And, here's the 1st Quarter Report!
After supporting the door with a floor jack, the pin came out easier than we anticipated. Does that mean it was quick? Well, nothing I do is quick. I am a very slow, deliberate and contemplative worker. I also try one thing, then another, then another. My computer programming teacher used to say that I 'shoot from the hip' when others plan the whole thing before starting.
So... our first step (using a nail puller) and banging it under the super flush pin top went well and we were encouraged.
We saw the pin rise up immediately but then were stuck at that height because the nail puller slot was too small to go further around the pin shaft.
This is where all of our time went... searching for something we could use to pull the darn thing up. We tried several ideas and even came up with a few really creative ones (that didn't work) before deciding to cut the darn thing.
Before cutting however, I decided that there just had to be something easier than what we were thinking. So, I jammed the tip of the nail puller under that tiny pin lip and said, "Before I go to cutting, I'm going to try to stand on it."
The dang thing moved! EASILY!
Leverage... DUH!
Once the pin raised up a bit more you could see that it had worn down where it sat in the bushing and was leaving much room to play.
Upon remembering that leverage was our friend, we continued with a series of creative 'build ups' to get the right amount of it and the pin worked its way to the last 1/4" quite easily.
We were busy using all four hands to manage the boards we wedged with the nail puller and hammer and didn't get a picture but essentially it was a process each time the pin moved a bit we had to adjust our wedge system.
Eventually it was free! You can see the worn rings where it sat in the brass bushings that are physically smaller than the rest of the pin. You can also see the dent we put in our wheel well from a failed attempt to leverage from the underside. Bad idea!
Next up... remove the brass bushings and put in brass bushings. (Quarters 2 & 3) If it goes well, there won't be a halftime.