Topic: Tie Rod Rust Pitting

[67gtasanjose]

I found a way to polish off rust pits from the tapered  surface of the the tie rod ends.
The (worn out) Rollock sanding cup I had not yet thrown out worked just fine, it ground through the pitting in just a few seconds. The difficult part of rust removal was the center caps. A Dremel cut off wheel and sanding discs took that off but took a while to smooth the surface up.

After sealing off the joint innards using a 5/8" Flat washer & RTV,  glass bead blast, Phosphate & Oil finished and then polished flat machine surfaces again with the Dremel sanding disc and finally cut a red scotchbright pad the diameter of the Rollock disc to polish the tapered surface again. A little more burnishing the center cap to lighten the color and coated with a Rust inhibitor. Finally, re-pack with grease and install the new boot.

[Anghelrestorations]

Nice...but that is not an original assembly line tie rod.  That is a later service part with that stamping in the center.

[67gtasanjose]

Nice...but that is not an original assembly line tie rod.  That is a later service part with that stamping in the center.

That was my understanding and thanks for pointing it out to others.

I have some NOS ones with a "B" stamped into them as well, plus another pair of NOS ones just like these. I have choices at least.

The reality is that a person could grind through the stamping  as I did with the pitting. For my purposes, these are just fine.

[J_Speegle]

Thanks for sharing. Can't tell from the last picture if the center of the "insert" is finished similar to the outer band or closer (in look and tone) to the cast tie rod. Maybe its the angle and lighting but it looks a bit darker - closer to the cast tone.

[67gtasanjose]

Thanks for sharing. Can't tell from the last picture if the center of the "insert" is finished similar to the outer band or closer (in look and tone) to the cast tie rod. Maybe its the angle and lighting but it looks a bit darker - closer to the cast tone.

It is or was closer because of being phosphated, to the casting. I burnished it some to lighten it and change the tone of color a bit.