I am in the process of refurbing the suspension on a '77 GTB. I read numerous threads on the whole process and the various ways people were pressing the bushings out after grinding the welds. RobzWorkz way of cock-eyed in a vise and a hammer, people burning the guts out, etc.. Well, I am replacing all the shock bushings also, so to make life easier for that I ordered Hill Engineering's 42mm press tool. https://www.hillengineering.co.uk/tools/bush-extractors/brt-02 Fiddling around getting ready to tackle pressing out the A-arm bushings, I grabbed the press tool and Wala! The base of the tool fits perfectly over the bushing spacer and HE also mills a flat spot on it that lets it clear the cross member! A socket and a vise and they press right out with no effort at all! Kudos to Hill Engineering! I highly recommend getting the press tool if you are tackling this job. Just thought I would pass this along as I had not seen or heard of it in any of my research. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Very nice. I made a similar tool out of galvanized iron gas pipe union. It was a lot of grinding and fitting to get it to fit. IIRC one of the rear bushings is right up against the a-arm. It now circulates around friends here in the SF Bay Area. I believe “Black Horse” has just passed it on to someone else.
Awesome.. I’ve done the bushings on two of my cars and made a similar tool too but used a large socket that I sacrificed and ground down one side Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat
And one more thing to add when pushing out the old bushings.... a cheater bar is required and its highly recommended to use a large industrial vise... Don't be surprise after pushing out all 16 bushing that your vise doesn't operate normally afterwards... It's a workout for both you and your vise!!!!
You will need a very serious-quality press to get the same precision as a modest-quality vice. I bought a modest-quality press (not a super cheap one), and there was still too much slop in the mechanism. I do still use the press for a variety of things, but if I can use the vice, that is the tool I prefer...
I tried BLACK HORSE’s hydraulic press but reverted back to my bench vice. It is impossible to “feel” whether or not you’ve got things aligned and moving with a press.
