hey everybody, i need any tips/help you have for removing the two radiator core support bolts that are attached to the frame. one will turn but will not come out. the other was under the battery tray and seems like its apart of the core support now. PLEASE HELP ME!

 

There are nuts under them. Remove the bumper and you'll have access to them.

 

thanks for the reply, bumber fender and wheel well removed. so i have full access. im talking about the bolts that go through the rubber bushings.

 

The bolts will have nuts on the bottom.
Depending on how rusty they are, more
times then not, they break.
Do you have access to a acyletene torch?
If you can put a little heat on them, they
might come loose. But rember the rubber can
catch fire. If you can take a few days and soak
with PB Blaster. That stuff works pretty good.

 

I used the ATF and Acetone mix recommended under cheap tricks thread... the passenger side came out nicely, the driverside under the battery snapped. VERY little of the bolt was left!

 

X2 for PB Blaster.... The nut is inside the frame rail.... use a wrench thru the frame opening in the front or a socket up thru the frame rail from the bottom (should be an access hole)........

 

x2 on the voodoo juice- Acetone & ATF
Then apply torque until it loosens or breaks.

ps

SAVE THE PIECES

you may find that your reproduction pieces are incorrectly made. I recall the '66 442 repro pcs having too small a washer- so small that it would not, in the event of a crash, retain the radiator support- wold actually fit thru the hole in the RS. A poor "reproduction." Ended up cleaning and re-using the correct original washers.

 

i have a propane torch, but i will try the pb blaster. if i have to grind/cut the bolt, is there anything i should be cautious about?

 

Is that Type F or Dexron III?

 

If you can get 1/2 drive 6 point sockets
on both the nut and the bolt, they should
twist right in two.

 

Don't waste your time with a propane torch.

If you have a MAPP torch you may just barely get enough heat to release the nut, but the only reliable heat source for freeing rusty nuts and bolts is oxy/acet. or oxy/propane.


- Eric

 

Any torch that gets the bolts hot enough to be useful will set the rubber biscuits on fire. If you're replacing them, you may not care, but be ready for it. If the rust is that bad, get a cutoff wheel and new bolts.

 

rust is terrible on the driver side. i will most likely replace both as well as he core support. do you just cut the head off the bolt?

 

Yup. Hopefully they bolts aren't rusted into the metal sleeves inside the rubber bushings.

 

WTH people.... Cutting is ONE way to get a bolt out.

Not the BEST way in all cases.

Get a 6-pt box end wrench on the nut in the frame

Put a 6-pt beasty socket on the bolt.

Apply torque manually until it unscrews or twists off. It's a 7/16 bolt, anyone over the age of 12 should be strong enough to do that. If not, that's what cheater bars aka torque amplifiers are for.

You can try an impact tool first, there is a small chance that the impact will unscrew it.

Especially if you use the best penetrant available, which we have gone over, and is not "PB Blaster".

 

In my experience, when these core support bolts are that rusted, especially the one under the battery, the shank of the bolt will be rusted to the point that it is thinned out. At this point in my life, I don't waste time (or my knuckles). If the car is sufficiently disassembled, I WOULD use a hot wrench and just torch it off, flaming rubber not withstanding. What are you trying to save here?

 

Well put Joe.