You guys do a lot of posting, hoping I can get expert experience help in removing front crossmember from frame for 58 Corvette. There are 16 bolts, nuts on bottom. All nuts either removed or broke off. Using punch and 4-pound hammer, 5-inch swing, did not move the bolt. From the top there is frame, aluminum shim, and front crossmember, all together about 1/3 inch thick with bolts stuck inside. 1/4 drive 9/16 socket or line wrench does not fit, bolt too close to frame rails. From bottom some bolts close to crossmember so not a good angle for using punch for straight up shot, and from top some bolts very tight, only room for angle drill, not big 3/8 drill. How would you get these bolts out to drop front suspension? Aloha, Eric
Heat may be your friend.....pictures of your problem would help. I'd have thought that the cross member would have been riveted and not bolted. Looks like my assumption may be wrong.
It is pretty well the same as 49/54 Chevy cars and someone on here has pulled the crossmember out from one or more of those.
Treat them like rivets drill a hole thru them. It does not need to be full bolt size. Then try to punch them out. The hole gives the bolt some room to collapse. The bolts are rusted or press fit. As above heat may be your friend.
I ground the heads off and used a drift to punch them out. I think the heat generated loosened them up.
Right now some good clear high resolution photos would be a big help for someone to figure out how to help you with this. Folks remember to keep the answers simple with simple tools. Not everyone has an air chisel, not everyone has an air compressor that can power one, Now days a lot of guys don't have a cutting torch with all the other cutting devices we have in our shops.
An old mechanic told me once. What creates rust. Water. What breaks down rust. Water. Or you can jack up one side. then try hitting the bolts with a punch. Might be in a bind.
If all else fails drill them out with a new bit . A sharp bit is your friend . As stated above , Drill all the way through and try the hammer and punch first , most of these will cause you to make up new potty words to remove .
Use a torch heat bolt only red hot go to next bolt and so on. Go have a beer or two let them cool down, go back and try to drive them out.
Try posting in this thread. A bunch of very knowledgeable Corvette guys may be able to help you out. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/c1-corvette-performance-upgrades.1207835/page-3
I believe these are a grade 8 bolt. I have the originals some where that came out of the 51 Business Coupe when we jacked the front end up some, used longer bolts, and welded in some side support bolts. Might try the C-1 Corvette forum over on Chevytalk.org; someone there has got to have dealt with this. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
Here is my suggestion: You don't need to be working on that old junker. Sell it to me and let me worry with that old thing. That will save you a lot of headaches and work.
Try to find an extractor kit with left handed drill bits Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
If you have not tried a 50/50 mix of ATF and lacquer thinner, try it....way more effective than any stuff you get in a can. May be better than heat in some cases.
Soak the crap out of the bolts and frame etc with the penetrating oil rust dissolver of your choice. pulled many of these clips, the bolts are a tight fit not press in but definitely interference! Is the engine still in? I’ve resorted to getting all the bolts out , steering box etc with the frame supported jumping on the cross member to jar it loose. mid you can get a thin pry bar between the Fram and the cross member try slowly beating the pry bar inbetwern and pulling it down that way. Once you brake the rust and stuff it will fall off pretty easy .
Now that it's too late, why remove it in the first place? Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Always liked the six-point impact sockets, for stubborn 'fit' producing tasks. Those, and a nice sized mallet.
Smaller hammer. A four pound hammer is way too big. A large hammer tends to move the parent material more than a smaller hammer. Try a one pound hammer, you can get it going much faster and shock the bolt rather than push it.
On the bolts that are broken off flush with the surface, weld a flat washer to the remaining top of the bolt being careful not to weld it to the part you are trying to separate it from, and then weld a nut to the washer so that you can grip it with a wrench. Heat the bolt cherry red with a torch and either let it cool or quench it with water; whichever works. You definitely need a torch.
Seems to me, those bolts have a serrated shank on them, just under the head, that helps hold/lock them in place; like I said, I can't find the bolts that came out of the 51 Bus Coupe (same basic front end and 16 bolts). On passenger cars, there are't nuts per say, but a small plate with two threaded holes the bolts go through. Once all the nuts/plates are off, the entire cross-member should just drop out without a lot of effort; maybe use a wooded battering ram, rather than mess up the frame or cross-member, as in for sure the sixth photo. You don't want to mess up anything about a C-1 Corvette. Was't hard at all with the 51 Bus Coupe, but there's probably more room to work around. In fact, it looks like a C-1 Corvette has the sway bar mounted above the cross-member, while passenger cars, it's below. Did you check in with Chevy Talk? I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
I have also had very good luck with Kroil soaking and time. Took months to get an old rust Flathead apart, but didn't break a single bolt.
depending on size of bolt..... 3/8" and up oxy acetylene torch, heat till slightly orange... let orange dull spray with Kroil a few times... 60% of the time it works every time.... for under 3/8" map gas will do the trick...
The Jalopy Journal
