I've got to remove the wiper door on the 69 to install new bolts & bushings.

Looks to be held in place by two bolts under the hood, on each side, and one bolt, on each side, under the door itself.

That right?


TIA.....

 

Yes, that is correct. BUT!!!! Those bolts are frought with grief!! After years of weathering, the steel bolts get 'frozen' into the the threads in that aluminum wiper door. And, they are mild steel shoulder bolts, which means that they will shear off [at that sharp shoulder] if there is any significant resistance found in the area of the threads. Bottom line: if you can't get those bolt threads treated so that any corrosion is removed before trying to remove them, they WILL shear off. That's the so-so bad news. The really bad news is the difficulty you will have correcting a broken bolt problem in that door.

Put liberal amounts of PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench on those threads. Put some packing around each end of those bolts and soak the packing with penetrant after you have squirted the he!! out of the bolts so that they will maintain a source of penetrant on them for a couple of days or more. My '71 AIM doesn't show the torque spec for those bolts, but I suspect that it is around 3-4 ft-lbs (35-50 in-lbs), so you shouldn't apply much more than that to try to remove them. If they don't come loose, you need to try something else to free them up. You do NOT want to break those bolts off with the bolt shank left in the door.

If you manage to get the bolts out, put some anti-seize on the threads before you put them (or new ones) back on.

Oh, and stuff some rags into the open 'pit' at the rear of each front fender before you start working on those bolts. That is a very common 'pit' for bolts and plastic bushings to fall into {never to be heard from again}.

 

If the bolts snap, dont go trying to drill them out and repair it. That pot metal ? will just crumble. Send it to corvette central. They repair them. I just got mine done last week. They put the door in a jig and make it all new again with helicoils. Only 60.00 plus shipping.


http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....5Z5Z50000050G#

 

Thanks for the removal tips & CC repair offering (hope I don't need it) info....


After all these years messin' with old cars I'm thinking that I'd be easier to just soak the entire car in PB, and then start working on it....



Say a prayer. I'm going in!

 

Are you cussin yet ?
I think they "made" those bolts to break.

 

Like 'Red Green' used to say..."We're all in this together." Good luck.

 

The best way to proceed is to remove the complete rack and wiper door as a unit before attempting to attack those stupid 4 bolts holding the door....if you break one it would have to come out anyway.... plus no damage to the surrounding painted surfaces if your careful....grill, wiper door, cowl and fenders....when it goes back in it nearly falls into position.....just follow the advice of those above......

 

Broke one last December . It's been sitting in the basement waiting for me.

 

Maybe some confusion with how I posed the question.


I intend to remove the entire assembly.



Not only do I need to install the plastic bushings, I have to install a couple of the hushing bolts that are missing. The missing parts were "fixed" by Bubba with zip ties (plastic is plastic?)....

I also want to seal any areas that may be contributing to a small water problem...

 

An honorable and worthy task. Attack!!!!

 

Thats the best way I was not sure how you were attacking the problem as you have already learned there are some experts that can *** up anything...ie. the plastic ties guy......

Leaks from water I dont have a clue, I have tried a raincoat at times and a umbrella positively wont open in my coupe. And now, everything can get a summons if used while driving ie. cell phones, and umbrellas, and Coronas, and setra....