The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Help with frozen bolts

When i took the front feners off my cab only 2 bolts came out.A couple of them snaped off but theres abought a 1/2 inch left out.What is the very best way to try and remove the bolts.Is there a must have penetrating oil.Ill pick up a propane torch if thats what i need but what do i heat up if thats the way to go.Do iheat op the bolt outside of the cab,the nut inside the cab or the bolt inside the cab.Is a vice grips the best for grasping the bolt or would a small pipe wrench be better.What abought sloting the bolt and useing a straight screwdriver bit in a hand impact driver.One of the bolts tore the metal right out leaving a hole abought the size of a nickel and i dont want that to happen again.Thanks to those who reply...Ron

Not sure what you are exactly doing...but here are my thoughts...When comes to frozen bolts...i would think of spraying them good with wd 40...let them sit a while then take a wrench or vice grip and work them back and forth to loosen them up first...so they won't break. That means turning them counter clockwise then clockwise...back and forth...and hit with the wd 40 again. The broken bolt you may have to drill and tap it out...but it you have enough of it to get the vice grip on it...use the wd 40 and work it as it described. .02

Starrider

[ 01-26-2002: Message edited by: starrider88 ]

What im doing id trying to get the stuff fixed on my art deco cab so i can move on to geting it ready for paint prep.Ihave the cab completly stripped of every thing except the seat bace.There are three bolts on each side of the cab that held the front feders on.Two came out,one riped out of the cab and three bolts broke off.Iam atempting to remove the bolts that broke off because the were frozen in place.The bolts thread into a nut welded on the inside of the cab.

what Starride said, except that a propane torch prolly won't get the slugs hot enuff to break loose. need to get the broke piece and nut red-hot, than let it cool a bit, then grip well w/ visegrips and ...... it'll prolly rip off! the screwdriver slot can work, but ya still need to WD40 the hell out of'em first. the missing ones can be replaced with a proper sized nut tacked to a washer that'll span the hole - stronger than original.

Bill

squeeze is right, propane won't get your nut hot enough to make any difference. You'll need to use oxy/acetyl or oxy/mapp.

Ed

Something else about heating . . . get a water bottle with a good squirt to it, like you would want in a water fight with your kids. When you get the bolt hot, immediately quench it with the water bottle. The heat causes the bolt to get bigger breaking the rust bond. When you squirt it, the bolt shrinks and it will come out much easier. I have used this method with a propane torch when taking AD grills out and fenders off (after spraying the nuts/bolts a few days in advance with WD40) and rarely do they break when done this way. Vice grips work good to get the broken studs out. Any skin left on your knuckles?

This morning the knuckels arent to bad but got lots of blisters on my hand.Iwent out to my shop right after supper and told the wife i wouldnt be out long.Didnt come in till midnight.I went out to take some more pictures and reacess the situation and decided to remove a couple of the inner cab sheet metal parts.Didnt stop till i had every cluch head out that would come out.I have 3 on the roof panel that holds the wipermotor and the botom screw on the strips that hold the weather seal on the front of the door opening.When i removed the headliner i found out that a mix of 50 year old grain,insulation and mouse crap tastes like HELL.On the uper panel 3 i have enough room to try and cut a slot in them for a straight blade with my grinder but not on the two on the lower cab.Ive read past posts on cluchheads and would like to know what is meant by drilling them.Am i just suposed to drill off the head? Thanks to all who have replyed...Ron

[ 01-27-2002: Message edited by: Slow Rider... ]

don't know how many of you guys have used PB Blaster, but it works much better then WD-40... you can pick it up at any auto parts store.

Why has nobody mentioned KROIL (Kano)? The stuff is potent, leaves a nice perfume like aroma... Also, heat + parafin, an old Navy trick for frozen bolts.

Spashoil, how does that heat and wax trick work?

See you are getting lots of advise, thought I'd through my 2 cents worth in. I got some good information from a post I did about same subject:
penetrating oil a couple of doses starting a couple of days before you actually try to remove it; and heat. I used a propane torch on the area AROUND the bolt; not on it. That expanded the surrounding metal and broke the rust free. I couldn't get a drill to reach my bolt, so I used a dremel tool equiped with a small diameter grinding wheel. cut just enough slot to fit the biggest screwdriver for the bolt size. Happy to say it worked like a champ.

Penetrating oil just makes a oily mess when it comes to breaking old bolts [& makes big fire when you end up using the torch ]. If the bolt doesnt break when you crank on it dry , the best solution is my version of " liquid wrench " which is to heat them with a cutting torch until they melt off.

man MT that is a method I need to get more familiar with... I'm going to get the old torch charged up so I can do some playing. I have a feeling I'll need to use it on that old stovebolt.

Torch them till they are good and hot and then shock them with cold water, that always works for me. A little liquid wrench or wd 40 will smooth the removal for you.

For the pariffin method, you heat the fastener, touch the pariffin to the threads and allow it to follow the threads into the rusted joint. Sometimes it works, other times not. PB blaster or Kroil are your two best choices for penetrating oils. In spite of your best attempts at removal, you will end up having to drill some of them out.

yup. the good ole navy still uses that one. heat um up ansd get them cold. Works on F/A-18 E-F, It's got to work on my '50 fleetline. Hah.