I am going to repair some surface rust on the top of the driver’s side frame rail from the battery box area to the shock mount area. For better access to the frame rail, I want to remove the corner brace that goes from the cowl area to the top of the frame rail behind the shock mount. Sorry I don’t know the technical term for the brace but the cruise control is mounted to it. Are there any concerns with removing the brace with the car on the ground? My worry is about any kind of flexing that could occur when it’s removed and the bolt holes not lining up upon reassembly. Am I good to go here?

 

You are good. Careful when removing the bolts at the frame, I’ve had a few strip out the rivnuts.

 

I just removed mine so I could remove the A/C compressor to drain it. I also refinished the top of the frame, the brace and gained access to the plug wire looms that were also refinished. No issues other than thread all of the mounting bolts in place first before tightening.

 

I've been wondering about taking those braces off and sanding them/repainting them as well as some frame cleanup/touchup.

Good to know it won't throw things off. At least doing one side at a time anyway.

 

This👍. I know first hand.

 

I would not drive it with the brace removed but for repair should not be an issue. I had to remove to get brake booster to come out.

 

Thanks guys! I will spray the bolts first, try to break them loose to get a little gap and spray again before I remove them. I definitely don’t want to strip them or snap a bolt.

 

Do you have any advice on the three bolts holding the brace to the frame as far as not stripping them? I sprayed the crap out of them last night and I’m out here now. They turn easily and I got about a half a turn on the front one but I feel as though I’m not loosening and already in the beginning stages of F ing them up. When you say strip the rivnuts do you mean the threads or they turn within the frame? I am packing it in for the night after getting all associated items removed from the brace including the cruise control unit and its bracket. I’m not going further without clarification. Hopefully the damage is not already done but it is what it is because I don’t know how else to prevent it. The PB blaster does seem to be running in under the washers now and I was also able to get th straw under the void between the bracket and frame and soak it in there.

 

In an effort to gain access to the frame rail I’ve had to remove quite a bit of things. The main purpose being to remove the surface rust in the area due to
battery acid and and moisture peeling the frame paint. So far I’ve removed the cove panel, battery and tray, rear and center sections of inner fender, the fuse box attached to the inner fender, the cruise control system and its bracket, the AIR hose, ABS sensor harness, other harnesses, and now working on the brace. Photos of progress and some notes on removing the cruise control system without breaking things. I didn’t note the cruise control vacuum lines in the photos, but they just easily pull off. I labeled them so I didn’t get them mixed up as to where they go back on. One runs to a T fitting and the other runs behind the engine. Mine were pretty ugly and left black on my hands so they are probably going to get replaced. Not that I use the cruise control on any vehicle but still.


The cruise control cable is mounted to the center bottom hole and is retained by a spring clip.

The cruise control cable is mounted to an ear on the cruise control unit bracket. To remove it there is a little hole in the rear to stick an awl to release the retaining clip. Don’t just yank it off or you will break it and good luck finding another.

Cruise control harness held in place by a grey plastic clip, just pry up to release it.

With the cruise control unit removed after removing the harness and cable and the three 7 mm bolts that hold it in place, you can now remove the two bolts that hold the cruise control bracket to the cross brace.

 

That is an egregious amount of rust!

Get some heat on the bolts and hope that helps lessen the hold. But work a wiggle each way as you are twisting the wrench.

Nutsert/Rivnut is basically a shell of threads that is crimped into place to secure it. If you break it's bond with the frame, it will do nothing but spin with the bolt and you are forced to cut the bolt head off and then drill things out.

 

Yeah there’s three areas of rust I need to fix. Luckily there’s no pitting or rot. I should be able to take it down to bare metal and do a nice job. It will never rust again. I’m also going to extend the cowl drain to daylight along the inside of the frame. Can’t believe it was designed to drain where it does.

I will take the mapp gas to it tomorrow and work it both ways. The way it felt in the first half turn I think the rivnuts are already spinning. It was apparent the top bolts on the cowl end broke loose normally. I don’t care so much if the nutserts on top of the frame are spinning but the side bolt under the steering column needs to just come out. I’m pretty tight to my exterior wall and far enough in that the car is unable to be thrown back together and driven. I should have done it at my dad’s on the lift that way I have access from underneath. No worries though I will get it. What have you done to replace/repair the nutsert in the past? I suppose I could tack weld it and grind the weld mostly off and clean up the threads. Or I wonder if I could stake it in place with a stake punch (for staking castle nuts on firearms in place). I can tell this is going to become a lot of damn work just to do what I’m doing which will take all of an hour to refinish.

 

Hey Chump, well I got the front bolt out. I think I was a little too confident getting the rear out and it spun. The bolt is now loose and flopping around. I’m guessing the nut is loose and on the inside of the frame rail now. If I can leverage it with a pry bar or body pin removal tool, can it be pulled through the frame rail or do I have to cut the head off? At this point, I don’t even know how to access it to cut it off. I have an oscillating multi tool and I’m wondering if I can get a blade hard enough to cut through this bolt.

 

Can you get a box end on the bolt head and still have access to it with a drill? If yes, drill with various size drill bits until you can just knock it off and let it fall to inside the frame rail. There's options for securing it when you reassemble.

 

I’ll have to take another look to see if I can get a drill in there. Possibly look into getting a right angle drill. It seems as though the bolt head coming off is the only option so at least that I know now. The means by which it comes off depends on what I can finagle.

 

How much of gap do you have on the bolt head to the frame?

 

The bolt was about a quarter of the way out when it spun. I have a good 1/8” to 3/16” space possibly more.

 

Just found Milwaukee makes a “nitrus carbide” blade for the multi tool. That I can probably get between the bolt head and bracket and cut the bolt. Says they are good for bolts. Not sure what grade these things are

 

Plenty of room ): Pry up from the backside and use your cutoff tool. Replacement bolt should be easy to source. You might ask around and see if anybody you know has a nutsert or rivnut tool.

but once you get the brace off we can guide you some more.

 

Alright fellas thank you. WV and Chump again I appreciate the help. I’ll get it out.

 

That rust looks entirely like it's from a leaking battery... ouch. That's always the killer for so many cars.

You reminded me... I removed the brace in my 84 and haven't put it back. I drove the car around for like a week like that, haha...