Bumpers and Knuckle Hubs

If I were to ask you how many titanium drill bits and 3″ grinding wheels it would take to remove a front bumper and a single out rigger, how many would you guess?

If you guessed I’d go through 7 bits and 2 grinding wheels, you’d be right.

Apparently, Willys-Overland Motors never intended a front bumper, no matter how mangled and cut to hell, to come off of the frame after 61 years, or at least not very easily. The biggest problem was how to get through hardened rivet after a titanium drill bit broke off in the middle of it. The answer is apparently a lot of cussing, some creative engineering, and a few more bits.

Once the front bumper was off, I went to work on the outrigger that had a damaged rivet. After breaking another drill bit off, the outrigger eventually came off. What was interesting this time, though, was that with all the beating on the frame with the air hammer to get the rivets out, a small thing fell out from between the frame rails in an area that is boxed in near the engine bay. Apparently, Ike was a home to many creatures during its lifetime, including a nest of hornets.

Since I was finally getting the hang of removing these rivets, I attempted to remove the rivets holding the the pedal bracket from the frame. I removed the two rivets, but apparently this part was also spot welded on. I’ll grind down the welds next weekend when I finish the frame for sand blasting. I’m debating if I hate myself enough to remove the other outriggers, or if I should just leave them alone. I’m leaning towards leaving them alone.

Since I was completely exhausted from working on the frame rivets, I turned my attention to the front axle that had been up on my bench for a week now. I got far enough to remove the hub cover to find that I don’t have the right sized socket to remove the spindle nut. Such is my luck. I ordered one online last night, so hopefully it will be here in time for the weekend work. It looks like the last time this hub was looked at, and the spindle nut removed, someone just went in with who knows what kind of tool to remove it. It’s pretty banged up, and even the washer behind it is all bent out of shape. Both will be replaced when everything goes back together.