[free4u2nv]

2 days and still can not get my upper control arm off! Top Bolt seems froze in the bushing area....both sides. Tried heat and everything I can think of. Any helpful suggestions?? When I turn the bolt no progess is made as the bushings just spin with the bolt in them.
There are threads on the inside that I can not see, right? I would not assume the bolt would just slide through....

 

[jeff denton]

Good question. I tried that once and gave up, my bushings look icky but aren't loose so I moved on to more important issues. I hope somebody will help us both out. It would be kind of reassuring to have new ones before we get up to speed this spring!

 

[bear]

Well, Guys, the upper control bolt does slide through the steel bushings. You're lucky the bolt does spin. Mine didn't, at all, and it took two days of heating, beating and a 20 ton press to finally get it out of the main beam. If the bushings are bad or can't be cleaned up sufficiently, OGTS may have new or used ones available. I documented my method of removing the bushings in the Willit? Update thread, if you're interested. HTH.

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

Bolt from Hell!

Welcome to the "Bolt from Hell" Club!

There is a pic in my gallery of the remains of this bolt once I had removed it.
Took LOTS of heat, Rust Blaster (penetrating Oil), Nitic Acid and HEAPS of bashing.

1) cut off the bolt close to the inner ends of the rubber bushes being careful not to cut the tube that is welded into the crossmember.
2) Carefully centre dot the end of the bolt and drill a 10mm hole in about 20mm ( so that the bottom of it is inside the steel sleeve the the centre section of the blot is rusted into.
3) HEAT and penetrating oil in abundance
4) Use a 10mm allen head cap screww as a drift (ther only thing strong enough - long serries pin punches just wilt and bend!)
5) suport the othe rend of the tube with a steel bar with a 12.5mm hole in it so that ALL the "bashing" force is contained in the tube and not transfered to the weaker cross member. (using the thich castor spacer betweenthe tube and the bar is a god idea.
6)BASH, HEAT AND OIL - till remains of bolt comes out

BTW - much easier done if the suspensionis out of the car !!

 

[bear]

Jim, he's got a bolt that will spin in the beam, but the bushings are rust welded to the bolt. I wonder if he may be able to punch the bolt through the bushing on the nut side, then the other bushing will be accessible with the bolt out and on the bench.

 

[davegt27]

Wow its been years since I even thought about this problem.

if i remember right you just cut them out with a sawzall

most are bent or rusted solid

i would get new ones first just to be on the safe side

now if i could only remember where we got the replacement bolts



Davegt27

 

[baz]

here is 1 thing you may never think of unless your a blacksmith

shock horror WATER
heat up the bush to a dull red and then quench it with water
the rapid cooling will break the bond that rust has formed inside the bush and you should be able to punch it out

all those years when we thought water is our enemy and it turns out to be a friend

i have done this on lots of frozen bolts and it works a treat

any high strenth bolt should be replaced after heating as it changes its metalergical properties when quenched
mild steel is not effected to any real extent as you can not temper it

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

New Bolt, Upper Control Arm

i would get new ones first just to be on the safe side
now if i could only remember where we got the replacement bolts
Davegt27

OGTS has them listed as Part #3018 -- $15.00 .. in November, 2002
Check to see if they have them and what the present price is.

When refitting the (expensive!) new ones coat them with 'Rescue Steel' or Anti-seize paste so that the next time they are repalce no one will be blaming the P O for not doing it.

 

[Itsa '70 GT]

here is 1 thing you may never think of unless your a blacksmith

shock horror WATER
heat up the bush to a dull red and then quench it with water
the rapid cooling will break the bond that rust has formed inside the bush and you should be able to punch it out

all those years when we thought water is our enemy and it turns out to be a friend

i have done this on lots of frozen bolts and it works a treat

any high strenth bolt should be replaced after heating as it changes its metalergical properties when quenched
mild steel is not effected to any real extent as you can not temper it

What about my case? Do I dare try this option? Let me know!

Bill

 

[bear]

Bill, If this regards your earlier post on the cut off bolt, by all means go for it. The big thing here is to be sure you're not transfering the impact forces to the crossmember, only to the sleeve and bolt. As stated previously, the crossmember is the weaker of the two and will deform. I think I would first try to drill into the bolt sufficiently to get a strong punch inside the tube to impact on the bolt, then put washers or something on the other end of the sleeve to be sure the bolt has somewhere to go if it does break loose. HTH.

 

[Itsa '70 GT]

Go Figure!!!

Started dismantling my rusted out front suspension/crossmember last night...The upper a-arm bolts came out with minimal coaxing! The chrome on them was still good! However, I'm STILL beating on the stuck "Bolt from Hell" in my newer, in better shape, replacement crossmember! Just my luck! Go figure.....:banghead:

 

[jeff denton]

Kill the Bolt From Hell

Finally it's my turn to remove the Upper Control Arm. Thanks for the warning about The Bolt. It just laughed at the Sawzall, and damn, that was a really good blade!
I don't fight with things. I get the torch out.
By prying and jamming the control arm rearward I could get the cutting torch tip in there and let her have it. An assistant rotated the bolt while I shot sparks, was through in about fifteen seconds. When the smoke cleared I was able to pull the rest of the bolt right out, and the bushing was burnt enough that everything was loose enough to pull the short end with the siezed on sleeve right out.
It was really that simple. Sure beats beating and banging and cussing and bleeding and throwing things.:yup:

 

[bear]

What can I say Jeff, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

Replacement Bolt

BTW: The bolt is M12 X 1.75mm pitch X 218mm long - Grade 10.9

Quinton-Hazel had a kit with a pair of them in it - LOTS made as it is the same as the ones for Kadetts.

I guess a 225mm long M12 bolt of the right grade would do the job - needs a nylock nut on the end too as the originals had a deformed nut for locking.

 

[opelbits]

Hey Jim-

Isn't 'deformed nut' a reference to the people that own these these things? Much like 'boost creep' is the kid behind the wheel, not a pressure problem?

 

[show no go]

Just to throw a different thing out there you can always try the "top secret" candle wax trick. An old guy locally that restores model A cars told me to try it and it work much of the time. It especially works good when you don't want to get a part too hot. Just heat the bolt/nut etc. warm enough to melt the candle wax. The wax will sweat between the parts just as soldering on plumbing works. The beauty is that the wax also acts as a great lubricant and more often than not you will get the parts apart. I used it on all my linkage bolts and all but one came off with it.

 

[bear]

That method has been discussed on this forum before. Some have used it with great success on other hard to remove hardware. Good to bring back tried and true methods.

 

[gtmaxx (R.I.P.)]

Well they are almost 40 years old!

 

[OpelJim]

First do no harm

Anything that removes bolts without harming them is a good thing.:yup:

 

[Lindsay]

If all else fails, cut upper bolts

Many years ago ...
Tried portable torch method to burn-out upper bolt rubber bushings after complete front suspension was removed from GT. Finally, I resorted to portable saw and cut upper bolts off. Talking to another Opel GT Owner few months ago, he purchased new bolts from Opel GT Source.

I was fortunate when I purchased my current GT that previous owner had GT front suspension rebuilt for $400 labor, plus parts.