Removing 129 speed control lever
 

I'm stuck at the point that I need to remove the speed control lever on one of my 129s. One came off easily, the other is stuck. I'm considering drilling and tapping the top center of the lever's hub to use a bolt threaded down toward the splined shaft to drive the lever off the shaft. Anyone try this? Might try a small hole at first to provide a better supply of penetrating oil to the joint. Then drill out larger and tap if needed.

I think the drilling and tapping would work. The problem I see is getting the hole drilled completely down through the handle to be able to thread it completely. What I mean is, if the inside of the handle is sitting flush on the top of the shaft, the tip of your drill bit will hit the shaft before you are all the way through the handle. How will you be able to run threads all the way down?

Since you don't care about the handle you could try using a dremel tool to cut a slit in the handle parallel to the shaft and split it with a chisel.

The shafts are hollow, about 3/8" ID IIRC

If that is true then you can put a 1/4" rod from the bottom and hit it off.

Not hollow. But I measured the distance from the set screw groove to the tip of the shaft. The hole in the handle goes much beyond the set screw. So drilling would be possible.

I drilled a hole in the top and used a puller. Splines were shot so when I put it back on I drilled all the way through it where the set screw was and tapped it.

OK, so it seems doable. I like the puller, Sam. I don't have one with the "blades" that fit behind the arm hub like yours. Might need to add that to the tool box.

My thought was I can drill all the way to the splined shaft, but not thread it all the way, though I do have bottom taps. I would drop a ball bearing or other smaller object in the bottom of the tapped hole to take up the unthreaded range.

I do want to save the control lever.

What I'm doing is swapping stuff between the two 129s--moving headlights, taillights, dash panel, from the nicer one with the manual lift and smoking engine to the one with the hydraulic lift and better motor.

Thats actually a bearing splitter.. They come in several different sizes. The OTC set is about 500 bucks but harbor freight sells a kit for 50 bucks. I use mine all the time for uses other than bearings :beerchug:

If you disconnect the linkage on the control handle you can pull it up high enough to get a ball joint remover or make a split weight to make a slide hammer on the shaft.
If all else fails CTFO.

Victory with the extraction bolt method. On first try, I torqued the 5/16 NC bolt as tight as I dare without any satisfaction. I dosed it with penetrating oil and let it sit overnight under considerable force.

This afternoon, it came apart easily.

You can see in the pictures how bad the dash tin is. Must have spilled battery acid or Alien blood on the dash.