What to do if you break frame to body bolts in frame off resto

Going to pull the frame out from under my 72 skylark fairly soon, and the bolts that go through the body bushings seem to be rusty (as they would be because of the car being older lol) my dad would be helping me and he is hesitant about doing this because he is concerned about breaking those bolts trying to get them off. If one or more should break in removal, how should we go about getting the other half ofthe bolt out or re-tapping the holes to fix this problem?

 

What precautions could we take in order to try and avoid them breaking or the nut breaking loose amd spinning and then cutting a hole in the floor? What would we retap the nut with if we have to drill it out

 

Yeah, just went through that same procedure on my buddies '67 GTO. He was soaking them for a couple of months prior to attempting to unscrew them. Drilled tiny holes in all the inaccessible spots like Jason said and we STILL wound up breaking 3 of them off. This on a car that hasn't seen a winter since 1972 and has been garage kept its entire life. Oh well, the bodyman will have fun repairing the broken bolts.

 

I'm pretty sure you'll break the cage the square nut sits in before you break a bolt.
There are 6 bolt/nut combos you will have to drill a small hole and PBBlast(or equivalent, players choice). 2 by the doors, 2 in the trunk pan and possibly the rear 2 behind the bumper. The others are accessible. I broke 2 cages and had to resort to a 2" holesaw for access to those cage nuts. Then I pinned them with a crowbar and spun them out.
Good luck.....Jim/Rott

 

I am pulling the chassis to clean and paint it as well as put stainless brake and fuel lines, and change the body bushings as they are rotted and cracking. Would there be a possibility of heating the bolt with a torch and trying that in addition to kroil or wd 40?

 

And then there is this: http://www.buickperformanceclub.com/BrokenBodyMounts.htm

George's site has lots of good Buick info!

 

If your going to separate the two big parts, might as well grit your teeth and go for it.
It will be easy enough to repair the cage nuts and weld up all the drill/cuts, as that will be the smallest jobs ahead of you in a frame off.

 

Thanks 12lives i will read that article. So regardless, i have to drill a hole at somepoint on top of those mounts to try and lubricate them. Thanks guys what about the mounts up by the firewall?
Do i have to drill a hole for those?

 

Nope , you should be able to get to them, hood up, hanging over fender or jack it, block it, jackstand it (whatever it takes to stay alive) and reach them from underneath. Soak them for days, weeks, give em a shot o 'juice whenever ya stroll by.
Drill 1/8 holes, like Jason (ostrich avatar or is it an emu?) said above, just nuff for the lubricant straw on the side of the can.

When I first bought my car ,5 years ago, I debated about doing a frame off restomod. Then I said to myself "Self, if those asshats from Fast n Loud can do it, why it should be right in my wheelhouse. " 5 years later , I'm driving it. Brand new old car. Stay organized and dive in. Do as much of the work as you are able to to keep costs down or it will get outta hand financially. GL-JIM

 

I broke a couple at the firewall and one at the back. Was able to heat the remaining stud cherry hot and weld a nut on the remaining couple of threads. Worked like a charm. The one under the trunk I cut the floor and bent back the metal. Simple weld back into place after the broken bolt was removed. The nut threads were fine just the exposed Bolt was corroded

 

Man my GSX that spent its life in California bolts came off so easy. I hate rust.

 

The ones under the door area usually break,and the ones along the rear tail usually rip the nut out of the cage. That is if the bolt doesn’t come out nicely.

 

I wish this car didnt have any rust so the bolts would hopefully come out easy haha, once we get the bolts out how could we be able to lift the body high enough because we do not have a lift and would we be able to set the body on jackstands?

 

I agree with all above. If a bolt starts to turn and then stops don't force it. Turn it back the other way and rock it back and forth ( loosen and tighten). Every time it will go a little further until it starts to turn. Soak it for at least a week with Kroil before you try it.

 

I use an air rachet on a lower torque so that it hopefully loosens the bolt rather than snapping it off.