1964-1974 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I don't think you're missing the point. The linkage is joined together by a taper pin, and to remove this pin you have to draw it out toward the larger end of the taper.
Saab's idea was to have a nut that's normally stowed on the small end of the pin (to keep the pin from fallling all the way out if it happened to work loose.) When you want to remove the pin, you transfer the nut to the large end of the pin, and tighten it down. The pressure of the nut against the body of the rod helps pull the pin out toward its larger end; once it's loose, you're supposed to be able to remove it by hand.
So, if you've tried moving the nut to the large end of the pin and tightening it, you've tried to do it the way it's supposed to work.
The main problem with this nut idea is that sometimes the taper pin rusts or seizes in place, and that little tiny nut can't develop enough thrust to free it. Once that happens (and it happened to me on the very same pin you're trying to remove) you have to resort to a more direct approach: remove the nut entirely, soak the pin in penetrating oil, then tap it out from the small end using a soft punch and a small hammer.
You mention that you had to cut off the nut, so you may be wondering how you're going to put all this back together later. To do it, you have to learn a bit of the lore of the taper pin, a marvelous type of fastener that eliminates slop in joints, almost never works its way loose, and can be installed and removed with nothing more complicated than a hammer! As its name suggests, it's just a metal pin that's tapered in a specific, standardized way; a tapered reamer is used to adjust drilled holes to match the taper of the pin. Once everything is sized, you put the pin into the holes, tap it, and presto! You've got a slop-free joint. The pin is held in place by nothing but friction, but they usually stay in really well.
I've never had any luck finding the type of theaded taper pin that Saab used, but regular non-threaded taper pins are a standard hardware-store item; you should be able to take in your old one and get a new one that has a similar taper and length. While at the hardware store, you may also want to buy the appropriate tapered reamer so you can "adjust" the holes if necessary to fit your new pin perfectly.
You may be worried about the pin dropping out, since it doesn't have a thread for the retaining nut like the original Saab pin did. As I said, these pins seldom work loose, but I suppose it's a possibility in this case because of vibration in the drivetrain. So, here's a trick I learned that you can use if you own a set of dies: Pick a die that just fits over the small end of your taper pin, and cut a couple of threads onto the end of the pin. You won't be able to thread it very far because the pin gets larger, but you should be able to make enough threads to hold a nut on it. Then buy the appropriate sized nut, preferably a nylon self-locking type, and thread it onto the end of the pin. Now you've got something to keep the pin from falling all the way out if it works loose.
I've done this trick to substitute the taper pins both in my shift linkage and in my Sonett's headlight mechanism (the headlight pods are held onto the transverse rod that operates them by taper pins) and have never had trouble with it yet.
posted by 68.227.170...
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
