105 Trunion Bushing Replacement & Question

[Kevin Trent <trentkc@domain.elided>]

This past weekend I replaced the center trunion bushing as well as its two 
side "washer" bushes on my '73 spider using polyurethane 
replacements.  Replacing the center bushing was much easier than I recall, 
but removal of the old side washers was a real PITA.

To replace the center trunion bushing halves at the differential, I used a 
floor jack to raise up the chassis and supported it on jackstands at the 
rear jacking points. The drive shaft was disconnected at the differential 
and the rear sway bar was disconnected at the trailing arms and moved out 
of the way.  The floor jack was used under each trailing arm to relieve 
spring pressure on the bolt that secures the rear axle to the trailing arm 
and the bolt removed.  When the jack was lowered, this allowed the trailing 
arms to extend until the shock limited its travel.   After removal of the 
trunion nut, the floor jack was used to lift the axle so it cleared the 
lowered trailing arms, then I pulled the axle to the passenger side.  This 
allowed the stud on the differential to pull out of the trunion bar so the 
bushing halves could be removed and replaced. That was the easy part, took 
about 1.5 hours.

I then spent at least 3+ hours removing the two side donut shaped "washers' 
that are located between the trunion arm and the body.    I tried to cut 
them with a curved linoleum knife. It took hours for the first one, and I 
gained very little technique for the second side.  Bad working conditions - 
laying on my back with my arms reached overhead threaded through the axle 
trying to cut that tough original washer that is only about 5 mm thick, and 
20 mm deep to its center.

QUESTION:  Someone must know the best way to remove these pesky old washers 
- What is the trick????

When I finally got them out (perseverance, curved knife and hemostats), I 
cut the new washers, greased them up and they installed fairly easily.  I 
discovered that using a hose clamp worked well to squeeze the second 
(tighter) washer in place.  Oh yeah, I used a can of spray  brake cleaner 
to clean and degrease the old mounting surfaces - worked great.

//KCT, Powell, TN

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