Day 5 - Removing the arm and some poking around

If you look at the base of the elevating handle you can see a tapered pin inserted into it and through the elevating mechanism

After soaking things with WD40, PB Blaster or Kroil, take a punch and a ball peen hammer, tap that guy out of there, and remove the handle.



Here we have a view of the top of the Thrust Cap. I know from experience that those two screws will not come out of there without some serious torque. No one knows why because there just isn't that much surface area involved but it's just one of those things!



Out comes the impact wrench! A Hand Impact Driver will work just as well.







They popped right out. Take this opportunity to hose the top of the column down with some WD 40 and make sure you can rotate the arm freely.



Here you can see the two shim washers. One was on top of the Thrust Cap and one below.



Here you can see the clamp handle rod, the 3/8-16 Left Hand Hex Nut, and the 1/4" x 1" cotter pin. Take your punch and tap the cotter pin out. Then remove the hex nut and take the Clamp Handle Rod out of the arm, bearing in mind that it is a left hand threaded nut.



This one's got a lot of surface rust (but it will clean right up!).

After the arm can move freely on the column support it firmly and lift it as evenly as possible off of the top of the column. It is precision machined so if you keep the pressure even it should not be a problem.



Here is the top of the column sans arm.



Here is the bottom view of the vanquished arm and wiring.



Here is the "before" of the elevating handle and knob.



Here is the "after", meaning an initial trip to the wire wheel and buffer (more on those later). I still have a lot to do on the knob but it's a good start.