I'm in the process of removing the rear cradle from my 2.8 car, I've built a wooden dolly with casters which is under the cradle, the tires are removed, brakelines cut, everything else disconected but the four cradle bolts won't budge.

I plan to cut the two front ones off with a 3" cutting wheel, but the rear ones seem to be harder.

My auto shop teacher thinks the best way to deal with those is to cut a flap in the side of the frame and bend it down so that the bolt (which he assumes is tacked to the frame) can be cut off, and then replaced-and tacked in, then tack weld the flap back up and grind off even. I don't know about cutting into the frame, but it seems like a logical thing to do.

Oh yeah, the car is completely stripped to the frame, except for the front cradle so access is a little easier. I won't be able to work on the car until thursday after school, so there's plenty of time for tips!

Any help would be appreciated!

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yep, cut off the head and center punch out the bolt. use new stainless ones.

I've cut the front ones. If the rear ones are not broken loose and spinning in the frame, don't give up yet. Lots of good penetrant and muscle.

If they do break loose, your shop teacher has the correct solution.

You didn't need to cut the brakes, just undo and hang the caliper out of the way.

Thanks, I've got WD-40 soaking them now maybe i'll try something else.

-I'm replacing the entire brake system, so it didn't matter if i cut the old rusty btrake lines.

Use your Fiero jack and place it in-between the cradle and frame just ahead of the bolt. The pressure keeps the nut inside from spinning. It has worked for me more than once.

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LS1 in and running :)

http://ls1swap.tripod.com/

I had one with lots of Michigan rust. I hit it with "PB Blaster" for 5 days in a row and then took a rented impact wrench (electric) to it. after about 10 minutes of impacting, they finally broke loose. If you've got 5 days, this may work.

Penetrating oil is the best. WD-40 and PB Blaster have done wonders for me and my friends for every day tasks. Try it before you cut the frame, It may just work.

Xan

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Not a owner...yet...
'91 Olds Calais 2.5L
WTB: 84-88 Coupe 2dr. 2.5

I went through the same thing with my '88GT a few months ago.

As for the FRONT ones, I assume you were able to remove the nut, but the bolt will not "thread" itself out, yes? What I did, was heat up the outer sleeve, and while this was good and hot, I rotated the bolt with a 1/2" drive socket and long bar, while an assistant applied an axial force with a lever bar. At one point, when I had no assistant, I rigged up a flat steel bar, with a countersunk hole to engage the end of the bolt, and two C-Clamps. I kept tightening the C clamps while rotating the bolt. Used the torch from time to time to heat up the sleeve. Eventually the sucker came out.

For the REAR bolts, I used this method. I had already removed the rear bumper as a method of lifting the rear end of the car. So I could see inside the tapered box section, which supports the bumper, to where the captive "conical nut" is. I attempted to heat the nut with my torch, but the welds broke, and the nut just rotated with the bolt. So I jammed in a piece of flat bar steel to prevent the nut from rotating. So, with the nut heated, and my wife holding the flat bar, I was able to finally thread these bolts out. Quite a job, but it worked.

I may have some pics of this, and will check tonight when I get home.

Good luck!!

....Rickker

I took a sawzall to one of the front two ones. The rears came out on their own. If they didn't, I would just drill them out.

I've got no experience with the front ones, but for the rear bolts don't cut the frame unless the inner nut pops its weld. A 1/2 or 3/4 inch breaker bar with a cheater pipe is the answer. If the head of the bolt rounds over then drill or grind the head off. The cradle will drop free, and you can grip the shank of the bolt with a pipe wrench & the aforementioned cheater pipe. Keep at it!

I would not cut the frame or drill out the bolt... The welds on the nuts usually break and the nut spins inside the frame rail. Placing the jack in-between the frame and cradle, and then expanding it keeps pressure on the nut and it wont spin. It has worked for me more than once. Try this first before other drastic measures.

There a tool that will split the nut, thats what I did. The bolts should be replaced regardless, you cannot really tell how fatigued they are by cosmetic apperance. I split the nut then drove the bolt out. Have the cradle supported and they should come on out.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I'm heading over to the school at 3:30, so i'll try to remove the rear ones again. I'm going to cut the fronts off regardless, they spin but i can't get the nuts off.

They have been putting WD-40 on all the bolts for me over the last couple of days (the car is not at my highschool, but the one my dad teaches at) so I'll try a breaker bar/pipe to get the rears off.

I may just replace them all anyway just to be safe. I should be back by 6:00 so i'll update you all then.

Thanks for the help!

One of the mechanics at the Fiero Factory told me that the rear "nuts" are accessible through the end of the frame rail if you take off the rear bumper cover. I haven't actually tried that though...he was just telling me that it would have been easier than the way that I did it, which was the "flap" thing that your shop teacher suggested. We tried that with a hole saw in a drill. Believe me, that metal that the cradle is made of is NOT soft. Wore the teeth of the hole saw away in about 1 minute flat! We eventually got it that way, but it wasn't easy. Good luck!

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Later...TF
86 GT

i took a sawzall from my friend and borrowed his compresoor and used abrasive discs to saw down the rear bolts, took about 15 min, but in the ned cleanest method i have ever used,

Works wounders... just takes some patience

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I hear ya'll saying that you "cut the bolts"
But no one has said what size bolt you replaced them with. Just wondering.....

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You can get a new bolt from dealer, was 4 cdn. Anyways I spent a week trying to get a bolt out of mine. Impact did it in 5 min with a little bit of heat.

Yes, heat will do wonders with stuck bolts. Worked for me on all four of 'em