(ET) Hole open....

[Chris Zach <cz alembic crystel com>]

Ok, so before taking the entire steering system and the related 
contactor assemblies out (and removing the front pack, and.....) I 
decided to give it one last shot in pounding out that cotter pin. Cotter 
pins are much softer than expansion pins, so this *should* be possible.

Started out with a 1/8 punch. No dice at all, the cotter pin wreckage is 
in there as solid as the surrounding steel. I don't get it, maybe a soft 
cotter pin transmutes into hardened steel over time by exchanging ions 
with the Elec-trak frame or something. This could explain why the sheet 
metal rusts :-)

Next up drills. First I punched in a dimple with a hardened punch. Then 
I started with a 7/32 Milwaukee bit, best I can buy right now. Used my 
hand drill at low gear, very low speed. Slowly I cut into the pin, 
through the hole, stopping every time I felt binding. When I was 3/4 of 
the way through I stopped (so as not to risk breaking the bit in the 
hole) and started on the other side. Finally went through. Tried driving 
the remaining metal out with the punch, once again no dice.

Went up to a 1/8 bit, same drill. Very slow, stopping when the bit bound 
and backing off before trying again. After 3/4 of the way I switched to 
the other side and drilled through (if the bit broke in the hole I 
wanted some depth on the other side to pound it out). Finally done, now 
have a nice 1/8 hole in the shaft I can use for when my washers/spacers 
come in.

I think I'm going to try coating the new pin with anti-seize and see if 
that keeps it from binding in another 20 years. The pillow bearing looks 
fine, so I'll leave it as is.

One step at a time...