Clint's C3

The aftermarket straps and bolt kits you can buy at O'Rieleys have allen head bolts which are much easier to remove than the original 12pt bolts IMHO. Someone must have screwed up the allen bolt heads on the install.

guitarcrazy02

Well I can't really give you guys an update because I'm at college now, and the car is sitting at home in the garage. I'm not going home for a few weeks, but I'm going to work on it when I do. I'll let you guys know what happens. Thanks for all the input.

jd1a

If you can find Kroil, try it. The stuff works great for loosing up stuck bolts. Company is Kano Kroil on the net.

Crash80

yep...same as on an '80..at least mine. Man, does this thread sound familiar. It is a 1/4 inch 12 point head on that bolt. I went down the allen head path too.... with a lot of guys a lot smarter than me looking on. We eventually figured it out and I headed to Sears to buy the socket that worked. I burned a boatload of gas and time with my allen head theory...which was wrong.

Frank_833

I found Liquid Wrench (or other penetrating oil), is a world of difference from WD40 when it comes to getting a rusted fastener unstuck. Both have their uses, but you should have Liquid Wrench in your garage!

Burnt71

ME TOO !

maxmachz

Got any tips for when those do round off? Used the right 12 point 1/4" wrench, I got all of them but two... I did push the u joint cap out from under the strap but still have to loosen / remove to get the new joint cap in.

Dremel a slot in the head and big screwdriver? Do NOT want to snap them off.

Frank_833

Wow, talk about resurrecting the dead!

In any case, if the u-joint is out then can't you get a set of vice grips on them? You are going to need new bolts anyway.

I would let them sit overnight after a liberal application of penetrating oil (not WD40), then use vice grips or a pipe wrench. If you have a welder you could also weld a nut on the head so you can get a socket on it.

Cutting a slot for a screwdriver likely won't work if it is stuck well enough to round the head off.

Gale Banks 80'

Another Trick that I use a lot is to Hit the Stuck Bolt square on the Head with a Ball Peen Hammer. This will send a Shock Wave down the Threads wich may lossen them. Its not very good on the Bolt but Your going to replace them anyway. I'n this case Useing a Punch to Reach them will still work just not quite as well.

Drawmain

Max, you may remember I went thru this about a week ago. Get a set of reverse torx sockets, e10 and e12 are the sizes you need, e12 on an 82, I think the e10 works for 80 and 81. One of mine rounded off to heck and gone, only vice grips would get it off. I got new bolts (6 point) from Advance, came in a kit with the strap, but I used the original straps. If the two bolts are in different caps, try moving the strap around, then get the vise grips on it. It took a lot of time but it worked for me. I also managed to hammer on a sacrificial socket and turned with it for a few turns before it popped off. Patience is key here, in a big way. Keep after it , you'll get it.

mapman

Most likely the 12 point bolts were replaced with an allen screw at some point. My 1980 had SOME of the those allen screws, although most were the 12 point type. I was fortunate and did not have much trouble removing those bolts (did have problems with the 12 point ones). Who knows, they may have been original fasteners? Mine looked like they had never been out, but I just figured they were replacements.

Anyway, I replaced all the hardware with hex bolts from Van Steel.

Steve Pierce

I'm responding to guy that heard about using wax. Just myth heating a bolt is fine but on cars not gonna have much luck. When you heat say a 1 1/8 nut with torch on nut only it will work but usually car bolts it all just gets hot and probably gauld it making it worse. Metal expands when heated so trick is too only heat nut not both etc. I work in petri Chem oil energy world 35 + years. You probably won't believe but all you got to do is take milk of magnesia and pour on threads let sit for second then it will every time free it up unless you ruined it. We use it on on heat exchangers when I was with chevron the wax is old myth. Seems like they would sell at parts store but not many people know this. I used it three different times on cars.

Steve Pierce

Oh ya defneatly use 12 point 1/4 socket it is only kind to fit. Don't do with wrench talk about 14inch extension break loose then get your Dewalt drill put on extension and spin them out. Garaunteed to work if bolts act like gonna break use impact on low torque the rattling helps break without busting bolt off. If they gonna break then just break em off take easy out to get out and be done with it. Or let some one else do it lol.

Scottd

The candle trick works.

I had a frozen nut on the bottom side of one of my suspension parts. I dont remember which one it was, but it was probably 3/4 or 11/16th. I beat the hell out of it with an impact gun and a breaker bar with a cheater pipe. It would not budge.

I heated the nut with a propane torch for about 30 seconds and let it set for a minute. I pressed a tea candle to the nut and let it melt for a few seconds. Put the impact gun on and it spun off in a few seconds. I will definitely use this trick the next time I have a stuck nut or bolt.

speedreed8

hopefully he got it changed 4 yrs ago.