...one long front suspension bolt (the one that slides into the footwell) is rusted solid in situ.
I am worried that heat necessary to try to get the suspension bolt out will actually set fire to the fibreglass.
Alex in Norfolk.
It is not welding.
I need lots of heat to bash out the long suspension bolt on the front arm. The bolt must be 9" long, and it is very stuck.
If you have an arc (stick) welder, you can use it to create flameless heat by connecting it to both ends of the bolt. ...Good, secure connections will prevent arcing and sparks.
Alex: An arc welder can be used as a source of resistance heat. ....We often thaw frozen metal pipes by connecting one of the welder cables to each end of the pipe. ...The "short circuit" causes the pipe to heat up and melt the ice within. ...This same method can be used to heat the bolt, without any flame. ...Good, secure connections eliminate any sparks.
The amperage capability of the welder will determine how quickly, and how hot, the bolt will heat.
Well to get that top front suspension bolt out, I had to take the shell off the chassis. I tried heating everything, and just melted the rubber in the arm bushes.
Then I found that all of the inner metal collars on the bushes on the suspension arms were rusted to the bolts, both top and bottom, plus the shox on the top bolt was rusted in place and I had to cut that off the top long bolt.
So now I am cutting the metal inner bushes off the arms with a battery powered angle grinder. I have flattened 3 batteries doing this, so I am waiting for 1 to be fully charged before resuming cutting.
The 4 x 1/4" bolts on the steering rack are also corroded in place, so next job is to find out how I can separate the two halves of the rack clamps to get the rack off. Hopefully I can save the aluminium clamps, as I bet they are unobtainable.
It seems everything on this car is badly corroded, but the actual chassis seems OKish, so I will take it to the local garage for local welding repairs.
