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What YOU do?
Seemed like a pretty straightforward thing. I'm an old coot, so I thought I could disassemble the front clip piece by piece, so it wouldn't be so cumbersome. And then I could clean the individual parts before re-assembly.
Sounds simple.
EVERY. SINGLE. BOLT I have tried to remove, even after soaking a few days in PB blaster, and a little coaxing, has broken loose the "J-Nut" (I think that's what they are called) underneath. Some I can't seem to get to on the other side to keep 'em from turning. Can't even seem to get to the lower front grill screws!
I could....
Blow the bolt heads off with a torch, cut-off wheel, drill or sawzall...Those front fender bolts with the inside the cab access hole are pretty crusty. I'm a bit skeered of those!
Or, try to get the entire front clip off as a whole.
I'd buy a truck from deep Southern California or Arizona, Nevada, Eastern Oregon or Washington, etc. My one truck came apart without breaking a single fastener. But, yeah, otherwise it's likely to have things rusted together. If I can access the threads I use a Dremel with a small rotary wire brush and clean the threads down to bare metal and then spray a penetrant. It's often not rusted where the bolts and nuts actually contact each other but the threads immediately outside of the nut on the bolt that seem to cause the greatest resistance.
I would take the whole clip off as oneIt comes off after removing the bumper and about 6-8 bolts. It will take a second person to help lift it off, but well worth it. Then you can soak both sides of most of the bolts & nuts. I was having the same issue.
For the ones inside the cab. Don't break that clip nut. If you think they are really rusted get a 5/16 X 12 inch extension drill and drill the head off. In fact any bolts that I run into that are not going to come loose I drill the heads off if I can get to them. Even if you miss the center a little you can usually stick a punch in them and break the head off. 99.9% of the time this method causes no damage to the sheet metal. Torches, grinders etc. can mess up what you are trying to save.
For the ones inside the cab. Don't break that clip nut. If you think they are really rusted get a 5/16 X 12 inch extension drill and drill the head off. In fact any bolts that I run into that are not going to come loose I drill the heads off if I can get to them. Even if you miss the center a little you can usually stick a punch in them and break the head off. 99.9% of the time this method causes no damage to the sheet metal. Torches, grinders etc. can mess up what you are trying to save.
Yeah, that's what is giving me the heeby-jeebies!
I'm pretty skilled with a torch, but that would be a last resort type thing. I KNOW those bolts for the back of the fenders are gonna be an issue. So, I reckon drilling would be the first course of action.
I read something about using a hole-saw to make a socket sized access port that would be under the side emblem. I hope it doesn't come to that.
I reckon I'll just go for the total front clip removal, and use my engine hoist to help lift it off.
As long as the bolts haven't been loosened to the point that they spin when you try to drill them it doesn't take but a minute to drill the head off. I usually center punch them then drill a small pilot hole then drill them off. I can't imagine where drilling a hole in the fender would ever be necessary. The stock bolts are not hard at all. Something like grade 3. A good sharp bit will go thru them like butter.
As long as the bolts haven't been loosened to the point that they spin when you try to drill them it doesn't take but a minute to drill the head off. I usually center punch them then drill a small pilot hole then drill them off. I can't imagine where drilling a hole in the fender would ever be necessary. The stock bolts are not hard at all. Something like grade 3. A good sharp bit will go thru them like butter.
I drilled a hole in my right side fender to hold the nut. Wasn't a big deal, I repaired the fender even though it would be hidden by the emblem on my 66. That said, if it's not broken loose, drilling off the head is probably a better solution.
Didn't get to work on it but for a few minutes last night and this morning. It's hot here in the summer, so afternoons are up around 100 to 105°. But, I got the three (per side) top bolts at the firewall out pretty easily. That was refreshing!
The top fender bolts at the rear are rusted solid, and I need a small extended length drill bit to drill the pilot hole. I have a long 5/16 already. The bottom bolt at the rear of the fenders, I'm just gonna cut off with the angle grinder, and either torch or sawzall the core support bolts. It WILL be off the truck on Saturday morning. Hell or high water!
Got 'er done! One of the upper fender bolts had to be drilled. But it were a bit tough! It sure acted like it was harder than grade 3 or even grade 5. Either that or my Extended 5/16" drill is soft. It needed a couple runs through the drill doctor to get through. The other one, I sprayed it then tightened it, then loosened, repeating in and out while giving a few more shots of PB. Then it screwed out.
As for the bottom bolts.....HOT WRENCH! Those and the core support I just blew off with the torch. Didn't do any damaged to the parent sheet metal.
Lifted it off with the hoist, all by me own dang self!
Took the doors off while I was at it. I reckon I'll work on getting the front clip bolts out, bit by bit. But at least I can work on some chassis stuff now
Nice! Check out the Totally Stainless catalog for new hardware. Not cheap, but looks like a good option. I am considering going that way when I get to my reassembly. Maybe others on here who have gone with their products can weigh in? http://shop.totallystainless.com/201.../catalog45.pdf
