What is the trick for holding the hollow pivot bolt for the headlight bucket to remove the retaining nut? This is on a '36 truck if that makes a difference. I've juiced everything down this past week and used heat on the nut but I cannot keep the bolt from spinning. What am I missing? Thanks.
When new the bolt is captured in the shell. After years of working the rusted nut the flats in the shell get rounded over and you are screwed. At this point a nut cracker is your friend.
Hope these pics show what you can't see. EDIT: Added the pics, not just the links. The bolts with the square area. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/ford-1934-and-1936-hollow-headlight-bolts.1238735/ The stands, which get rounded when the nut is solid on the bolt. Last picture here is the one to pay attention to. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-lights-1937-1939-great-for-roadster.1243216/ As said, you want to get the nut off without messing up the bolt any or the other parts. They will need to be cleaned and repaired so they work properly before assembly.
Not sure on the exact orientation, but you may be able to remove headlight lens, bucket, etc, and access top of bolt. It may be just sitting up high enough, now that nut is loose, that it's not sitting in the flats of the retainer. Hold it in place, and you may be able to tuen nut off. Other thing to do, is tack weld a piece of flat bat to top of bolt to hold it. Or, depending on how tight nut is, you may be able to just jam the bolt to side, and remove the nut.
Try using an impact wrench instead of a hand ratchet. The rapid pulses sometimes break the rust bond in the threads.
Thanks @RodStRace for the pictures. It helps visualize what I'm working with. And thanks everyone else for the feedback. I'll keep at it and put the nut cracker to use before I mess up the bolt.
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