Top subframe bushing broke off in chassis. How to remove

[nrubenstein]

Again, carbide bits are your friends here. I've been abusing the shit out of this set since 2013:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016KD0H8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[BaltimoreBimmer]

there is a god

Alright.... so I stopped by home depot to pick up some carbide bits for my dremel. Ended up grabbing 3. I believe the two shorties aren't as durable as the long one. Regardless it seems to have done the job.... barely



So after maybe 4 minutes of grinding the first bit started to round off. You really need to be gentle with these. Unless the dremel brand ones are of lower quality, they certainly didn't cut as easily as I thought they would.



Here's where I ended up after rounding off all 3 bits, despite being insanely gently on the last one. Not going to lie, I think my neck muscles are twice as big after this work. Nothing like holding your head up on your back for 40 minutes.



Ok, so that's when I started to lose hope. I logged onto r3v and was beginning to post about how it was a crap shoot and I'd lost all motivation. Well... I saw two more posts, one touting the carbide, and the other mentioning the chisel. So instead of lamenting I decided to give it another go...I jammed the mangled remains of my carbide bits into the stubborn aluminum in an effort to break through at least one spot. I succeeded. Parts started to actually flake off. I reached the side of the carrier. Just barely. You can see it towards the bottom here:



At this point I pulled out my vast selection of punches and chisels courtesy of my old man and gave it a few good whacks. Praise jeebus, it started to move! There is light at the end of the tunnel!

Now you can clearly see there is separation. It was one of those moments where you don't believe it will actually happen until it does. Once I got that separation it was all history. I worked my way around the edges and it fully collapsed on itself and fell away:





and the glory shot:



As you can see, I did manage to score the chassis in a couple locations. Additionally I snagged the brake line ever so slightly. Those will have to be addressed so they don't cause rusting issues in the future. Not a problem, I can live with that.

Now here is that stupid mother fucker. I feel like I need to frame these pieces or make a necklace or something:



OK, so in conclusion - what did it take? Literally everything. No joke. The garage is a mess now. I had to use several different chisels/punches, drills with multiple bits, the dremel, a sledge hammer, a threaded rod, a lag bolt, a claw hammer, a dead weight hammer, and some nifty riggings of lights, and of course, sweat, blood, and tears. Ugh. What a mess:




Since I am such a picture whore, I figured I'd add a couple shots of that super cute drill bit index I was talking about earlier:





I want to thank you guys for helping me out. Seriously. The advice was sound and helped me keep my cool and get this sorted out. I appreciate it guys.

Now I only have to finish the overhaul (massive undertaking - tune in to my build thread for more fun stuff!)

[LEANE30]

Good job seeing it to the end! Last time that happened to me, on an 84 in 2006, I tapped the broken part and threaded a big bolt up through the broken stub entirely then beat the bottom of bolt back and forth side to side under the car until it finally separated, each side. Drilling so many little holes seems mentally painful. Hope it never comes down to that for me. I'm gearing up for another subframe swap very soon again, I'm really hoping the factory bushings on this 88 come out clean and I don't have to relive the misery again you just endured.


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[Northern]

FYI, that carbide bit isn't rounded off, that's aluminum smeared all over it.

You can pick it out with a pick/knife/whatever and it's good as new.

Slow the speed down a bit and throw some sort of lube on it and it won't gum up as fast, but eventually Al will do that either way.

[dude8383]

I use a combination of a chisel, air hammer with a sharp chisel end attached + heat. Wash, rinse, repeat... usually gets the trick done within 20min or so. I then use a small screwdriver to clean out the bore so that the new bushing slips right in ;D

[nrubenstein]

FYI, that carbide bit isn't rounded off, that's aluminum smeared all over it.

You can pick it out with a pick/knife/whatever and it's good as new.

Slow the speed down a bit and throw some sort of lube on it and it won't gum up as fast, but eventually Al will do that either way.

Also, you want die grinder sized carbide bits for this, like I linked the OP to. Dremel sized is not the same experience at all.

[gart]

Glad you got this part sorted out! I'll be checking in on your build thread for updates. If you're doing rear wheel bearings while youre in there, you could be in for another treat!

[dude8383]

Glad you got this part sorted out! I'll be checking in on your build thread for updates. If you're doing rear wheel bearings while youre in there, you could be in for another treat!

remember to throw the new ones in the freezer :up:

[varg]

Apply anti-seize liberally to the new bushings!

[BaltimoreBimmer]

Glad you got this part sorted out! I'll be checking in on your build thread for updates. If you're doing rear wheel bearings while youre in there, you could be in for another treat!

I think I will be holding off on the rear wheel bearings for now. From my understanding it's easier to get them off with the trailing arm attached to the car so you can use the puller on the axle? Not positive but at this point I just want to get everything back together so I can enjoy this over the summer

FYI, that carbide bit isn't rounded off, that's aluminum smeared all over it.

You can pick it out with a pick/knife/whatever and it's good as new.

Slow the speed down a bit and throw some sort of lube on it and it won't gum up as fast, but eventually Al will do that either way.

I figured out you need to slow it down, and that some of that was indeed aluminum smeared into the grooves. However after a while they did actually round off slightly towards the tip.