll have to either use the ‘79s steering shaft, or I hear a Jeep Grand Cherokee shaft works. 77 has a splined shaft and pinch bolt, the 79 has a stub shaft with through bolt. Probably more stout that way. Plus I want that glorious tilt action. I just need to clean it up, paint it, and dispose of that horrid steering wheel.

And of course monkeying with the core support caused the radiator to leak, so I drained that and pulled that too. Trans lines and all.

Now the front end is a lot nakeder. And there’s much more room for activities.

Like pulling the subframe so I can remove the engine and trans from it. Not much else is worth saving.

Not saying the 301 and 3 speed auto are WORTH saving, but if anything I can make a coffee table or something...

DISCUSSION (6)

Michael > Takuro Spirit
10/09/2019 at 11:38

Highly recommend any new name-brand li-ion electric impact wrenches. My Milwaukee can knock out stuff my air impact can’t touch. Something like 1400 ft-lb of removal torque. My go-to tool for stuck bolts at this point

For Sweden > Takuro Spirit
10/09/2019 at 11:45

One day, after fighting a particularly tough bolt, I bought a meter-long breaker bar.

Of course, the head has about 10 degrees of slack, so the bar was useless in any tight spaces -_-

Takuro Spirit > Michael
10/09/2019 at 11:45

I have a bunch of Ryobi One+ stuff and have been wanting to expand into impacts and ratchets but I have SO MANY air tools and a compressor already I don’t want to make the jump. Someday though.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Michael
10/09/2019 at 11:49

Yeah. This. The Electric Impact Wrench has changed my life...

Takuro Spirit > For Sweden
10/09/2019 at 12:02

I spent a good 30 minutes removing the 4 nuts holding on the brake booster, because there was no clearance for a socket and ratchet, and none of my ratcheting wrenches are 15mm (since half this car is SAE, half Metric because 1979), and they were rusted and for some reason had a good inch and a half of thread to be spun off of.

So next trip to the store....

RacinBob > Takuro Spirit
10/09/2019 at 14:03

Boy, that is a big engine for a Lotus...... Never mind.....