When my hood was taken off, the bolt furthest to the inside of the hinge on the driver's side broke....in trying to remove the bolt, it appears that the tack weld was broken, so the nut just spins. Any assistance on how to get to this nut would be greatly appreciated. Tried reaching through vent hole in the kick panel. As luck would have it, I can reach the two nuts that are good. The bad one is too far to reach, at least with my hand.

 

Im taking the front clip off my slick and i had that problem with almost all the blots i just ended up taking a torch to them but i dont know if that was a good plan yet i still have to find a way to get it all back togeather and i dont know how im going to get nuts back in some of the spots

 

I had the same thing happen on me...take the floor vent out first of all. the nuts are D shaped and I THINK they are like 5/8 or 11/16" You CAN get an open end wrench on there and it will have a very good bite...the trick is with the inboard nut you gotta go by braille a bit as to where it is...but once you get a wrench on it, have a helper on the outside turn the bolt to the point of where the wrench will jamb itself and have them hold it there with a fair load on it so you can let go of the wrench.
When you get back out there under the hood...use a short extension..3"...this is solely so as you back the ratchet up to get another round at the bolt you can put tension on it and keep the wrench in place under load on the inside of the cowl.
Go slow and be steady on the pressure...dont try to zip it off lickety split...prolly wont be that cooperative.
Once the bolts out and the hinge is off the cab turn the D nut into its original location...it will be sloppy a bit..once its back in its original home, tack weld that pup in a couple of places...If the nut falls out on the inside once the hinge is off you need to use the wrench to hold it in place until you can get a bolt just started on the outside to hold it in place...I recomend a long bolt from a chain store...so you can grab the bolt head with a pair of vise grips to hold in place at a distance away while its being tacked into place.
If the other nuts are really sloppy...this would be a good time to tack them too...the D nuts are the same size as the one welded on the hood hinge lower bolt that runs side to side...
And lastly, before reinstallation , I like to get the original bolts and some oil and run them in and out until the threads are clean enough to all but run the bolt all the way snug by hand...I wouldnt use WD40...the W is for water...either way, for this kinda area where its a hidden area on the inside you want to use oil...ATF or old engine oil...
I did this once upon a time on my tailgate hinge and retainer strap at the top of the side of the tailgate jamb...cleaned things up all nice and pretty ...assembled...used WD40...FF about 6-7 yrs when I wanted to remove to clean and prime...snap snap...one hinge bolt died and one of the upper retainer bolts died...USE ENGINE OILl or ATF to lube them...


Let us know how it turns out...

- cs65

 

In reply to 65 fordman125's comment...the sheetmetal fasteners use either cage nuts...the bolts at the ends of the grille...and lower hood latch reinforcment braces at the core support...almost everything else is plain old nuts and bolts...wirebrush, blast with rust penetrant, forget for a couple of days then go back at it...some will break, but most should come off with patience and elbow grease.
Been there done that on umpteen trucks...as for reassembly...I recomend using the later type nut clips like used 73 up as I recall...If they were used earlier which I THINK they were, but am not positive...these later clips arent cage nuts...just a plain old steel stamping...common to find too...


- cs65