strut rod bushings

I just put 1 side of strut rod bushings on my '65 Rambler.. and what a job that was... the first part of the battle was getting them.. my local carquest had the P/N for '64-'69 American come up discontinued.. then ( because I knew '65 was a 5/8- 11/16" change over year for the strut rods, knowing that the '73 gremlin is 11/16" ) I had them look up '73 Gremlin, which they were available and were ordered.. when I got them, I determined that my rambler was 11/16" and they would work..

so now comes installation.. and the way AMC put the strut rod's in, there is a frame bracket on each side that when you use a standard deep socket to get the 1" nut off the front of the rod, it is too long, and needs a U joint and a extension to make it fit.... well, I just used a 1" wrench, which took a while to get it off, but supprisingly was not stuck bad..

then comes removing the rod from the car.. so after I realise that the car is in the air, and I can't use a lug wrench to get the tire off, I go get the impact wrench, and pull the lugs off.. then remove the 2 bolts holding the strut rod on the spindle, that went ok, altho I was supprised when my impact wouldn't break 1 of the bolts free, and I managed to break it free with a ratchet

now the strut rod is free.. I pull it out, slide the remaining rubber off the rod, only to find the inner steel sleeve is rusted fast... so I get out my cut off tool, and carefully cut it open, then popped it off with a screwdriver and hammer..

now comes, putting the inner bushing on.. slide it in place and.. the strut rod adjusting nut needs to be turned back.. well, stuck the rod in the vice, it wasn't turning.. heat and chill.. nothing.. finally I stuck a 1" deep socket over the flat end of the bar where it bolts to the spindle, and stuck the nut in a vice.. and used a 3/4" heavy duty 750 Ft/LBS impact wrench.. the nut almost won, but it eventully loosened up.. and I moved the nut back.. installed the inner bushing and then the rod, followed by the outer bushing and nut.... one side to go.. took 3 hours to do what otherwise ( without rust and corrosion ) would have taken 10 minuites


The diffrence between the gremlin bushings and the American bushings, is, the Americans used a 1 peice bushing, and the Gremlins used a 2 peice.... but everything fits togther fine