The pin distance is 1.5 inches. When I did mine years ago, I got a Armstrong 34-107 open face spanner wrench and it was the ticket. If you google it, you'll see it's available on e-bay or amazon. I didn't have success with the cheaper variable pin types that I tried. I would drop the $20.00 and get the good one like I mentioned. The end caps are on there pretty snug. Also when you get the thing apart, your going to find that the piston is on very tight as well. Be careful not to score the rod. Besides things being on tight, the job itself isn't to difficult. Good Luck.
