Torsion bar retainer? (72)

[defiance]

My alter-k is set to be here mid-to-late next week, so I'm starting the process of prepping for it.  I was at one point going to get a small lift (max-jax), but it was backordered for over a month everywhere, so I decided instead to just use an engine hoist to lift the front end off the engine/tranny/kframe.  So I'm in the process now.  I've got the engine all unhooked, mounted to a trolley, transmission disconnected and mounted to a transmission jack, and the front end mounted to the hoist and lifted a couple inches (mostly just to confirm the setup is working).  Not lifting it more yet though...  I'm stuck on getting the torsion bars out.

So from what I understand there are supposed to be retainers in the back side of the transmission crossmember torsion bar slots, so you remove those, remove the bolts from the front, and slide the torsion bars backward to clear everything in the front, then slide them forward and out.  Right?

Well, I'm having two problems -- First, I don't see any clips in my retainers on the crossmember.  Is it possible they just aren't there?  Second, I can't slide it backward at all.  It just won't budge.  I don't plan on keeping them, so I vise gripped and hammered on the vise grips, still no movement.  Might be related to the first issue I guess?  Maybe I just don't understand the arrangement of the clip, and it's there but I'm overlooking it?


So in either case, I had an idea - since I'm to the point that the whole suspension is freely rollling, can I just pull the whole thing out of the crossmember forward (by pulling the k-frame forward)?

[Nacho-RT74]

well they in fact would slide out backward all the T bar extension after the clip removing

but...

yes, you can pull out the K member and keep T bars on car to remove them later, toward to front

[noff57]

I had the same problem with my parts car.

[CDN72SE]

Don't forget you have to take the tension completely off the bars. To do that turn the bolt in the lower control arm (both sides), I had to keep loosening mine before I was able to wack the bars out.

[defiance]

Yeah, I had the tension off, still no luck.  So today I finagled the k-frame the rest of the way off (the torsion bars did come out of the LCAs ok), and removed it all.  Then with the torsion bar completely free except for the rear retainers, I tried again - one of them I managed with vise grips and a hammer, it was just REALLY rusted.  The other still wouldn't come...  Until I realized someone, somewhere in the history of this car, had decided it would be a good idea to completely fill the entire void in the front section of that retainer with silicone.  So I spent a bit scraping that crap out and it came right out.  Yay!  finally.

[CDN72SE]

Silicone? Wow, at least you got it out. MIne were in great condition, no rust but you would have thought they were cemented it.