Crash update...slogging through the mud..photos soon (long)

[Alex Kowalski (audial@aol.com) (Law Guest Account) <lawguest@wppost.depaul.edu>]

Well, work is progressing on the 5KCSTQ.  Thanks to all of the Listers
who offered rear suspension parts...however, in the great tradition of
atoning for one's own sins through a sacrifice of the flesh, this
weekend I went boneyard hunting and found...an '88 5KQ type 44
chassis that had a _completely intact_ rear suspension.  I was amazed
at the find, but I then realized that I would have to remove it.  On my
back. On the gravel.  In the cold.  In the mud provided by the thaw of all
of the recent Chicago snow..  

So, I rented the Worlds Crappiest Rental Van (no radio, no heater, no
rear brake lights (how could they rent this thing?) and bounced and
shimmied my way out to the yard (said van also had a loose rear axle
which made me seasick as the tail end meandered back and forth
across the road.....eeecccchhhh).  

Got to the parts yard, where they have the chassis about 15" off of the
ground, no wheels, propped up by a ramshackle assortment of old bent
rims.  Yanked on the car in several directions _hard_...it felt stable, so
it's time to break out the tools.  

I only had about 3 hours until the yard closed, so I was looking for the
fastest way to get the rear suspension removed intact.  I decided to
unbolt the trap arms from the body and rear crossmember, remove the
caliper, unbolt the inner CVs from the final drive flanges, disconnect the
upper tie-rod, and then unbolt the rear struts and lower the whole
assembly.  Then I realized that I had forgotten my big vice grips and had
no way to prevent the axles from turning in order to remove the flange
bolts.  _HIT!

Rummaging through the tool kit I found a honkin' huge C-clamp.  Rooting
around in the mud produced a lug bolt from one of the wheels that had
been removed.  Threaded bolt into hub, removed the caliper, and
attached the c-clamp to the carrier bracket and lug bolt - voila -
immobilized axle!

Everything went pretty smoothly from there, I managed to salvage one
of the calipers (the other was seized) as well as both rear rotors,
which aside from a patina of rust looked like they'd barely been driven
on.  I got one entire side off and was making good progress on the other
side when Mother Nature decided I needed some good heavy rain to
make things interesting.  I had only to remove the upper-tie rod on the
driver's side and unbolt the strut to get that side out so I gritted my teeth
and got back to work, but then _THE DAMN TIE-ROD BOLT IS FROZEN_
Just then, I hear the distant loudspeaker announcing (early):

"Senores y senoras, in a halfa hora we close dee doras"

AAAAAAHHHH!  Where is my Removalizer tool?!?  Finally the bolt
comes free and I get the driver's side down.  I'm dripping with sweat,
soaking wet, covered with mud and grease, but I've got My Prize!

I've got to go back to get the crossmembers, which is going to be
interesting since the wrecking yard handicaps you by not allowing any
_jacks_.  Does anybody know how much the rear differential weighs? 
If it's too much I'm going to have to sneak a jack in there somehow so I
don't get smushed.

In any case, I should have a personal web page up soon with pictures
and gory details.  Right now $$$ are driving the restoration process, so
it's taking time.  Still, I've gotten a few nice bits off of some wrecks in the
last few two weekends: nice, completely clean taillight lenses, a couple
of good-as-new rubber door surround/seals  _and_ a good set of
dual-piston front calipers to replace my single-piston setup.  So far I've
paid less than $300 for all the parts, and I have two spare rear axles
complete with joints and boots, so things are looking pretty good.

Sorry for the waste of BW,

Best Wishes,
Alex