Got the tubs cheap from www.suicidedoors.com. they custom made them for me (cut down of their standard size).. see my gallery for pics..

Sam

 

I'll have to check that out..but I'm not very excited about taking a punch to these bedsides..

sam

 

I would not try to remove the square shoulder if it was not stainless which I understood that they are in this case. However, that said getting a square punch is the best approach.

 

Get a square file, a stool and a few of your favorite beverages and go to work. It really does not take long to file the holes square. Won't hurt the paint either.
I have done it many times with good results.

 

Square peg-round hole.....too bad you weren't aware of that before paint....Other than milling the bolts, which as was previously stated, you loose the ability to fully torque the nuts and the bolt will just turn.

Another option, which will also result in a little paint damage, would be to use a triangular file to create the square hole required for these fasteners. You could then touch up the paint, which would be hidden behind the bolt head and the fender.

 

The quickest, simplest, no-risk solution is button-heads. They won't require doing anything to risk damage to your paint and the allen-wrench socket is hardly noticable. The only downside is that the one time you tighten them, you'll likely need another pair of hands to hold the allen wrench. You'll likely never touch them again. Some button-heads are made to accept a chrome cover that snaps over the installed bolthead.

Here's an alternative: grind off the corners on the bolt heads, and grind square the last 1/4" of the threaded end, enough to get a wrench on it (or cut a slot with a Dremel and a thin disc). Then you can keep the bolt from turning from the inside of the fenderwell.

 

Boy Sam did I ever read your post wrong. Sorry!

But Charlie's right though about the collar keeping the bolt from turning when tightened. You could probably file some corners in the round holes in the fender with a triangular file fairly quickly. And that way it's wont hurt your paint job.

Good luck,
Julie

 

Thanks,
do I need to remove the fenders?

sam

 

I guess I am the invisible poster.

 

Nah!... you said it near the front too..

Sam

 

On my first '56 I ever had I made the bedsides and used a triangle file to "square" the drilled round holes. It was easy. I would recommend filing from the finished inside of the bedside and PUSH the file only. If you drag the file then the paint tends to come off.
If you round off the square part of the bolts; you won't be able to torque the nut on correctly. Word of caution: When you do get around to torquing those bolts/nuts be careful to not over-torque because the head of the bolt will pull the bedside in and put a nice 4" dia dent in your bedside!

 

I'm apparently missing something here. I went back and re-read your initial post, looking for some sentence stating that you MUST have this job done by today 2pm for some reason. Is the truck 99.9% complete and this is all you lack, Sam? Why not just have MF next day air you the right fasteners? Or visit your local Fastener supply house? I don't understand why, with a truck as nice as that, you would even consider doing otherwise. Again, I may have misconstrued the sitchamuashun.

 

hm.. I don't see any deadline in the text.. It was just next task. given it was after MF was closed, I was asking the experts (you guys & gals) about the predicament I found myself in.. and the suggested approaches.. (ie, planning my attack on the problem.) You guys came thru as expected..

1. the shoulder is there for a specific purpose, like the dimples on the stock bolts
(I have the right part)
2. I should adjust the bedside to accommodate the bolt shoulder
(should have done this before paint, planning, planning, planning)
3. it is possible to do without severe paint damage
(others have, so I 'should' be able to)
4. I can do this with a metal file, and not require the brute force of a greenlee style pinch punch.
5. an alternative to 2/3/4 is to use a different fastener (button head), which presents it own problems (relative to the desired results)

haste makes waste...

sam

 

and this is one of the EASY next tasks.. I have put off (seemingly forever) how to solve the door glass sweep problem (from the one piece curved glass kit)..

but I am running out of easy things to do.. and will have to tackle that soon.
(and the gauges problem.. why do I pick designs that have limited alternative choices.. don't answer that!)

Sam

 

You also need to make sure that the square shoulder doesn't extend into the hole in the fender, which it appears it will.