I'm 15 and recently bought a '72 914/4. My father and I were doing some work on it and I have run into a couple problems while trying to replace the struts.

First, I can't seem to get the old struts out of the spindles. My old struts were welded to the spindles but that doesn't seem to be the problem. I ground the welds down and I still couldn't separate them so I drilled the hole in the back of the spindel in case it was welded to the strut. Still no success. Any ideas?

Second, is the spindle always welded to the strut?

Thanks, Robert C.

Not sure what you are grinding but it sounds like you are trying to take the strut housing off of the spindle not remove the strut from the housing that it sits inside!!

The strut insert is held into the strut housing by a large round threaded nut at the top of the strut housing.
You may need to get a pipe wrench to get a firm grip on the strut insert nut (its round) and you can remove the insert that way.

By grinding down the welds you may have made the strut housing unsafe.

Rich

Here is a strut housing. This picture has no strut insert...so it should help you understand where the insert goes.

Rich

Robert C;

Welcome! At 15 it looks like you've got a pretty cool project ahead of you. How about posting some pictures of your strut and show us where you were grinding the welds.

You will get an amazing amount of help here, but you will find that pics will always provide better responses than text alone.

Eric Read

Robert,

I agree with Eric. Post some pictures. It sounds like you are trying to remove the spindle from the strut. You don't want to do that. As Rich says there is a circular nut at the top of the strut that you need to unscrew. Inside is the strut insert.

If you messed up your strut by grinding off the spindle, you should be able to find a replacement strut here pretty easily.

Good luck with the new car and don't be afraid to post questions!

Richard