The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors Removing glass

I have been trying to break down my doors to repair them and replace the glass. One door went well, the other I can't get the bolt out of the bottom of the window channel that attaches to the wing window. It is stripped and I tried a socket made for removing stripped bolts and it still won't break loose. Any ideas short of cutting a hole in the door to remove it?

I feel your pain but luckily, after soaking one on my panel for a week it finally turned loose. Put some Kroil soaking on it......and IF I say IF the door is all apart perhaps you can get a torch head up in there if you have access to one. Heat will work wonders....and also, always remember to try tighten it first.

I might add that if the assembly is other wise loose someone may be able to twist the vent window "leg" just enough as you try to loosen it and it may break loose? Just throwing ideas at you.

I have seen those channels twisted like a piece of decorative wrought iron furniture from someone twisting and twisting.
Sometimes you need to bite the bullet and cut a neat hole in the inside of the door with a cut off wheel to get to your work easier. With that hole, you can grab ahold of the channel to apply more force to the bolt. You will need to weld the cut out piece back in once your done. When you replace the bolt, do yourself or the next guy a favor and use a stainless steel bolt with anti-seize on it.
Carl

I've been spraying it several times a day with penetrant, (WD-40 or PB Blaster) to no avail. I thought about the torch idea, but frankly it scares me a bit, since I can't see it. I will try again tomorrow, but I am afraid I will have to cut the door open to get to the bolt. I really hate that idea.

I hate the idea of cutting the door too, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

I have tried everything. Looks like I have to cut a hole in the door. Sucks.

If you have not cut the door yet I will give you my method. Set-up a 1/2" drive socket and extention so the wrench is in the lower door opening. Get a good bite with the socket, put your one hand on the top of the wrench, good grip on the end and snap it. These are not big bolts, they will snap going either way. Easier to work the result on a bench, good luck.

If you have not cut the door yet I will give you my method. Set-up a 1/2" drive socket and extention(s) so the wrench is in the lower door opening. Get a good bite with the socket, put your one hand on the top of the wrench, good grip on the end and snap it. These are not big bolts, they will snap going either way. Easier to work the result on a bench, good luck.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/36654505126/in/album-72157631868452754/

I will assume that stripped means the bolt (not a screw) is frozen/rusted in place and you have rounded the head. If that is what you are talking about, getting it out on the bench to be removed/drilled out is the way to go. I do not know how hard you will have to pry/hit in order to snap it. I think you may break something, including the glass. But a steady force may just break it off. You can gauge if something is getting too stressed inside there. But again, I don't know what is "stripped"? If the head is rounded, there is no bite for a socket.

Cutting a hole "seems" like a big deal but it is not.. When you cut the access hole, Just choose good cut lines on flat surfaces even if you have to cut larger than necessary. Weld/grind/smoothing will be easier on flat than on a dimple, crease, ridge, transition step.....

Cut a slot in head, or any method you can thing of, after you cut the access hole. Try real hard to get the whole bolt out before cutting off the head. There is a method of welding a nut to the head for a new grip. This is after soaking with penetrant.
You may want to take the door off to do the cut and weld. Laying flat on a table is easier and will give a better work position. Laying flat allows gravity to evenly soak threads. This is in keeping with Brad Allen's idea of taking the problem to the bench. I hope we are talking cutting a hole on the inside, not the outside of door.

After you are done, no one will ever see the cutout.

I have the door off and I have been working on it that way. Stripped means the head is rounded to the point the "stripped bolt extractor" can get a grip on it. I even tried to pound it on with a hammer after I couldn't get a good grip any more with the extractor, that didn't work. I don't think we are talking about the same bolt Brad, since this is a 1/2" bolt and it is not going to just snap off. I have already marked it to be cut and I expect to do that in the next few days.

On a related note, someone told me I could clamp down the glass and remove it from the frame by putting a piece of wood against the frame and hitting it with a hammer. Has anyone tried this?