The original spring was simply inserted into the slot and the shaft squeezed shut. Over time the shaft and the spring surfaces rust and they appear to be welded together, they're not. However a bond does form between the two rusted sufaces but it should break loose if you mess with it long enough. You have to spread the slot a LITTLE to get it out, but many of them are rusted at the bottome of the slot and that is already an area that can't take much bending even when new.
And I can't empesize enough; "BE CAREFUL when spreading the shaft, they break real easy, then you’re sunk."
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
