I got the axle swapped out today - finally. The nail idea was the right approach, but that coiled spring pin was stuck too well for a nail. It would bend or I would just beat the head of the nail to a pulp.
As I mentioned earlier, A punch got it started moving, but I eventually reached the limit of the punch; since it had a taper and eventually would go no further in the hole. The smaller punch was no match for the force required and I damaged it. So I had to come up with something.
So I kept filling the hole with tiny sections of nail so I could keep using the punch. After 20 or so whacks, it would move couple millimeters again and I would add another section of nail. Did that about 6-7 times. Once I had the coiled spring pin out, a regular nail was hard enough to drive the sections of nail now in the hole. I actually was afraid this idea would just take me from the frying pan into the fire but the nail sections drove out easily.
Wow - it was in there really good.
Anyways, the pin and bushings are in excellent shape so they can be re-used. That is a big blessing.
Thanks for the help! Figured you might want to know the outcome.
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