1985 Monte Carlo SS known as Barney

[SSLance]

Just finished shopping...

4 frame repair washers ordered from Kirban
8 body bolts ordered from Fastenal
2 Eastwood Internal Frame Coating w/Spray Nozzle
3 Rust Encapsulator Black 15 oz.aerosol
3 Extreme Chassis Black Satin 14 Ounce Aerosol

With any luck at all I'll have all of that at home before next weekend.

Now all I gotta do is get that damn bolt out...

[Ron Sutton]

This doesn't sound like a job ... it sounds lika an adventure!



You're making your baby a better car, so keep at Lance!

[SSLance]

There is a reason why I put this job off for so many years.

My worst fear about it didn't materialize...pretty happy that I don't have to pull the interior to cut holes in the body to get to the back side of the cage nuts on positions 2-4.

And it looks like most of my frame holes might be okay. Not Great...but okay. If I end up pulling the bumper covers, I'll probably go ahead and fix them right...but if I can get that bolt out without pulling the covers, I'll probably just make them due as is.

Pulling the body might make it much easier to home grow some chassis stiffeners at the same time though.

[SSLance]

Plan B




Titan Stud Extractor... $19.50
WD 40 Rust Penetrant... $6.99



10 minutes later...after a little heat, a little penetrant, a little bit of torque, a little more heat...then some more spray...then one more time with the extractor and BOOM!!!




Lance wins!!!


I then removed all of the factory rubber bushings and slid the body portions of the Poly Graphite bushings between the frame and body and set the body down on them, then set the weight of the body and frame on the wheels...and checked the tightness of all of the bushings. They all fit real well...only the #3 bushing on each side is a bit loose. Looks like one washer from the old bushings should be just about right to snug it up tight with all of the rest of them.

The passenger side is sitting at almost exactly the same height as it was above the frame with the factory bushings and the driver side is up about .015" from before. I think I'm gonna call it good. The passenger #1 bushing was a bit loose then I discovered that one shim was still stuck to the bottom of the factory bushing. Once it was slid into place...snug like all the rest. I'm gonna call it good.

Here is the worst of the frame holes... #6 driver (behind rear tire) with the new bushing sitting in place.





Here is the second worst...#2 passenger side (behind the front tire) with the new bushing in place.



Here is #2 Driver side...



And here is #6 passenger side



I think I'm alright with just cleaning them up and coating them to protect them from getting any worse.

All of the rest of them are almost perfect...as are all of the body locations and cage nuts. It's amazing really...check these out.







Lance is very VERY happy to have this part of the job past him. Just a little bit more cleaning up and coating, tapping out the nuts, lubing everything up and installing the rest of the new bushings and the new bolts, lining up the body and cranking everything down.

I'll probably drive it like that for a bit then if I think it's necessary I'll cut up a delrin puck for the #s 1 and 2 positions to really snug things up. I can also plan ahead on a frame repair later on if necessary as well. I think I'd like to wait until I get a mig welder before I do that though. The flux core wire welder just makes too much of a mess.

Oh yeah...the brown truck stopped by yesterday as well.




Merry Christmas to me!!!

[Ron Sutton]

Wow ... you had to go hardcore, old school on it.

I had no doubt you'd win.

[GregWeld]

Good work Lance....


Another old skool trick is to heat the busted stud or nut and just use a candle and let the wax pull into the threads... Works like a charm.


Don't ya just love old cars!! LOL

[SSLance]

Thanks guys. My Dad was out in the shop watching me when I broke it loose and I had to explain to him why that was about the best Christmas present I could get.

I watched a bunch of videos the other night of guys welding nuts onto studs to get them out and I know now what I was doing wrong, or what my trouble was anyway. They were all using either mig or tig welders and being real neat and tidy with the puddle once it was formed and my old flux core wire feed welder just splatters all over the place instead of letting you create a nice puddle to work with. I decided then that a mig welder is on my shopping list. It might just be how I reward myself for getting this far on this job so quickly.

Anyway, this $19.00 stud extractor is the shiznit. As you crank it tight with a ratchet (counterclockwise) it tightens down clamping onto the stud. Once it won't tighten anymore, it puts all of the force into turning it loose out of the hole. It never even slipped on the old corroded up stub of a bolt it had to grab onto.

It is now Lance approved for sure...