I got a 53 desoto grill and im trying to remove the teeth from the pan the teeth appear to be chromed aluminium. The bolts are extremely rusty so I don't want to snap them off. Anybody got any tips to get them out? The heads are pretty much allready rounded off from decay allready.
Heat always helps.Heat the aluminum and it will expand,dont let the heat transfer to the bolts.Gently try turning the bolts while applying heat.The heat does 2 things,expands the aluminum and helps release the hold the rust has on the aluminum.If you wait to long and heat transfers to the bolt,stop and let cool then try again,sooner or later it will let go.Good luck.
Heat and aply a penetrating oil while hot. It will smoke and make a mess. Do several times and it should come out no problems. We took apart an old tiltlok steering wheel I thought would never come apart this way. Clark
Light a wax candle and tip it so the melted wax will run down the threads of the bolt and into the aluminum. Then turn it out with Vise-Grip pliers.
I would use a wire wheel to clean the bolt heads. Then weld a washer with high heat, to the heads of the bolts. Then weld a nut to the washer. That's two heating cycles which will help. Then gently try working it back a forth. With PB blaster.
If you have mig or tig drop a bigger nut over the bolt head and weld down through the center to the bolt fill the nut center with weld,Let the weld get cold then weld a blob on top of the center and while this is still hot turn out the bolt.By letting the first weld cool you have expanded the bolt in the aluminum and let it contract again which should break the bond between the steel bolt and the aluminum the second small weld will work the joint further don't just back the bolt out but go back and forth a bit this will help prevent junk between the 2 from binding up the bolt.
Are you sure the grill material is not die cast or what is called pot metal? many older trim pieces were made of this material. I would consider grinding the bolts off flush and then drilling them with small bits and working your way up with larger bits until the basic bolt is gone.Then a bolt extractor may work (easy out). The thing with dissimilar metals is the softer metal deteriorates first,often seizing very firmly to the other metal, kind of like zinc bars placed on various boat components designed to flake away and prevent the other metals from doing so. A good penetrate would be the first step I'm thinking.
Marvel Mystery Oil is the best, I use it to get studs out of alloy Motorcycle engine cases (vintage), just let it soak in for a day or so
I'm pretty certain mickeyc is right on, those teeth are pot metal castings, the last time I saw someone with some they were pitted like any other pot metal part.
Will the pot metal take the heat if I was to heat it up with the torch a bit? Thanks for all the ideas I got alot of teeth to take out so ill let you guys know what works best for future reference.
Don't heat the pot metal, heat the bolt!!! The welding of a washer or a nut to the offending bolt, will do the trick.........The heat and cool cycles will break it loose. I would let it cool after the welding, before attempting the removal.
Clark, You are thinking the same way that I am thinking on this one. Exactly what I would do. I still use liquid wrench if I can get some. It was what grandpaw used as well as the Ol' Man. I still have a 900 year old liquid wrench can that was grandpaw's when I was real little. It is sacred. One toher thing is that you can worry them as you try and pull them. IE wiggle them back and forth, back out a bit then go back in a bit. it breaks the crud loose but helps it not build up as the bolt comes out.
I've always had good luck using brake fluid as a penetrating oil for rust , some heat and apply as stated before ,it will **** it in and help break the bolt loose. A trick I learned from an old timer when I was a kid .
Teeth are indeed pot metal. With time pot metal outg***es - corrodes from inside out (like magnesium) - the small pits you see are the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Proceed with caution. Gentle heat on the stud, and I swear by Kroil. A couple of light taps on the stud if you can get to the end of it may help - much as an impact driver will sometimes free a rusted/frozen screw or a whack with a hammer can free a frozen brake drum....
The bolts that hold the 53 Desoto teeth to the grille pan are 1/4-20 UNC. They screw into a potmetal hold down bar that is inside each tooth. Each pot metal bar is held in place by two 8-32 screws -one on each lower side of the tooth. Each tooth is made of pot metal. The tap drill for a 1/4-20 thread is #7. If all else fails carefully drill out each bolt with a number 7 tap drill and then rethread each hole. Each hole goes all the way thru each bar. You might want to use a #8 drill bit because if you are using a hand drill the hole will come out larger in dia.
the hot wax trick works on many metal surfaces...and doersn't take as much heat as the other remedies..
Got my teeth out! Its was a pain but there out. Thanks for you guys advise. I ended up only haveing to heat up three bolts so far I still got to get the pan and surround seperated welded a nut on one used vise grips on the other two. Ended up just saturating them in pb blaster worked ok. My gf would kill me if I used her candles and they stink so im gona have to try that trick another time with cheap candles. Here's some pics the last two are just for ****s and giggles I know the teeth are ruff but the price was right im gona have hell trying to fix that desoto pan....
The Jalopy Journal
