Sloppy Steering in '65 Valiant Manual Box

Update: Neither my local bolt/nut fastener specialty store sells castle nuts and neither does local Auto Zone. In fact, I see the Centrix brand of idler arm (sold by Rock Auto) does not even use castle nuts and cotter pins anymore (according to the photo), just a "locking nut" alone. No thanks, not for me.

So I decided to rent a torque wrench (free at Auto Zone) and re-use the factory castle nuts (soaked 'em in Evaporust first). Well, the only way I could get the 1/2" drive torque wrench on the idler arm on the Kframe side was by way of a universal joint. I first tried the factory spec of 45 ft. lbs. but the wrench would never clic. The range of motion I had with the torque wrench was very, very limited. Then I tried 40 ft. lbs. and had the same problem. (I first tested the torque wrench on a loosened wheel lug nut and it clicked fine) I don't know if: I just wasn't tightening the nut enough; if the torque wrench needed a little more swing in order to click; or maybe the threads of the idler arm stud or nut were yielding due to age, rust, and previous installations?

Well, just for now I decided to leave the nut snug as is and insert the cotter pin. Well, I remember having a heck of a time removing the old cotter pin in the first place. Now the new cotter pin was getting hung up just a bit after it started its journey inside. I tried loosening the nut a tad, then tightening the nut a tad, in an effort to line up the hole for a better fit (no way to see anything). But the pin would only go through if I cut one side of the tang off completely. Not going to have much of a "safety" effect like that.

So I gave up and ordered an online idler arm that is pictured with the castle nuts/cotter pins. International shipping is going to take 4-6 weeks (fortunately, I'm not in a hurry).

Now previously when I removed the nut on the Kframe side, the idler arm dropped out of the frame without a problem. My question now is (and I trust a forum member can help me), I wonder if I need a pickle fork or not in order to remove the other end of the idler arm where it is attached to the steering link? If you have first hand experience and have removed both ends please let me know how to proceed. Factory service manual just says "remove idler arm". Thank you.