I started the project Sunday and didn't have as good of luck as you did. The old tie rod ends were pretty frozen to the tie rod. I took the steering arms loose with the tie rod amd finally managed to get the old ends off. The instructions said to drill the backside to a depth of 1/16" using a 9/16" or a 5/8" drill bit. We used 5/8" which was still much smaller than the shaft of the ball stud. We used a drill press and drilled a little deeper than suggested and then pressed them out. After that, I learned that the pair of new style ends that I had on the shelf for a couple of years were both left side. I am about to get that squared away too.