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4 bolts - 2 hours


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Taking out bolts that haven't seen the light of day since the dawn of creation sucks!

Spent the night getting the truck ready to pull off the front body panels. Just getting 4 bolts out took 2 hours.

I know I'll be replacing anything I take off with stainless hardware. 50 years from now when someone wants to do a body off restoration, at least they can get them off with a bit less effort.

Really glad I'm not doing a full body off restoration. At the present pace, it would take me a couple months just to get all the hardware off the truck.

End of rant.

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Hello,

I know just how you feel. I have a 50 B-2-C and I have tried several different penetrating oils and I still wake the dead when I try to remove a bolt. It took me three weeks to remove the front sheet metal and bumper. I only broke 5 or six bolts that I will have to fix later. It just amazes me how hard it has been to remove each bolt. Good luck to ya!

Jerry

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Hello,

I know just how you feel. I have a 50 B-2-C and I have tried several different penetrating oils and I still wake the dead when I try to remove a bolt. It took me three weeks to remove the front sheet metal and bumper. I only broke 5 or six bolts that I will have to fix later. It just amazes me how hard it has been to remove each bolt. Good luck to ya!

Jerry

Yup....spent a good part of my Sunday removing all the fender/grill bolts that I broke off....worst part is on my 50 their some really weird coarse bolt that nobody seems to have...my 51 has fine thread bolts in all those spots....but now it will have a bolt and nut on the back...drilled them out smooth after snapping 2 easy outs..

Wait till you ever take the front shackles apart....that day the torch was in overdive!

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You may want to just use new hardware and never seize all of them-it'd be cheaper than SS hdwr. And you wouldn't want to deprive the next generation of busted knuckles or keep them from exercising of their mechanic's vocabulary would you?

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heh, just wait till the REAR spring pins/bolts! I worked on mine for a while!

I was lucky, my truck came apart pretty easy, but I also have the nice scar on a knuckle from the skipping cut-off wheel! IMO, break/cut the bolts off and replace!

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Taking out bolts that haven't seen the light of day since the dawn of creation sucks!

Spent the night getting the truck ready to pull off the front body panels. Just getting 4 bolts out took 2 hours.

I know I'll be replacing anything I take off with stainless hardware. 50 years from now when someone wants to do a body off restoration, at least they can get them off with a bit less effort.

Really glad I'm not doing a full body off restoration. At the present pace, it would take me a couple months just to get all the hardware off the truck.

End of rant.

Don't know if this will help, but I did a video on removing the front sheet metal.

http://www.youtube.com/user/194853DodgeTrucks#p/u/1/FiPeICxjSww

48D

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The only ones I had trouble with were the ones where the metal holding the nut portion waas too rotted to hold and everything turned.

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The video was helpful. I also saw Don Olsen's video. Between the two, it really shows where all the hardware is and how to lift it off with the engine hoist.

I'll try the heat/wd40 trick. I still have the driver side to do...then I'll be ready to lift it off.

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I've been hearing some really good things about using a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF as a penetrating fluid. Haven't tried it myself so I Can't say positively.

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The video was helpful. I also saw Don Olsen's video. Between the two, it really shows where all the hardware is and how to lift it off with the engine hoist.

Great! Glad it helped. :D

48D

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I've had really good luck with the "shmutz" (as my buddies and I call it) from NAPA w/ the yellow top. Spray it on, let it soak, wire brush the crud off, respray, wait, spray, wait (+ maybe some torch heat) and most came off pretty clean.

I think in my WHOLE truck (except for the bed board bolts) we only sheared off 4 bols with that method.

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? doesn't acetone strip paint?

yes, acetone is a SOLVENT! I'd think it'd take some paint off, but thinned down it might be a little more ok.

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Hello,

I just heard about Kroil today. A friend said the same thing about it. I have already tried PBblaster but I thought it worked no better than WD40. I need to pull off my running boards so I am going to give Kroil a try and if that doesn't work I can see cursing in my future!

Jerry

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Hello,

I just heard about Kroil today. A friend said the same thing about it. I have already tried PBblaster but I thought it worked no better than WD40. I need to pull off my running boards so I am going to give Kroil a try and if that doesn't work I can see cursing in my future!

Jerry

It is very good stuff but harder to get.

I've seen a couple of cans at Cabella's (out of all places!) once but you'll find that most FLAPS' don't carry it on a regular basis.

A while back three friends and I split a case by ordering it directly from Kanolabs. They'll throw in an extra can and give you a money back guarantee so you can't go wrong.

The Aerokroil can is very convenient but next time I'm getting non aerosol gallon, it being cheaper and you get more precise delivery when dripping it where you need it using an old school squirt can.

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On the passenger side, I've had some luck on a few bolts by heating it up with a torch, then hitting it with the PB Blaster. I think it's more from the action of swelling from getting hot, then the shock of cooling down from the spray, but the smoke is fun to watch.

I still had a few that were too stubborn, so I've broken out the grinder with a cutoff disc. I wish I had a nice compressor with a cutoff wheel...it would make the job easier.

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  • 1 month later...

I read your tread and really started to get a little worried about taking apart my front section, grill, and radiator so that I could make repair to the front dual drive pulley on the crank shaft. You all will probably hate me but I only had one troublesome bolt and it only took about ten minutes to take that one all of the way apart. I did not break a single bolt and I did not have to use any lubricants or heat.

I kept the radiator attached and backed up my full size truck to the front of the heavy Dodge. The tailgate matched up really close to the front section to make the removal from one truck to the bed of the other. It worked slick since I was working solo.

With a truck that was only used in harvest for a week or two a year, low humidity (never in the double digits here), stored nearly all of its life inside, less than 20 inches of rain in wetest of years, never on the road in the snow or rain....my truck is wonderfully preserved. As a result, no corrosion issues. It took a total of two hours and I had time for a lunch break within that timeline. LOL!

KJ

Edited by KJ's Dodge
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